1. family and parenting
2. children

Center for Development
and Learning
improving teaching. increasing learning.
Teach. learn. excel.
who we are
what we do
Founded in 1992, the Center for Development and Learning (CDL) is
a results-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. CDL’s mission is to
improve the life chances of all children, especially those at high risk, by
increasing school success. Our goal is to help all children learn to higher
levels and apply their knowledge toward good ends.
CDL’s services fall into three silos: We believe that all children, regardless of how they look, where they
come from, or how they learn, can and will achieve school success when
provided with highly effective teachers and positive, supportive learning
environments.
Issues We Address
CDL’s work is focused on closing the achievement gap by increasing
teacher effectiveness.
Standards set the course, and assessments provide the benchmarks, but
it is highly effective teaching that makes substantial, sustained gains
in student learning. This means that our most disadvantaged children
must have the most effective teachers.
We advance public education reform by providing educators who teach
our most at-risk children with professional learning that is specific and
relevant to the needs of students and teachers. With an on-the-ground,
in-the-trenches approach, we tackle real-time issues such as ways to
remediate struggling readers, differentiate instruction, and build and
sustain collective capacity.
Organizational Structure
CDL is directed by a volunteer Board of Trustees comprised of business,
educational and civic leaders. CDL benefits from a Community
Advisory Council and a Professional Advisory Board comprised of
national and international experts. We employ professionals from the
fields of education, psychology and business.
Collaborative Relationships
CDL leverages its community impact through relationships with
the Greater New Orleans Education Foundation, Louisiana Charter
Schools Association, Tulane University, Xavier University of Louisiana,
Louisiana’s Next Horizon for Education, Louisiana Department of
Education, Urban League, New Schools for New Orleans, Council for a
Better Louisiana, and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at
the University of Toronto.
1. Evidence-based professional development for teachers,
principals, teacher leaders, related specialists, paraprofessionals,
parents and caregivers
2. Direct services to students. 3. Public engagement of stakeholders at all levels.
Our professional learning services comprise approximately 85% of our
work, and are founded on evidence-based research.
CDL has special expertise in learning differences, literacy, teaching
strategies and tactics, and building the capacity of teachers. Current
professional learning initiatives include (1) Language and Learning
– Right from Birth, which provides child care providers and parents
of children ages birth to three years with the information, skills and
support they need to help their children grow emotionally, physically
and cognitively so they will be ready to learn when they enter school;
(2) Step It Up for Literacy, which builds educators’ capacity to provide
explicit and effective literacy instruction across the disciplines to
all students, and targeted intervention for students experiencing
difficulties; (3) Understanding Learning Profiles: Differentiating
Instruction, which helps teachers to identify and remediate learning
problems with scaffolding and interventions that address individual
students’ needs (a diagnose/prescribe approach); and (4) Plain Talk
about Reading and Learning, a three-day institute that focuses on
evidence-based reading research, strategies and tactics for educators
who serve children ages birth – grade 12.
Our current direct service program, Teens & Tots, (1) develops the
parenting skills of teen parents to increase the likelihood that their
young children are entering kindergarten mentally and physically
healthy and ready to learn; and (2) increases the literacy skills of teen
parents and thus the likelihood of their graduating from high school
and being prepared for college and/or career.
CDL’s public engagement work provides parents, community,
and teachers with information on key education issues. Our goal
is to bridge the gap between research and practice, and to address
widespread education issues in Louisiana through research and
information gathering and dissemination. A variety of communication
methods are used, including print and social media, focus groups, and
other community relation efforts.
CDL’s annual audits consistently show approximately 90% of every
dollar going directly to programs and services.
Teach. learn. excel.
who we serve
where we are going
CDL serves public school teachers, students and their families in
Louisiana. We also work with schools and districts throughout the
United States.
The New Orleans Teaching and Learning Institute
Primary focus
For over 18 years, CDL has been a trusted source of specialized
professional learning services for educators – teachers, principals,
teacher leaders, related specialists, paraprofessionals, and parents. CDL
professional learning is designed, facilitated, evaluated and adjusted
to meet the needs of the learners. In collaboration with school and
district leadership and teachers, we examine student and teacher data
and build professional development in response to student and teacher
performance. We evaluate progress frequently and adjust accordingly.
Working side-by-side with both new and experienced teachers, CDL
professionals provide coaching and modeling in the classroom as well
as customized, interactive learning sessions and study groups.
The combination of both group and individual professional learning
increases collective internal accountability. Knowledge, strategies and
tactics can be efficiently introduced through interactive sessions and
institutes. Continuous instructional improvement can be guided by
observations with constructive feedback, coaching, study groups and
lesson modeling in classrooms. Summer institutes with follow-up
sessions and on-site coaching make an ideal combination for deepening
knowledge and ensuring that new skills are applied effectively.
We intend to establish a literacy and learning institute that will
provide year-round services to the Greater New Orleans community.
We seek strong, results-focused partners. The institute will aim to
organize, integrate, and embed high-yield, evidence-based practices in
targeted services, including:
• Developing and supporting literacy leaders in Greater New
Orleans schools;
• Developing parent capacity to support and increase literacy
skills in their children;
• Providing and promoting high-yield literacy programs for
juveniles in area detention centers;
• Developing and supporting intensive literacy programs for
teen parents to increase their own literacy skills and the literacy
skill development of their young children;
• Establishing literacy outreach centers and services in
underserved areas that are specific to community needs, such
as high-yield adult literacy programs, including financial
literacy; and
• Influencing increased intensity of teacher literacy preparation
in area universities, and higher literacy skill requirements for
teacher licensure.
what you can do
call us for ways to help
Center for Development and Learning
One Galleria Blvd., Suite 903, Metairie, LA 70001
Phone: (504) 840-9786
Email: [email protected]
Internet: www.cdl.org
“ CDL is one of the few organizations worldwide working to connect knowledge from the medical,
psychological, educational, and judicial fields to multiply the benefits to children.”
— Michael Fullan, Dean Emeritus, Onatrio Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Teach. learn. excel.
board of trustees
Gerard Ballanco, M.D., FAAP
Pediatrician (Ret.)
Harvard Medical School; Director, Hallowell
Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health
Glenny Lee Buquet, Secretary
Former Member, Louisiana Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education
Education Activist
Gordon Blundell, Jr., M.D.
Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist
Michael Kamil, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor, School of Education
Stanford University
Joan Coulter
Community Activist
Jack Donahue
Louisiana State Senator
President, Donahue Favret Contractors
Barbara Johnson
Principal, The Johnson Group
Vaughan Fitzpatrick
Community Activist
Charles Lacoste, Past Chairman
Management Consultant
The Honorable John W. Greene
Judge, 22nd Judicial District (Ret.)
Cynthia Hedge Morrell
Chair, Education Committee
New Orleans City Council Member
Stephen Hales, M.D.
Hales Pediatrics
Gregory N. Rattler, Sr., Vice Chairman
Vice President, JPMorgan Chase
Kathleen Riedlinger
CEO, Lusher Charter Schools
Holly Sharp, CPA, CFE, CFF, Treasurer
Shareholder and Director
LaPorte
Sidney Eshleman Thornton
Community Activist
Frank Williams, Chairman
Executive Director
Greater New Orleans Education Foundation
Community Advisory Council
Herschel L. Abbott, Jr.
Jones Walker Law Firm
Kelvin Adams, Ph.D.
Superintendent
St. Louis Public Schools
Marian Arrowsmith, M.Ed.
Supervisor, Elementary Education (Ret.)
St. Tammany Parish Schools
Ruby Bridges Hall
President, Ruby Bridges Foundation
Mary Lou Ochsner
Community Leader
G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, Southern Methodist
University; Distinguished Scientist, Center for
Brain Health, University of Texas - Dallas
Louisa Moats, Ed.D.
Literacy Research & Professional Development
Advisor, Sopris West Educational Services
Craig T. Ramey, Ph.D.
Professor and Distinguished Scholar
Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech
Mel Riddile, Ed.D.
Associate Director for High School Services
National Association of Secondary
School Principals
Robert D. Reily
Chairman, The Standard Companies
Carol Rolheiser, Ph.D.
Director, Centre for Teaching Support and
Innovation, University of Toronto
Professional Advisory Board
Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of Illinois at Chicago
Robert Brooks, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Clinical Psychologist
G. Emerson Dickman, III, J.D.
Attorney at Law
Immediate Past President, International Dyslexia
Association
Michael Fullan, Ph.D.
Dean Emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education, University of Toronto
Sam Goldstein, Ph.D.
Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Utah School of Medicine
Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.
Child & Adult Psychiatrist; Senior Lecturer
Dennis Sparks, Ph.D.
Executive Director Emeritus
National Staff Development Council
Robert Sternberg, Ph.D.
Professor of Human Development, College of
Human Ecology
Cornell University
President & CEO
Alice Thomas, M.Ed.