Professional Development Mission and Vision

1. ESL Program RetreatMarconi Conference Center, MarinFebruary 27-28, 2009“Moving Forward Together”

2. Professional Development Mission and Vision • Focus on learning • Increasing interdependence • Foundation: Essential learning outcomes identified for common ground for teachers to collaborate effectively around student learning • Transparency around what students must know and be able to do at each level

3. Commitment to Continuous Improvement • Teams engaged in ongoing cycles of continuous improvement • Appreciation of collective synergy, imagination, spirit, inspiration • Commitment to constantly expand our competence to achieve desired learning for students

4. Collaboration • Embedded structural and collaborative culture with a focus on learning • Working primarily as “grade level” teams to analyze and impact practice in order to improve individual and collective results for students

5. Collaboration • Shared responsibility for student learning through regular teamwork – learning, investigation, development, experimentation, looking critically at results and adjusting instruction accordingly • Working together toward common purpose • High degree of autonomy of teacher teams around the same courses/students taught

6. Collective Inquiry • Reflective dialogue and inquiry into effective practices and curriculum • Collective problem solving; Results = student learning • Results not satisfactory? Regroup, analyze, plan different approach. • Common formative assessments

7. Collective Inquiry • Critical Friends: challenge and question our practices in respectful, spirited, supportive ways • Lesson study • Question, search, analyze, develop, test and evaluate new skills, strategies, awareness, attitudes and beliefs that promote learning

8. Supportive and Shared Leadership • Learning at all levels • Shared responsibility, shared accountability, shared leadership • Supporting teacher leadership • Trust, respect, openness • Authorship

9. Supportive Conditions • Program planning • Consistency of curricula, materials • Resources – primarily time and money - to collaborate • Reduced isolation, increased capacity, caring and productive environment, program improvement

10. Supportive Conditions • Students get additional support for learning through systematic interventions • Teachers get targeted support for implementing practices

11. Results Orientation • Effectiveness is based on student results; results show whether students have learned essential curriculum • Results of common formative assessments are shared among team members • Ongoing common formative assessments are used in consistent ways to facilitate improved learning

12. Jacques’ Perceptions – Where can we improve? • Increasing focus on student learning as the starting point and the goal • Increasing inquiry skills – disciplined inquiry • Increasing facilitation and collaboration skills • Relaxing with the practice of ongoing, long-term collaboration and not settling for workshops or sharing

13. Jacques’ Perceptions – Where can we improve? • Using time more effectively and efficiently • Assessing for learning • Making assessment a manageable, meaningful, integrated, shared part of our work • Addressing fewer challenges at a time and making sure they are the most important ones

14. The Heart of the Matter • Exactly what is it that we want all students to learn? What exactly is the essential knowledge? What exactly are the essential skills? • How will we know when each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills? How to assess and how to measure competence or mastery? • What responses occur in our program when students do not learn?

15. Closing Questions What questions do you have? What resonates with you? What challenges you?