Collaboration/PLCs
Interest in the Teacher Residency Model
In a recent news story, NPR's Claudio Sanchez asked, "What if we prepared teachers the same way we prepare doctors?" The story examined the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) program, in which "residents" take a full load of courses at area colleges offering master's degrees in education, followed by "clinical training" in a Boston school with an accomplished teacher. While the BTR’s impact on student achievement remains unclear, its director says that the program has placed more minority teachers in Boston’s public schools and that its graduates tend to remain in teaching much longer than other new teachers. "The secret to their longevity appears to be a really strong support system and camaraderie," he observes. Read the complete story here.
Network Approach at YES
YES Public Schools are a partner district with Houston A+ Challenge. This year, three Regional Principal Leadership Academy (RPLA) interns have been gaining valuable urban leadership experiences on the YES campuses.
At YES Southeast, Destiny Evans, Dean of Instruction and A+ Intern, has been putting theory into practice using the work of Elizabeth A. City, Richard F. Elmore, Sarah E. Fiarman, and Leer Teitel detailed in Instructional Rounds in Education: a Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning.
Ms. Evans, in conjunction with her leadership team, has adjusted the procedures to meet the needs of the campus. Selecting teacher-leaders as facilitators, the groups fall into six categories: high school language arts; high school mathematics; middle school language arts; middle school mathematics; social studies (both levels); and electives. At first, the facilitators met to practice the protocols themselves, as they built trust and cohesiveness as a group. As the practice began in the classrooms, teachers received feedback on instructional methodology and the administration was able to identify trends in the classrooms, which provide the basis for discussion and improvement. The campus is developing a new level of collegiality as a result of this work.
School Reform Initiative, Inc
An offshoot of the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF), the School Reform Initiative, Inc. focuses on the professional learning of educators through collaboration, best practice sharing and reflection. Schools interested in pursuing teacher-centered professional development models can find many valuable resources here.
Teachers Teaching Teachers
Don’t take our word for it. Here’s great example of how teacher-centered professional development in Portland, Oregon is having lasting effects on teacher performance and improvement. Rethinking Schools
Professional Development = Reflection and Relationship-Building
21st Century Collaborative blogger Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach argues that technology only makes collaboration and reflection easier. In a recent Education Week essay, she writes: "The more I use web tools to connect and collaborate with colleagues, the more convinced I am that reflection and relationship-building are the keys for teachers striving to develop their practice and adapt to changing learning needs. Increasingly, other educators are having this realization as well." Check out the entire piece here.
Get Started in Cambridge
If you want a great way to start engaging in reflective practice, join the School Reform Initiative at their winter conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this January. Conference participants share their own work, give and receive feedback, reflect on the art of teaching, and learn new ways to facilitate meaningful collaboration. For more information, visit the School Reform Initiative website.
Reflective Practice: More Than a Catch Phrase
Reflective practice isn't just a catch phrase, a sound bite or one in a long line of trends. Instead, it calls on teachers to pause and look at the work they are doing, reflect on it and improve. Since its inception, Houston A+ Challenge has held reflective practice as a key piece in improving schools.
Over the last year, A+ has conducted a series of focus groups in local schools to gather data on what teachers in the Houston metro area would like out of professional development.
A+ Examples of Collaboration
Ask 10 people in the A+ office to define collaboration, and you may get 10 different answers. And at A+, that's just what we want.
Since its inception in 1997, Houston A+ Challenge has worked to make meaningful collaboration a part of the everyday practice among diverse educators and others passionate about education. Whether it's the Preparing to Dream initiative connecting local educators with National College Access Network (NCAN) expertise to get more kids into college, or the Principal Leadership Academy developing educators at all levels into powerful leaders, Houston A+ seeks to bring a sense of shared purpose around important education issues.
Collaboration in the Field: Stovall Academy
The word collaboration gets tossed around quite a bit these days. Businesses emphasize cross-department collaboration, community organizations see the value in it, and district offices use it as a battle cry. But how does it translate on a school campus? For the answer, check out Stovall Academy for Environmental Studies in Aldine ISD.
