Creating the capacity for continuous educational improvement
Services and Trainings
Practicums and Seminar Series
Looking At Student Work: Reflections from the Classroom
- Compelling evidence of the effect of teacher expertise on student achievement necessitates that we rely heavily on utilizing data to not only inform decisions but to sustain schools in continuous improvement. This course operates from the belief that the best evidence of effective teaching and learning is the work that students themselves produce. These artifacts become a valuable mirror that reflects classroom practice. Unlike a standardized test, student works speaks directly and revealingly of what teachers and students actually know and do. Through collaborative practice of examining student work (ESW), we will learn to translate information into informed action: changed perceptions of students; revised curricula and teaching strategies; new goals and a sense of direction for a faculty.
This multi-session seminar will follow an action research model where participants will learn to facilitate ESW groups in their schools. Through modeling, guided practice and coaching, each participant will develop a portfolio of the effects of ESW on student achievement. There is an expectation that participants will utilize and practice skills with their ESW school-based teams between seminar meetings. On-line support by participants and instructor will be provided on a weekly basis.- Outcomes: During this seminar participants will:
- Study the rationale for examining student work (ESW) in order to engage a school-based team in ESW during the second semester.
- Acquire expertise in ESW protocols in order to examine, evaluate, interpret and discuss student work.
- Develop skills in order to facilitate the ESW team in their school.
- Create a portfolio of learning, evidence of use, and impact on student achievement. Portfolios will be presented at a final exhibition for others engaging in continuous school improvement.
- Utilize on-line resources to support each other in the ESW process
- Successful Transitions - 9th Grade - Current high school research on student achievement and achievement gaps reveal that an intense focus on ninth grade can provide successful transitions for students. Programs that address a sustained focus on personalization impact student learning and student achievement. This seminar will assist school teams in planning and implementing research-based, results-oriented practices to develop the support students need at the start of their high school experience.
- Outcomes: During this seminar participants will:
- Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to both develop, implement, refine, assess, and revise successful transitions for their students
- Assess current efforts and their ability to improve student learning through attention to teacher/institutional practices
- Establish a timeline and action plan for study and design, implementation, assessment, reflection, and refinement of transition initiatives
- Receive and provide feedback to plans under development
- Successful Transitions - 12th Grade -Current high school research on student achievement and achievement gaps reveal that an intense focus on twelfth grade can provide successful transitions for students. Programs that address a sustained focus on personalization impact student learning and student achievement. This seminar will assist school teams in planning and implementing research-based, results-oriented practices to develop the support students need at the end of their high school experience.
- Outcomes: During this seminar participants will:
- Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to both develop, implement, refine, assess, and revise successful transitions for their students
- Assess current efforts and their ability to improve student learning through attention to teacher/institutional practices
- Establish a timeline and action plan for study and design, implementation, assessment, reflection, and refinement of transition initiatives
- Receive and provide feedback to plans under development
- Partnerships and Work-based Learning: Cornerstones of SLC Development - Smaller Learning Communities thrive, in part, because of the rich and varied resources brought to schools when school, business, parents, associations, post-secondary institutions, and community based organizations establish true partnerships. In addition, many students find the defining experience of their SLC/academy years is the opportunity to develop and practice their employability skills in work-based settings with partners who agree to nurture them to success.
This multi-session seminar, will address both of the above issues, highlighting the nature of partnerships, focusing on matching needs, vision, and resources to commitments, and providing strategies for generating and sustaining partnerships. Time will also be dedicated to laying out a successful program of increasingly comprehensive school-based and work-based programs that have proven successful in the most challenging of the nation's high schools.- Outcomes: During this seminar participants will:
- Develop a deeper understanding of the creation, expansion, and development of school partnerships and work-based learning programs that build students' skills, increase the relevance they experience in curriculum, and lead to better post-secondary experiences.
- Define potential partners and recruitment strategies, creating a strategic plan of implementation
- Outline a comprehensive plan of implementation for work-based learning that will address the needs of all students
- Taking Stock: Using data and reflection to analyze the effects of school reform and to inform decisions - "Taking stock" is a study process where the goal is to engage school teams in practice that analyzes progress through data analysis and reflection, which is a powerful tool in continuous school improvement. School teams will collect, analyze, and reflect on relevant qualitative and quantitative school data.
This multi-session seminar will follow an action research model where participants will learn to facilitate "Taking Stock" (TS)groups in their schools. Through modeling, guided practice and coaching, each participant will develop a portfolio of the effects of (TS) on continuous school improvement. There is an expectation that participants will utilize and practice skills with their TS school-based teams between seminar meetings. On-line support by participants and instructor will be provided on a weekly basis.- Outcomes are intended to guide future work and include:
- Reflection on reform strategies and the impact on student achievement
- Plans for sustaining momentum
- A framework for reflection and analysis
- A plan to align resources to support and sustain continuous school improvement