Dear Friends:

Certain challenges are seen as so complex that conventional wisdom suggests they cannot be addressed effectively. Conventional wisdom, though, is often more conventional than wise.

Why can't we desegregate schools without tearing apart the community? Why can't we revitalize a devastated urban neighborhood? Why can't we evaluate teachers without resorting to simplistic use of state tests?

The art of seeing and acting on things differently has been CTAC's strength, driving success now for 35 years. In Cambridge, our assistance contributed to the most successful process of school desegregation in the United States. In Boston, our assistance helped a tri-lingual coalition become the first community organization in the country to win the power of eminent domain. In Denver, our assistance helped launch a national movement towards performance-based evaluation and compensation reform. View our interactive map to read more about these accomplishments. 

Today CTAC's groundbreaking leadership on Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) is shaping new teacher and principal evaluation systems in more than 30 states and several thousand school districts. CTAC's customized assistance is providing community-based organizations with the expertise needed to reconfigure services and transform neighborhoods. CTAC's Standard Bearer Schools process is guiding and sustaining some of the most dramatic school turnarounds in the nation.

Our first 35 years are just the start. In partnership with states, districts, communities and responsive philanthropy, we continue to be at the forefront of innovation in supporting significant growth in student learning and addressing root causes of poverty.

If George Bernard Shaw were around today, he'd see how vision coupled with implementation know-how can and does produce markedly better schools and stronger communities.