New School Today
Effective Collaboration: STEP
Teachers are modeling the power of collaboration in the Strategic Teaching and Evaluation of Progress, or STEPTM, program, developed by the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute (UEI) to transform reading instruction in the early elementary grades.
STEP uses research to define the individual steps that make up a successful reading pathway. Individuals and teams of teachers can track student progress via the program's "data walls," which show at a glance how students are doing individually, as well as at the classroom, grade, and school levels. Teams work together to determine whether students are making sufficient progress.
This kind of data enables teacher teams and administrators to create effective solutions at all levels. For example, at one school, team analysis identified that many teachers were struggling to help students with their silent reading skills. Focused professional development was provided, and student performance soared.
In another school, a group of students was identified for additional support, and volunteers were brought in to tutor those who were struggling. In a third school, parents were engaged to support their children with skill-building activities in the home. A fourth school identified an issue at the classroom level, and peer observers provided mentoring and coaching to the teacher to get the classroom back on track.
Likewise, exemplary classroom-level progress allows teacher teams and administrators to identify teachers who are particularly strong. These teachers are called upon to model strategies, share expertise with other teams, and provide the leadership needed to run the STEP program independently over time. Some teams have developed their own resources, such as a video library of real lessons that teachers can use as they do their planning. In these ways, STEP promoted adaptations, collaboration, and creativity from teachers, rather than allowing instructional tools to be used as one-size-fits-all short-cuts.
Overcoming systemic barriers: Lack of Time
Because STEP coordinators needed lots of teacher time to get this kind of deep collaborative work going, STEP chose to build its model in charter schools, with their more flexible schedules, before branching out to more traditional schools.
STEP also asked partners to allow themselves to be monitored to make sure teachers were staying true to the model as designed. In return, STEP coordinators listened to administrators and teachers about which modules and monitoring techniques were absolutely crucial to achieving expected results. During the initial two years, pilot teachers really pushed the design process and helped whittle the hours needed to implement STEP from 90 hours to 60.
In STEP's third year, the program expanded to Chicago Public Schools and is now active in more than 80 public schools in Illinois, as well as Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and elsewhere. For more information, see http://uei.uchicago.edu/innovation/step/
Shared Leadership — The Case of District 214
The teachers at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois demonstrate that teacher leaders and teacher teams can support administrators to work toward common goals. When the administration and faculty are united in their purpose, the whole school benefits.
At Hersey, teacher leaders use student gains on common assessments such as the EXPLORE-PLAN-ACT series, as well as results from aligned classroom-based assessments, to collaborate across subject matter and grade levels. Working in teams, Hersey teachers develop curricula and assessments based on national college- and career-readiness standards, share results, and problem solve – focusing everyone’s work on how to help Hersey students progress.
For example, a teacher team led by Hersey’s Social Studies department chair Paul Kelly took a hard look at what student skills were required in an Advanced Placement World History course. The teachers then embedded those skills – and their aligned assessments – into the “regular” History course. This kind of alignment improved teaching and learning for everyone, while offering the added benefit of opening up AP coursework to more students as they became accustomed to the rigor and skills required.
Hersey’s shared leadership and collaborative systems are working for administrators, teachers and students:
- The school is exceeding its annual student progress goals based on national standards;
- Teachers support one another’s work, lightening everyone’s load; and most importantly,
- All Hersey students show gains – even freshmen with the lowest scores entering high school graduate from Hersey with increases in ACT scores that are double or even triple what would be expected. (i)
Overcoming systemic barriers: Disciplinary silos
Achieving such results isn’t easy, of course. Mr. Kelly cautions that “without clear and understood student-centered goals, no amount of shared leadership or teacher collaboration will have any measurable effect on student performance.” He adds that in setting goals, teachers – and high school teachers, in particular – need to learn to operate outside their disciplinary "silos" – like English or Social Studies – and see themselves as teachers of skills rather than content. Once teachers are able to recognize that it is the students’ needs that must drive teaching decisions, they are able to lead and purposefully collaborate with colleagues both inside and outside of their own curricular area.
Professional Learning and Growth: ICLCS
Teachers love to learn, too. "What is more exciting for a teacher than to be on the cutting edge of her specialty?" asks Sheila Stephens, a high school science teacher at the Illinois School for the Deaf in Jacksonville. Sometimes, however, getting access to new technology and recent research can be tough. For example, in far-flung rural districts, a science teacher may be the lone expert in a building (or even within a 50-mile radius), with little opportunity to enhance his or her teaching practices.
To keep current, Ms. Stephens relies on an innovative professional development program - the Illinois Institute for Chemistry Literacy through Computational Science (ICLCS.) ICLCS takes a rigorous approach to professional learning and growth - using a curriculum designed in collaboration with teachers themselves. A partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the National Center of Supercomputing Applications, ICLCS helps rural high school chemistry teachers stay current in their fields by giving them access to new technologies and up-to-date scientific research.
At the heart of ICLCS is the summer institute, involving three two-week training sessions over three consecutive summers. Teachers at the institutes learn in teams using cutting-edge computational science tools, which they then use to open up new avenues for student learning.
Teachers also refresh their knowledge of chemistry, plan lessons, and learn new modes of instruction to prepare their students for the demands of 21st century careers. After the summer institutes, teachers participate in on-going distance learning activities, keeping in touch via a virtual environment. In exchange, teachers receive a $2,000 stipend and three credit hours every year for three years.
The results are big gains in both student and teacher learning. Students of ICLCS teachers outperform peers in chemistry content knowledge (as measured by the American Chemistry Society Examination). They also request and enroll in more honors-level and AP chemistry courses. In fact, since ICLCS started, such course offerings have doubled in schools with teachers involved in the program.i
Overcoming systemic barriers: Lack of Technology
At the Illinois School for the Deaf, a lack of adequate technology could have represented a barrier to implementation. But administrators were willing to install the necessary equipment and Internet access teachers needed to take full advantage of the ICLCS on-line materials. Not all teachers are so lucky. Broadband access is an issue for many rural schools and can make participation in this kind of virtual professional learning community impossible. For more information about the ICLCS program, see http://iclcs.illinois.edu/index.php/home
Evolving Careers: Creating Innovative Paths in Chicago and Effingham
In Illinois today, there are teachers who are enabling student learning outside their classroom walls. These teachers are using their expertise and experience to help students achieve real-world results and are creating programs that can be replicated in other schools.
Kevin Rutter of Carl Schurz High School in Chicago has taken his career to the next level through his leadership of the school's Business, Finance and Careers Academy. Mr. Rutter began his career as a social studies teacher. In addition to that role, he now coordinates the work of three other teachers in a small learning community.; recruits students for the three year program; and manages employer partnerships that result in paid internships and job shadowing opportunities for students. We should also mention that he was named Illinois' 2010 Teacher of the Year.
In downstate Effingham County, a high school course called Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) has transformed teaching careers through the efforts of two other award winning teachers, Joe Fatheree and Craig Lindvahl. While on a one-year sabbatical as 2007 Illinois Teacher of the Year, Mr. Fatheree, together with a local businessman, launched a hands-on business course that is now available to every 11th and 12th grader in Effingham County. That course is taught by Mr. Lindvahl.
When Mr. Lindvahl was recruited to become the instructor, he was given the leeway to shape the course. Local businesses fund the program and support students as they visit dozens of area businesses, learn from professionals, write business plans, and start their own businesses. Last year, the 25 student businesses included wholesale purses, portable fire pits, and a business that converts vehicles to run on natural gas.
"When you create an environment where students are excited about learning, where they participate in the learning, where there is a compelling need to learn, the results are far beyond anything you could set as a goal," says Mr. Lindvahl. Mr. Lindvahl is actually in front of students 90 minutes per day, with the remainder of his day spent coordinating class activities and working with the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship to replicate CEO in other school districts.
Overcoming systemic barriers: Student Scheduling
By refusing to settle for static teaching careers, these outstanding teachers have taken student learning into the real world. But, like their peers, they have encountered barriers. According to Mr. Fatheree, "New mandates make it more difficult for students to take a class like CEO. Over the last couple of years, I have heard more and more students complain about not having enough room in their schedules to take elective classes." Mr. Rutter is likewise frustrated that motivated students have a hard time squeezing in Finance Academy courses; he sometimes finds that an antiquated scheduling system leaves students in the wrong classes for weeks on end.
For more information on CEO, see http://www.effinghamCEO.com
For more information on Schurz High School Finance Academy, see http://bit.ly/ucfwCk
Transforming Teacher Work Around The World
i Township High School District 214, Evaluation research and policy studies [Web page], retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.d214.org/research/.
