About Collaborative Classroom

Our mission as a nonprofit is to help students grow as readers, writers, and thinkers while they develop the social and emotional skills necessary to thrive.

Founded in 1980, Center for the Collaborative Classroom conducted seminal research on social development. Collaborative Classroom has evolved into a partner for schools and districts that is dedicated to transforming the school experience, developing students, and empowering teachers as they engage students.

Our Approach

We believe that how we teach matters as much as what we teach. Our evidence-based programs help children develop as proficient readers and writers, appreciate the ideas and opinions of others, learn to agree and disagree respectfully, think critically about big ideas, and become responsible citizens of the world.

Our commitment to continuous, embedded professional learning empowers educators to grow their teaching practices, build school community, and create the conditions for authentic, student-centered learning.

Our unique pedagogy is the foundation for our work:

• We build on the fact that children are naturally curious, and need ample opportunities to be active, collaborative, and reflective in their learning process.
• The social and emotional and academic curricula are equivalent, essential, and interdependent.
• Our approach starts with the student experience and is focused on letting students do the thinking.
• The teacher is a facilitator.

Our core beliefs are:

• Relationships are fundamental. A child’s sense of community is essential to healthy development and academic growth.
• Students come to school intrinsically motivated to learn. Motivation is essential for engagement.
• Literacy and a sense of connectedness are two foundational elements upon which all other learning builds.
• The quality of teaching matters.

Explore Our Programs

Our Impact

Since the organization’s founding in 1980 by Dr. Eric Schaps, our work has reached 8 million students and 328,000 teachers in classrooms across the country, developing fluent readers and skilled writers, supporting instructional equity, transforming discipline practices, and bolstering student and teacher engagement. District partners and independent researchers have documented and assessed the changes our work has produced. Review resources, analysis, and published articles here.