Professional Resources

The AFT has developed a series of brochures, called Classroom Tips, to assist teachers in the classroom and beyond. These concise publications are an effective and useful addition to your back-to-school and throughout-the-year planning.

This guide—produced jointly by the AFT and the NEA—capitalizes on the experiences of National Board-Certified Teachers and others engaged in candidate support, sharing practical advice about how to approach the National Board's assessments and how to increase the prospect of successfully completing them.

What does it take to become a National Board Certified Teacher? What are the benefits of National Board Certification? This brochure has been developed to answer these and other questions you may have about the certification process. 

Reading, and a love for reading, begins at home and research has shown that children who have a solid foundation in their first language have an easier time learning to read in English. These one-page reading tip sheets offer easy ways for parents to help their children become successful readers. Available in both English and Spanish.

This kit provides helpful forms for PK-12 educators who work with ELLs to find out if they’re on track learning the important academic English skills they need to be successful. Included in the kit are: monthly tracking forms; a glossary of common phrases and words used in Spanish; a list of Spanish-English cognates; a list of recommended bilingual, culturally appropriate storybooks for children; and information on PK-3 literacy tip sheets available for parents in 11 languages.

If we are to achieve the promise of the standards movement, we need to understand the demands of standards-based instruction and develop the capacity of every classroom teacher to carry it out effectively. Learn about the key differences between standards-based and traditional instructional planning in this paper prepared for the AFT by Kate Jamentz, Director of Professional and Organizational Learning at WestEd. 

Thanks to new scientific research the knowledge exists to teach all but a handful of severely disabled children to read well. This booklet  reviews the relevant research and describes the knowledge base that is essential for teacher candidates and practicing teachers to master if they are to be successful in teaching all children to read well.