Charlotte Teachers Institute

Charlotte Teachers Institute is committed to racial equity. Through its mission to strengthen teaching and learning in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, CTI is focused on racial equity in three primary ways: (1) offering content-rich, effective professional development seminars for teachers led by university professors, (2) supporting classroom teachers throughout the process to write and teach original curricula for their students, and (3) developing opportunities for teachers to pursue meaningful, race-based activities. To date, CTI seminars have served 800 PK-12 teachers who have written 1,120 curriculum units and taught 150,000 students. Many of those teachers have studied and written original work related to racial equity. In 2022, the tradition continues with six seminars focused on racial equity topics: Exploring Memory and Race in America, Life Narratives in the Classroom and Beyond, What is Identity?, Hidden Figures: Women in Latin America, 1500-1900, Charlotte as Teacher Canvas: Creating Culturally Responsive Classroom and Equity Mindsets by Engaging in Local African, Latinx, and Southeast Asian Diasporic Spaces, Carolina Cuisine: Understanding the History and Science behind the Evolution of our Crop and Food. From 2017-2021, CTI offered 18 seminars for teachers in all subjects and grades PK-12th grade that addressed racial equity. In recent CTI seminars, classroom teachers wrote 30 original curriculum units based on racial equity topics and CMS classroom standards for nearly 5,000 PK-12th grade students.