The ACE Collaborative for Academic Excellence is a sustained professional development program that strengthens curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Catholic schools by increasing collaboration among teachers. In other words, we endeavor to cultivate a learning community in which teachers share ideas and resources, toward the goal of improving their own curriculum and instruction. Implemented over a two-year period, the ACE Collaborative includes two annual week-long diocesan workshops, one-day diocesan in-services each semester, ongoing work at the school level led by teachers and principals, and additional support for diocesan administrators as they seek to institutionalize this collaborative process. Collaboration is carried out through team discussion and on-line communities, housed at acecollaborative.org.
"The treasure of Catholic schools lies in the committed teachers and principals who staff them. Their aspiration for excellence is best served when they engage together in sustained discussions about essential issues and implement subsequence decisions as professional teams. The purpose of the Collaborative is to facilitate these discussions and the decision-making that follows." - Tom Doyle, Ph.D., Founder and Coordinator