Welcome to Center on Great Teachers and Leaders

Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on the Teaching Workforce

Explore the short-term and long-term implications of COVID-19 for the educator workforce and find evidence-based approaches to prepare for the challenges.

Talent Development Framework

Improving Access to Excellent Educators for All Students

Learning Series: Taking Educator Preparation to the NEXT LEVEL

Join the national conversation about principal preparation redesign by learning alongside University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI) participants.

READI Framework

Are your programs ready to work in the schools that need them most?

Explore Our Projects

Our team supports all 50 states, with a special focus on underserved districts and schools. Explore our projects to learn more.

The New GTL Center

Great Educators for the Students Who Need Them Most

From 2012-2019, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) was a national content center under the federally funded Comprehensive Center Network, providing support to state education agencies and districts in all 50 states. Today, AIR continues to operate the GTL Center and offer services across a range of core evidence-based talent management strategies. Discover what the new GTL Center has to offer.

What We Do

We offer three tiers of services—from expert consultation to full-service supports—that we tailor to help states and their districts select and implement evidence-based, talent management strategies.

Why We Do It

Transformation requires an intentional effort to target and prioritize evidence-based strategies for educators who support students in underserved schools. We keep six guiding principles at the heart of every project. The principles ensure we maximize impact, regardless of context.

Where We Work

We've supported all 50 states and worked with multiple districts, often through cross-state and district collaborations. We are experts at bringing together state education agencies, regional partners, and districts to achieve results.

Client Perspective

“The team brought a high level of attentiveness to our district's needs and nuanced understanding of the regional context, making it a true collaboration and thought partnership.”

DC Office of State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Staff Member
“Our state is where it is now with mentoring and induction due to [T4TLA]—consistent and continual efforts to ensure we are building high-quality mentoring and induction templates that can be used by all.”

T4TLA Participant
“As a result of the GTL Center's efforts, many of the districts are now implementing working conditions surveys. Not just administrating surveys, but looking at the data and figuring what does those data tell them about what they need to do differently to improve working conditions for teachers.”

State Education Agency Client
“The GTL Center helped us pick evidence-based strategies that we felt were right for Ohio. [They] really respected our working group and let things come out naturally, but also guided [the process] with evidence....By the end, people were voting and prioritizing the recommendations.”

Staff Member, Ohio Department of Education
"It's great to be sitting at the table with partners who understand how important this is and how they impact our work in Indiana. We simply could not do this work without their help and we look forward to our continued partnership down the road."

Staff Member, Indiana Department of Education