Charlotte began her career in education over 50 years ago as a teacher in a multi-age (1st and 2nd grade) classroom in Washington, D.C. From her first year in the classroom, she recognized the importance of encouraging students’ natural intellectual curiosity and creating the conditions that allow them to engage with important concepts and content. Twenty-five years later (and almost 25 years ago), after working as a teacher, curriculum director, staff development director, and assessment designer, she put pen to paper and wrote Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching.
The Danielson Framework, as it has come to be called, has become the most widely used instructional framework in the United States. She and her team have worked with educators using the framework in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and 12 other nations, including Canada, Colombia, Lebanon, Spain, Chile, and Thailand.
Charlotte is an internationally-recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness. She advises State Education Departments and National Ministries and Departments of Education. She is in demand as a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and as a policy consultant to legislative and administrative bodies. She has published widely on the use of her framework and related aspects of the teaching professional and instructional practice. Among other things, she’s written about organizing schools for student success (Enhancing Student Achievement: a Framework for School Improvement, 2002), teacher leadership (Teacher Leadership that Strengthens the Profession, 2006), professional conversations (Talk about Teaching! Conducting Professional Conversations, 2009), and numerous practical instruments and training programs, both onsite and online, to assist practitioners in implementing important ideas about teaching.
She is a graduate of Cornell University (history), Oxford University (philosophy, politics, and economics) and Rutgers University (educational administration and supervision.) She has taught at all levels, kindergarten through university, has worked as a curriculum director and staff development director, and is the founder and board chair of The Danielson Group.