2012-13+Implementation

The key to successful professional development is the implementation of the learning. Each academy school should now have between 8-10 teachers and administrators trained in the model. The question is what to do next? If the intent is to leverage this to the rest of the staff, you might consider the following:
 * Use the MRL trained staff as instructional leaders - they can chair implementation teams.
 * Divide the staff into implementation teams that can meet on a regular basis - you might have these chaired by the trained staff. If meeting time is tight, you might group the teams by their plan period.
 * Plan the entire year - it's easier to follow through if you put things on the calendar and know when they will be done. ESU 6 staff can help with this - take a look at the following sample:
 * Early fall
 * Decide if there will be focus areas; it would be a good idea to get a team of teacher leaders in on this discussion.
 * Let the teachers know the purpose and how they will receive feedback.
 * Teachers can also complete the self assessment based on the Teachers Reflective Guide
 * Teacher orientation and training on techniques they can readily try - about 3 hours in length. Teachers should walk away feeling like this is something they can do, and with plenty of ideas.
 * Teams meet to discuss what they will try in their classrooms and when they will report - this could be the last hour of the orientation/training time.
 * First Semester - many of these things will be going on simultaneously
 * Monthly team meetings to reflect on the instructional strategies they have tried in their classrooms. An administrator might want to attend these to show support and keep the momentum going. A protocol form is good for this.
 * Schedule the ESU staff for two extended sessions (2 or more hours) to provide new techniques. Spread the two training sessions out to chunk the content The key is to give the teachers lots of ideas to try.
 * Principals conduct walkthroughs and provide feedback to the teachers. We suggest you use the electronic form so the data is also collected.
 * Principals meet once a month to discuss the feedback they provided from the walkthroughs. This is important professional development for principals as well.
 * Teachers video tape a class or portion of a class and self assess. This is VERY powerful.
 * Teachers set instructional goals by the end of September. While this is arbitrary - they would have plenty of time to implement strategies to meet their goal. These goals could be tied to SMART goals, or to action research.
 * Conduct student focus group interviews, or survey students about the prevalent instructional strategies. This is a great way to get baseline data on what is happening in the classroom. This data can be used a variety of ways - we recommend more student data collection during second semester.
 * At (or near ) the end of the semester:
 * Principals analysis of walkthrough data with staff - a great way to discuss what is happening across the school - this can also be used to set professional development goals for second semester.
 * Teachers analyze action research or SMART goal data
 * Teachers complete another self assessment.
 * Second Semester
 * ESU 6 staff provide another 2-3 hour session on instructional techniques - again providing lots of ideas.
 * Teachers video tape a class or portion of a class and self assess.
 * Teachers also meet again with their team to decide what they will work on next.
 * Teachers revise their goals as necessary - most likely by the end of January this should be ready.
 * Monthly meetings are set for reflection.
 * Implement Instructional Rounds:
 * Train the round leaders - this can be done by ESU 6 staff and would require 2-3 hours.
 * Conduct the rounds during February, March and April - each teacher should have the opportunity to go on rounds. If you are using planning period teams in the secondary, rounds can be done without subs.
 * Principals continue to meet to discuss feedback and analyze data
 * Conduct student focus group interviews, or survey students about the prevalent instructional strategies.
 * At (or near) the end of second semester:
 * Principals analysis of walkthrough data with staff - a great way to discuss what is happening across the school - this can also be used to set professional development goals for second semester.
 * Analyze student focus group/survey data - compare to semester one.
 * Teachers analyze action research or SMART goal data
 * Teachers complete another self assessment.
 * Celebrate!!