I Teach NYC Newsletter Overview & Submission Guidelines
The I Teach NYC newsletter is a monthly e-newsletter for teachers managed by the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality (TRQ). The content of the newsletter is drawn from across the DOE working through a monthly submissions cycle. The I Teach NYC newsletter currently accepts submissions that are opportunities for professional development, leadership and resources of direct and timely value to teachers.
Goals of newsletter:
The newsletter was initiated with two main ideas in mind:
1. Teachers are some of the busiest people around and they need a streamlined way to access key information, whether about human resources or opportunities for development.
2. By having regular communication channels with teachers the Department is better able to promote opportunities that will support the growth, development, and retention of strong teachers for our schools.
Distribution and Readership
Distribution
- Each issue of the newsletter is distributed to all teacher (~77,000) and principal (~1,600) DOE email addresses. Issues are also sent to non-DOE email addresses of teachers provided to the DOE (~30,000) when available, and a short list of central office staff. (If you, or a colleague, would like to be added to the central office distribution list, please go to our contact form and sign-up.)
- The newsletter is distributed via the Constant Contact from the email address iteachnycnewsletter@schools.nyc.gov.
Readership
- Between 13,000-18,000 readers typically view the newsletter (~15% average open rate); we see higher open rates for personal email addresses (30-35%) than DOE email addresses (8-13%). The overall average open rate is consistent with the industry standard for education-related newsletters.
- 93% of schools have one or more teachers who are regular readers (i.e., have opened multiple issues of the newsletter)
- Top-clicked items have included messages from the Chancellor and links to teacher leadership opportunities.
Submissions must meet one of the following criteria:
1. an actionable leadership, career growth, or learning opportunity,
2. a financial resource (eg. grants, Teacher’s Choice, awards with stipends attached) that directly benefits teachers or their classrooms
3. timely information that supports teachers in their professional development
General Guidelines:
- Only NYC DOE offices may submit content
- Keep submissions concise. Teachers are bombarded with information and are selective about what they read.
- Write in clear, simple and friendly language (free of jargon, central office acronyms) in a voice that speaks directly to a teacher audience.
- Priority is given to submissions that are relevant and of value to all teachers, or to a large subset of teachers
- Provide hyperlinks as URLs to ensure accuracy.
Specific Guidelines: Please consult the NYC DOE Style Guide for any specific grammar or formatting questions, including:
- Dates (please include the day of week)
- Time of day (use two periods when using the terms “a.m.” and “p.m.” – eg. 8:20 a.m.)
- Location: The preference is to state only the borough of your event and to have the specific street address or location on your registration link via hyperlink
- “For more information”: Unless your office has a different preference, we recommend you provide a general office email address and/or telephone number. Due to the size of the distribution list (77,000+) we do not recommend the inclusion of direct dial phone numbers.
Publication Cycle:
The publication cycle is as follows:
- Week 1: Content submission week
- Week 2: Draft layout and contributor review
- Week 3: Leadership review and approval
- Week 4: Final layout and distribution
Post-Publication Follow-up:
Did your application garner more submissions after running in the I Teach NYC newsletter? Did more teachers complete your survey? Have registrations to your professional development sessions created? We want to know!
Please provide us with pre- and post- data to illustrate when the newsletter has had a positive impact on your initiatives. If you do not already have one, consider developing a simple, easy-to-use method of finding out how many individuals discovered and/or attended your event as a direct result of I Teach NYC.
In turn, I Teach NYC is happy to provide click-through rates following the publication of issues in which your initiative has been publicized.
Items must be submitted in the following format:
SUBMISSION TEMPLATE
- Opportunity/Announcement Headline:
- Open To:
- Opportunity at a Glance (25-50 words):
- Registration Date (if applicable):
- Event Date:
- Application/Registration site:
- Location (borough):
- For more information:
- Follow-up contact (for contributor reviewing):
- Select a category that fits best: financial resource or professional development or leadership development
SUBMISSION EXAMPLE
Opportunity/Announcement Headline: Curious about Climate Change? Learn More through this Online Course
Open To: All teachers in Title I schools
Opportunity at a Glance (25-50 words): The American Museum of Natural History’s Seminars on Science are developed by research scientists to put cutting-edge research into the hands of educators for use in their classrooms. The museum is offering 100 educators a $500 stipend to offset the cost of completing a 6-week online course.
Registration Date (if applicable): November 25, 2014
Event Date: Winter (January 26 – March 8) OR Spring (March 16 – April 26)
Application/Registration site: Click here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tZFKD3jeZJtX1EpdMLkcxRONC3MPO85JBGZhjyHesOo/viewform] to apply.
Location (borough): Manhattan
For more information: Visit the AMNH seminars page [http://www.amnh.org/learn/climate] or email the American Museum of Natural History.
Follow-up contact (for contributor reviewing): John Doe jdoe29@schools.nyc.gov
Select a category that fits best: professional development
If you have additional questions, please contact us.
