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Nonprofit of the Week
updated: May 19, 2012, 9:00 AM
By Edhat Subscriber
Teaching beyond Textbooks is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to public education in Santa
Barbara County. Our mission is to empower teachers to transform education through the
implementation of innovative, research-based best practices, teacher driven professional development
and the creation of professional learning communities. Professional development is one of the first
things to be cut in schools when budgets get tight. However, continuing to inspire educators to refine
and reflect on their practice is essential to developing strong educators to lead our students. As we
move into the 21st Century this becomes even more critical as the teaching of old doesn't meet the
demands of today. Students will need different skills to compete in this global world. We need students
to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and excellent communicators in addition to having strong
literacy, math and science skills.
Our organization teaches educators how to develop this culture of thinking and understanding. Ron
Ritchart, author and principle investigator at Harvard's Project Zero, calls this the development of
Intellectual Character. According to his book of the same name, "By setting an agenda of understanding,
teachers communicate an expectation of thinking that helps foster students' inclination toward
thinking." We are fortunate enough to have Ron Ritchart as our keynote speaker and lead trainer for our
Summer Institute on August 9th.
This low cost institute will serve as a catalyst to create teacher-led learning communities, which meet
continually throughout the year to help spread these critical concepts to all schools in Santa Barbara. If
you are an educator interested in attending the summer institute or would like to sponsor a teacher and
support our organization, please visit our website www.teachbeyondtext.org or email
teachbeyondtext@gmail.com.
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