All Roads Lead to OZ: Teacher Development and School Reform

1. All Roads Lead to OZ:Teacher Development and School Reform Presented by: Dr. Rebekah McCloud rebekahmccloud@yahoo.com

2. Nap Ford Community School • What: Public Charter School (Orange County); PK-5 • Size: 157 students, 25 staff members, 7 classroom teachers

3. 2006-2007 School Goals • By June 2007, we will develop and implement an ongoing assessment process. • By June 2007, we will develop a curriculum matrix for our core curriculum cluster. • By June 2007, we will implement with fidelity a school-wide 40 Developmental Assets Program. The four themes of learning will be as follows: Citizenship, Goal Setting, Human Development, and Entrepreneurship. • By June 2007, we will implement the CHAMPs Program (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, and Participation) school-wide as a part of our behavior management program.

4. Principal’s Vision From Good to Great… Oh, the Places We’ll Go!

5. Teacher Goals • Teachers will improve their performance by: • Assessing (systematically) students abilities, needs, and knowledge • Using diagnostic information to inform their practice • Utilizing scientifically-based research to develop instruction • Developing quality robust (rich and dense) instruction • Providing interventions and strategies to decrease the “gap” in learning • Being involved in scientifically-based professional development • Being involved in a mentoring program

6. Academic Goals • Students will focus their efforts on improving their: • Math: computation, number sense • Goal 1: Develop learners who have an operational knowledge of mathematics (including automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts). • Goal 2: increase student knowledge of number sense. • Reading: vocabulary, spelling, writing • Goal 1: develop fluent, on grade level readers • Goal 2: Increase student performance on comprehension and compare/contrast skills • Writing: grammar and punctuation, fluency • Goal 1: Develop fluent and reflective writers • Goal 2: Increase student knowledge and command of the mechanics of writing

7. Big Hairy Audacious Goals • Every student will leave Nap Ford Community School at or above grade level. • Every student will leave Nap Ford Community School as a self-directed individual. • Every student (grades 3-5) will achieve at a level 4 or above on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT).

8. Departmentalization • What is it? • Research supports the idea that teachers give their best performance when they teach in the area of their strength (based on their academic knowledge and/or training). • Why was it done? • To positively impact student performance is dramatically. • To allow teachers to give their best and for students to receive the best teachers have to offer.

9. Departmentalization • How it was done: • Teachers were teamed • one taught math, science, health/wellness • the other taught reading, language arts/writing, and social studies. • Teams were divided by grades • Kindergarten team ( two teachers) • Second/third grade team • Fourth/fifth grade team • PK and First grade were a stand alone classes

10. Departmentalization • Outcomes: Survey Results • Overall, departmentalization worked at Nap Ford Community School (67% agreed) • Departmentalization worked for you. (67% agreed) • You would be willing to do departmentalization again. (67% agreed) • Your students liked working with two teachers. (67% agreed) • Student academic performance was enhanced because of departmentalization. (67% agreed) • Parents understood departmentalization. (100% agreed) • Parents liked departmentalization. (67% agreed) • You liked teaching two groups of students. 100% agreed)

11. Departmentalization • What teachers said: • What did you like most about departmentalization? • Coordinated discipline, planning with a partner • Be able to teach what I specialize in and at my strengths. • I liked having two different groups of students and I liked being able to teach math twice a day.

12. Curriculum Support & Professional Development • What is it? • Planned professional development provided by the Principal, CRT, Reading Coach, Reading Specialists, Mentor • Ad hoc support (in and out of the classroom) • Modeling, co-teaching • Why was it done? • To provide teachers with up-to-date, cutting-edge instruction; to model techniques, to provide a dialogue, to provide practice.

13. Curriculum Support & Professional Development • How was it done? • Three Wednesdays a month there was a schedule workshop. • Whole group • Subject matter • Grade level

14. Curriculum Support & Professional Development • Outcomes: Survey Results • You received curriculum support from the principal. (67% agreed) • You received curriculum support from the CRT. (67% agreed) • You received curriculum support form the reading coach. (67% agreed) • You received curriculum support from your mentor. (67% agreed)

15. Curriculum Support & Professional Development • What teachers said: • What did you like most about the curriculum support you received? • Always being able to ask any questions I had. • How to utilize the manipulatives aligned with the curriculum. • I was able to implement some of the strategies and they worked well.

16. Curriculum Prioritization • What is it? • Prioritizing what it taught and then developing a plan (mapping) for the curriculum • Why it was done? • Curriculum was being implemented in a hodge-podge, hit or miss type of fashion. • Many of the teachers, most new to the profession, do not know (with specificity) what they are to teach and/or how. • Our school is resource-rich, yet I believe teachers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of resources and not having an understanding of how to utilize the resources. • There was a great deal of overlap in what is being taught. • There was no integration between and among the curricula.

17. Curriculum Prioritization • How was it done? • I introduced the faculty to the idea of mapping the curriculum. • Notion was discussed several times • Had been a goal for the previous four years. At some point it had been addressed by the previous administration, but it was not completed. • Registered team for the Prioritizing, Mapping, and Monitoring the Curriculum workshop • After attending the workshop, meeting with the faculty • Teachers looked at a benchmark and come up with an essential question • Scheduled four meetings: one each Wednesday in April. At the end of the process, the expectation was that teachers would produced a draft document as the team would be attending another workshop in May.

18. Curriculum Prioritization • Outcomes: • Team identified essential, important, condensed for most of the standards and benchmarks. • Essential questions in the process of being written for each benchmark. • teachers had to learn to read and decode the benchmarks. • Meaningful questions surfaced; rich discussions • Several teachers made changes to what and how they teach

19. The Overall Experience: Teachers • What did you like most about your experience at NFCS during the 2006-2007 school year? • I loved the staff I worked with. I loved the students. And I loved that everyone had confidence in my abilities as a teacher. • I truly felt a part of a family. I loved my staff morale and the parents I worked closely with were supportive and encouraging. • My Principal was an excellent leader and role model. She set high expectations and contributed heavily to my first year experience. • I felt needed at Nap Ford and appreciated by so many ends of the spectrum. • The departmentalization and the ability to talk with the principal whenever I needed help.

20. The Overall Experience: Teachers • What did you learn during the 2006-2007 school year? • I learned a lot! I learned a lot about classroom management, for which I am very grateful. • I learned how to have patience and how to assert myself when necessary. • How to effectively educate children. • Set a solid foundation during the first few weeks of school and then build on it.

21. The Overall Experience: Teachers • What did you like least about your experience at NFCS during the 2006-2007 school year? • The inconsistencies and having to be the one to answer to parents about some of the inconsistencies that were out of my control. • I had a difficult time dealing with all the changes that were taking place. • Adjusting to a lot of changes and adapting to school wide behavior issues. • The miscommunication and lack of follow through.

22. The Overall Experience: The Principal • There are a few changes I would make. • I would start the change process in a more explicit manner and earlier on. Because I was philosophical/theoretical, even textbook in my approach, we lost valuable time. • I was too myopic to realize that I was speaking mumbo jumbo, academic jargon; and the teachers were too polite to say so!

23. The Overall Experience: The Principal • I would start earlier helping teachers to know what questions to ask. • I’d follow up with my good teacher question, “So, what questions do you have?” • Most of the time there were no questions and I always felt things were as clear as mud. Sadly, my attempts to bring clarity further muddied the waters. Each time I approached the topic I talked for a longer period of time and then asked the same question. I always got the same response (plus a few yawns and glances at the clock grew more frequent).

24. The Overall Experience: The Principal • What did I learn about my role as the school’s instructional leader? • To be more patient and less assumptive in my approach. • “New teacher” does not equal ready to hit the ground running. • Teacher preparation may not be enough • I must be willing to start with the basics. It’s so noted and counted done.

25. The Overall Experience: The Principal • What did I learn about my role as the school’s instructional leader? • Starting at the beginning is the biggest lesson I’ll take away from this experience. • My job is to meet my teachers where they are and take them as far as I can. • Boy, the more I do this leader stuff, the more it resembles teaching!