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Preparing NEW Teachers to Meet the Learning Needs of Students

August 6, 2019 by cliweb

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As the summer break from the classroom challenges continues, it is time to reflect on how to best prepare novice and new teachers for the school year ahead. After hiring a teacher, a school district has an obligation to make every effort to assure the students assigned to the new teacher’s classroom will have the best possible opportunity to learn and grow.

There are many factors that encourage new teachers to leave the classroom. Besides the usual culprits of low salary, extreme demands on time, frustration with the challenges of motivating students, there are factors that can and should be addressed by the district before the school year starts. Support before the school year prepares new hires or novice teachers for the challenges to face them and, perhaps, encourages the new teacher to stay as an effective classroom teacher and a contributing member of the professional community of the district.

According to Kendyll Stansbury and Joy Zimmerman in the WestEd publication Designing Support for Beginning Teachers, “A third of beginning teachers quit within their first three years on the job. We cannot stand for this kind of dropout rate among students, and we can no longer afford it in our teaching ranks. … What lifelines can we offer so they will remain in the profession and develop into highly effective classroom educators?”

How can districts capitalize on the time available to make sure new teachers are ready for the challenges facing them?

In designing such an opportunity for your new teachers, there are considerations other schools or districts have added to their programs. The following list of priorities is compiled from recommendations and discussions from Susan Totaro and Mark Wise of West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in New Jersey, Stansbury and Zimmerman from WestEd, David Goldblatt of SwingEducation, and new teacher orientation agendas prepared by Curriculum Leadership Institute Consultants.

Professional development orientation that emphasizes the district’s vision for learning
Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues
Meet a wide variety of district stakeholders (including students)
Teachers experience being treated as the district expects students to be treated
Exposure to the expectations for student learning
How data are used in their classroom and in collaboration with colleagues
Procedural policies for classroom management
Available instructional resources and their intended use
Discussion of established district or school adopted and expected instructional strategies
District policies for curriculum development and implementation requirements
How and where to access the district curriculum and assessments
How to participate in feedback for curriculum improvement
Build “communities” of experienced colleagues for support and advice

A common mistake in “new teacher orientation” plans is to try to deliver as much information as possible for procedures that will occur throughout the year. While every district has its own structures for new teacher orientation, the cited authors all cautioned against packing the orientation time with deadlines and rules that can be communicated later in the year.

Clearly, a new teacher who has thoroughly interacted with the district’s Vision and Mission and identified the district’s learning expectations of all students starts the school year with a clear picture of how to best serve the students assigned to them!

Second Cycle Curriculum Writing

July 2, 2019 by cliweb

Most school districts have a “cycle” for revising curriculum, so that each subject is reviewed every five to six years. The first cycle takes the longest because the curriculum must be created – a Subject Area Committee (SAC) must make decisions about what is most important and what will be required of all students. Subsequent cycles usually take less time because our starting point is the existing curriculum, which has been implemented and assessed for a period of time. However, there are still several considerations to be made as a curriculum is reviewed anew. We still need to consider state or national standards (which may have changed), and we need to gather teacher input. Now, we also have curriculum for other subject areas, which may not have been completed when the target subject was first written. The existence of these additional curricula allows us to look more thoroughly for cross-curricular support than we might have been able to do in the first cycle.

Below are some recommended steps for a second (or subsequent) cycle of reviewing and revising curriculum.

Gather information about what currently exists.
- Complete a crosswalk from the old standards to the new to determine the amount of change that may have occurred since the previous cycle. Make note of these changes.
- Survey teachers of the subject to determine concerns with the current curriculum or suggestions for improvement.
- Review data of student performance to identify areas that need improvement and determine if the curriculum is sufficient. (If it is determined that curriculum is not the root of the problem, then the SAC will need to consider instructional causes and identify possible professional development needs.)
- Examine curricula that have been implemented in other subject areas to identify where cross-curricular connections might be improved, or assessment items (especially at the elementary level) can serve more than one curricular area, thereby reducing the number of assessments.
- Identify courses that may need to be added, removed, or modified. (For instance, the addition of a compluter applications course at elementary or middle level may make the existing entry-level high school computer applications course unnecessary.)
Make any necessary course changes according to information gathered.
Review and update the subject mission and purpose statements.
Add, remove, or make changes to outcomes and components as warranted, and recode to align to updated state standards.
Identify where common assessments are affected by the curriculum changes and make adjustments to the assessments.
Request professional development where data indicate a need.
Evaluate existing resources for their appropriateness to the revised curriculum, and request new or additional resources if needed.
Present changes to the Curriculum Coordinating Council for approval and recommendation to the Board.

Districts that have used the CLI Model for the first cycle are accustomed to using large sheets of butcher paper on the wall, with color-coded strands for curriculum topics. Most districts find this is not really necessary in a second cycle, since they are using the existing curriculum as the starting point. However, some CLI districts have found it helpful to make large-size copies of their curriculum and cut it apart. They then highlight outcomes and components in color by strand so they can track standards across grade levels.

Depending on the extent of revision necessary or the quality of the assessments in place, the tasks listed above may take one school year or more, if necessary. Some SACs may find their task can be completed in less than a school year if there are few changes required.

Does Your Local Curriculum Pass the “Local” Test?

June 4, 2019 by cliweb

Examine any state standards document closely and you will find a statement similar to this one from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, page 5:

“These standards do not dictate curriculum or teaching methods.”

If all states and all content areas agree that you should not be using the state standards document as your curriculum, the first question you must answer is, how are your state standards being used within your district? Has the local curriculum been developed? Developing local curriculum can take many different forms. Some districts buy a canned curriculum (which we would actually call a resource). Some simply take the state standards and ask individual teachers or individual grade levels to identify which parts of the standards they will use in their classrooms. Other districts have committees of teachers who actually go through a process to create local curriculum.

Does your district truly have a local curriculum? Answer the following questions to see…

Does your staff use a curriculum document other than the state standards or a canned curriculum?
Is it clear when the document was created and by whom?
Is it clear who is responsible for using the document and where a copy can be obtained?
- Is it on the district website or is a digital or hard copy K-12 version available in each building?
- Do parents and board members have access to the document?
- Are teachers encouraged to find and use the latest version to drive instruction (or are copies provided for them)?
- If there are pre-K classes, do those teachers have a copy of the kindergarten curriculum?
- Do Title I and Special Education teachers have copies of multiple grade levels?
Has the format of the local curriculum been explained, as well as differences in format from other subject documents?
- Were all state-tested indicators included and marked in such a way as to be easily identified?
- Were decisions made K-12 about which indicators (other than state-tested ones) to include at each grade level?
- Were some district-only indicators written at the local level?
- Are there appendix pages?
- Has formatting such as the use of bold, underlined, and italic fonts been used consistently to enhance readability and understanding of the curriculum?
- Is there a glossary?
- Are there instructional examples?
Is each item listed in the curriculum considered “non-negotiable” for each grade level?
Are both the state-tested items and the non-state-tested items considered “non-negotiable”?
Is it an expectation that students will be assessed over each item?
Was there a “pilot” or implementation year for the new local curriculum?
- Was emphasis placed on instruction of the new curriculum?
- Was the curriculum considered in draft status until the end of the implementation year?
- Was teacher feedback gathered throughout the year regarding the curriculum, materials needed, staff development needed, and classroom assessments used?
- At the end of the year, was the curriculum updated and presented as a final document?
Is the local curriculum expected to guide instructional decisions and pacing?

Communicate and Celebrate Another Great Year!

May 7, 2019 by cliweb

It is amazing how quickly a school year goes by! Often, we feel like there is not enough time to complete all of the tasks we planned. But if you are staying true to your Long Range Plan, it’s a sure bet that you’ve been improving throughout the year and should communicate and celebrate the work that’s been done!

For an effective activity to reflect on your committee’s achievements, try addressing “Where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we going?” Post three large pieces of paper around the room (poster size if you have it), with one of the headings “Where have we been?” “Where are we now?” or “Where are we going,” divide your committee into three groups, and assign each group one of the posters, and, consequently, one of the questions. Ask them to think about the question to which they are assigned and write their answers on the poster. Then, you can either ask the groups to share out now, or they can rotate posters and add to them before sharing out. Make sure to have someone record this information in the minutes and communicate it to the rest of the district, and even the public!

Not everyone can sit in on your committee work and may, therefore, misunderstand the intent, or even the results, of your work. Take the time to communicate your successes to the rest of your stakeholders. Make sure to do this in multiple ways; perhaps in a staff meeting, through email updates, on your website, and even in the newspaper. Make your community proud of the great work that you are doing to improve teaching and learning!

Do not forget to have meaningful celebrations for those who are doing the hard work. During the last day of committee work hold a potluck lunch, or cater it if you have the funds. On the last day of school for teachers, use the last hour or so to thank all teachers for the work they’ve done. Bring food (of course!) and make an example out of the teachers who did excellent work. Perhaps award them with some school swag like a shirt, hat, or jacket with the school logo. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you point out the specific things you’re celebrating. It’s ineffective for you to leave the recognition with a blanket statement like, “Thank you for all you do for our students.” Make sure your celebration is meaningful.

Photo credit: Jason Leung

Use School District Experts for Local Professional Development

April 2, 2019 by cliweb

Here is How and Why it Works

Similar to meeting the varying needs of students in the classroom, it is also difficult to meet the staff development needs of teachers within a school building or throughout a district. Some teachers are more experienced in the area of technology while others are well versed in classroom management. Why not utilize the individual strengths of staff while providing local professional development? The simple solution is to have resident specialists share their expertise with their peers in a casual, learning environment of his/her classroom.

A starting point for this process is to have each teacher designate his or her professional strengths. Some teachers are naturally more comfortable at presenting in front of others so make sure to ask if they would be willing to share those skills with their peers. Then, have teachers identify some areas where they want to grow. If the instructional coach or professional development leader is already aware of some areas of need, then a checklist can be created in advance so the teacher can complete and return it to the building leader. A Google Form is a quick and convenient way to gather this information.

Once the building leader identifies the top areas for training, provide the teachers with a list of five to six topics. Have each teacher identify his/her top priority in the topic list
with a one, followed by the second choice with a two, etc. This information is used to determine the top four topics. Save those with fewer votes for future professional development. The next step is to ask the willing staff members to provide a mini-lesson over key points of the topic. Some, especially areas of technology, may involve a team teaching atmosphere, so keep in mind there could be more than one teacher comfortable providing instruction in a high priority area. Do not leave out possible leaders. Newer and veteran teachers can provide fresh ideas and best practices for sharing.

Providing the presenters adequate planning time for their mini-lessons is essential, too. Schools have funds set aside for professional development, so use some of this money for a floating sub to cover classes throughout a day, to provide an extra plan time, or draw on after-school hourly pay to compensate the presenters for their preparation work.

As teachers, we have to remember that giving our students too much information at a time can often be overwhelming to our learners. When planning the staff development mini-lessons, twenty-five minutes is just enough of a sample to keep educators’ interest without losing them. Half-days of professional development are ideal for this format. A sample schedule appears below showing how four groups rotate through each session.

There are times when it is necessary to bring in the experts, but sometimes the experts are already there. Not only is this type of staff development cost-effective, but it also provides an opportunity to build support networks across a district. Having a local expert available allows additional support opportunities for reinforcement. Consider the following suggestions for follow-up:

1. In a staff meeting, have teachers share how the implementation of the new information impacted their classrooms.

2. Provide an opportunity for those interested in learning more to observe the presenter using the content, technology, or strategy in action.

3. Designate a question/answer time at the next professional development day for learners to ask further questions of the presenters.

All of these suggestions can help teachers keep new skills fresh. When educators are allowed to assist with the planning, implementation, and follow-up of their professional development opportunities, they will be more likely to use the knowledge and skills to increase student achievement.

Results from the 2018 Phi Delta Kappa Poll

March 5, 2019 by cliweb

As teachers work to meet higher demand in the classroom and schools/districts struggle to meet increasing demands from the public, the PDK annual poll provides interesting perspectives. The 50th Annual Poll of the Public’s Attitude Toward the Public Schools, conducted by Phi Delta Kappa, surveys a random representative sample of more than a thousand adults. The poll asks many of the same questions every year with others added as the topics and concerns regarding public education change over time. This practice provides historical data and trends regarding the state of public education as well as insight into emerging concerns.

Of course, how the various respondents feel about their schools depends upon their personal experiences as students, the level of education reached, and the perceived experience of their children, as well as their political leanings and their socioeconomic status. Some trends have been consistent over the 50 years the poll has been conducted. The four most consistent factors listed as the biggest problems facing schools are lack of discipline, lack of financial support, use of drugs, and fighting/gang violence. While respondents cited each of the four multiple times, lack of discipline and lack of financial support have led the way with the most concern. From the early ‘70s to the mid-‘80s, the polls reflected the concern with a lack of discipline in the public schools. From 2002 to the present, the polls reflect that the biggest problem facing local schools is the lack of financial support.

The latest results indicated that 66% of respondents felt that teacher pay is too low (a new high in that area) with only 6% of respondents indicating they feel that teacher pay is too high (the highest number of respondents feeling salaries are too high are in the Northeast area of the United States where teacher salaries are the highest in the country). In response to actions that might be used to remediate this situation 78% of participants said they would support teacher walk-outs to bring attention to the issue. They cite the underpayment of teachers as the number one reason they would discourage their children from entering the teaching profession.

With more and more focus directed at differentiation in the classroom, Americans indicated they feel differentiation in school funding should also occur. 60% indicate that they would support spending more money on those identified as needing more support than more funding across the board. However, lack of adequate school funding has been identified as one of the issues most impacting quality of education nearly every year since the poll began 50 years ago.

Fifty-five percent of respondents say students do not get as strong of an education as they received when in school. However, the
response is different when talking about how the current education is rated. While respondents identified job preparation as weaker now than in “their day,” college preparation, critical thinking, and providing a good education for all received higher marks than ever before.

Overall, even though schools continue to have an “image problem,” 61% expressed trust and confidence in public school teachers, and 78%
feel that the nation should continue working at reforming the public school system rather than replacing it. Those two votes of confidence indicate that public schools have more positives than negatives. They also indicate that there is work still to be done to meet all students’ needs through public schools.

For a thorough breakdown of the data collected and a discussion of the implications of that data, see the full descriptions at pdkpoll.org.

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Here is How and Why it Works

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