Guiding Principles
Why We Believe in Our Work
The GTL Center team builds customized, evidence-based strategies that we know will have an impact. We do this by keeping six guiding principles at the heart of every project. The principles ensure we maximize impact, regardless of context.
Advocate for and promote equitable opportunities
Educational equity means that all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic circumstances, language barriers or other factors, have equal access to opportunities to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Our team intentionally approaches each project with a lens toward equity ensuring that underserved students have equal access to effective educators and high-quality instruction.
Make decisions informed by data
Making data-based decisions—whether using student achievement data, human capital data, or stakeholder feedback—is a critical step in selecting and customizing the right evidence-based strategies per local context.
Ensure quality in services and products
Maintaining the highest standards and expectations for our work means adhering to a rigorous, multi-step quality assurance and review process. Our quality assurance ensures that all projects are of high-quality, are on-time, and within budget.
Leverage existing initiatives and resources
Reinventing the wheel can be costly. Identifying and aligning with existing efforts is cost-efficient and creates coherence across initiatives.
Engage stakeholders
Meaningful stakeholder engagement that is inclusive and invites broad representation improves buy-in, project success, and sustainability.
Connect peers around common goals
State and district staff across the United States often face similar challenges, and frequently share a common goal around improving the educator workforce. Connecting peers and building professional relationships through in-person and virtual opportunities is an efficient way to share information, resources, and lessons learned.