Learning Communities in Nevada

1. Learning Communities in Nevada MPAEA 2009 Claudia Bianca-DeBay

2. Programs Involved in Learning Communities • Truckee Meadows Community College : “Reading Comprehension Strategies” – Meet for 3 hours once a month for 4 months • Great Basin College: “Standards Implementation” – Met once in August and ended in December • Computer Assisted Literacy in Libraries (C.A.L.L.): “Standards Implementation and CASAS – How They Relate” – 3 meetings, 3 hours each, over 5 months • Catholic Charities: “Reading Methodology Translated into Lesson Plans” – 6 meetings, 4 hours each, over 6 months

3. My Role as Facilitator • Find out what each program wants to look at • Research each topic before the first meeting • At each site, hold a 3-4 hour meeting with interested teachers who are part of the learning community and share what I learned from the research along with any information that addresses the topic • Collaborate with the group to determine their specific goals, number of meetings (generally once a month), duration of the project, venue for communicating (on-site visits, web conferences, teleconferences, e-mails)

4. Teachers’ Role as LC Member • Genuinely interested in collaborating on a common project • Willing to continually reflect, experiment, and make changes as needed • Committed to the duration of the project (monthly meetings, assigned work between meetings) • Willingness to communicate with one another and share what worked, what didn’t, and what needed to be changed

5. Monthly Meetings • Teachers are assigned relevant research and practitioner articles to read and reflect on • Teachers try out what they learned from their readings and our meetings by developing and implementing lesson plans in their own classrooms between meetings • Teachers share their lesson plans with each other at the next meeting • Teachers share their best practices that address the LC topic

6. TMCC: Reading Comprehension Strategies OBJECTIVES: • Analyze and articulate the components of reading • Develop, implement and evaluate lessons that address each component • Articulate the connection between reading and writing, and develop lessons that combine both

7. TMCC: Reading Comprehension Strategies Members: 10 teachers teaching ESL low beginning to high intermediate levels and 2 ABE coordinators Topics Covered: • What research has to say about teaching reading to ESL and ABE adult learners • Pre and Post reading strategies and activities • Reading rate and comprehension • Fluency and comprehension • Connecting reading and writing

8. Lessons Learned • Teachers are still getting the ‘hang’ of learning communities – some still want to be given lesson ideas and activities to use immediately in their classrooms • Some resistance to looking at the research – don’t see the connection between research and practice • Teachers really like talking, reading, and sharing what they learned with each other as well as having time between meetings to reflect and try new things

9. GBC: Standards Implementation OBJECTIVES: • Become familiar with the history, purpose and structure of NV’s content standards • Decide how the standards can be infused in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning • Develop, implement, and analyze four lesson plans that incorporate targeted standards

10. GBC: Standards Implementation Members: 8teachers teaching ESL low beginning to advanced Topics Covered: • Standards implementation • Standards-based education • Students’ goals and standards • NV’s standards: history and development • Creating lesson plans using the standards

11. Lessons Learned • Teachers had a difficult time relating standards to what their students need to learn in order to do well on the CASAS tests • I need to be clearer on what can be counted for re-certification credit and what cannot (I devised a teacher log for future LCs) • This dedicated group of teachers worked extremely well on their own, keeping in touch with me via e-mails

12. C.A.L.L.: Standards and CASAS: How They Relate OBJECTIVES: • Become familiar with NV’s content standards • Develop, implement and evaluate lessons that incorporate standards and CASAS Class Performance by Competency • Develop resources and activities to teach test-taking techniques and strategies that will improve students’ CASAS test scores

13. C.A.L.L.: Standards and CASAS: How They Relate Members: 10 teachers – ESL beginning to advanced levels Topics Covered: • History, purpose and development of NV’s standards • Efficient use of the CASAS Student Performance by Competency form • Lesson planning with standards and CASAS Student Performance by Competency form • Newly developed CASAS competencies • Resources and activities to teach test-taking strategies

14. Lessons Learned So far there has only been one meeting out of three. This group of teachers is very dedicated to this learning community. They offer a lot of input and care a great deal about this project.

15. Catholic Charities: Reading Methodology Translated into Lesson Plans OBJECTIVES: • Explore and analyze research on the reading process for adult ESL learners • Articulate the fundamental knowledge of skills required to teach reading effectively to adult ESL learners • Develop, implement and evaluate lesson plans that reflect the research and knowledge learned

16. Catholic Charities: Reading Methodology Translated into Lesson Plans Members: 6 teachers – ESL beginning to advanced levels Topics Covered: • Research review • Alphabetics and vocabulary strategies • Fluency and comprehension strategies • Pre, during, and post reading strategies • Culminating lesson plan that covers all four reading components

17. Lessons Learned • Teachers appreciate the research but want more lesson activities • Due to the unique nature of this program (new students enter classes every week and stay for an average of two weeks), it is challenging to implement lesson plans that will cover the different components of reading in a sustainable way

18. Comments From Teachers “I still don’t know how time spent on standards will help get students ready for the test.” “I’ve learned so much about the standards that I can implement.” “I still have questions about prioritizing standards in my multilevel classroom.” “Sharing our lesson plans to the whole group was very helpful.” “I liked the interchange with other teachers.” “I really liked the pre and post reading suggestions.” “Great class and format – several months to retouch, try things between sessions. Much better than one time and then forget. I like having the reading assignments – then discuss.”

19. Certificate of Performance Credits *1.00 credit = at least 15.0 hours on task 0.50 credit = 7.5 – 14.9 hours on task 0.25 credit = 0 – 7.4 hours on task (min. 4 hours) *maximum 1.0 credit per academic year Teachers earn credits attending meetings, preparing lesson plans and other related prep work

20. Any Questions?