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

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

3. 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? Why was it done?
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: Teams were divided by grades
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 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 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 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!