Getting CONNECT-ED in Montgomery Township

Presentation of Learning Amy Wish Kari McGann JoAnn Zisa June 30, 2011

CONNECT-ED in Montgomery Expanding Leadership Team, 2 BILDers Participation in Consortium Leadership Team Annual Conference Presenters/Participants 4 BIM Design Teams, Math BIM developed in Phase II CON-QUEST participation, presenters and attendees 4 CONNECT-ED funded PLCs CONNECT-ED workshops developed and offered CONNECT-ED Big Ideas Thinking influences K-12 Math and Science Curriculum Development and the creation of Common Assessment Systems- Formative and Summative Direct Impact on 80 out of 450 teachers, Less formal impact on 190 out of 450 teachers.

A commitment to continuing CONNECT-ED at least K-6

The Past

Elementary Level (K-4) PLC training provided to all staff by Leadership Team and “Stand Tall Steve” laying the groundwork PLC groups formed and met SMART goal training (K-2) Cross grade level coaching

The Past

Middle School Level (5-8) Introduced PLC philosophy Formed a PLT of 6 th grade math teachers Designed and implemented action research:

What impact do collaborative goals have on the work and disposition of a Professional Learning Team?

Introduced Collaborative Norms as a means to ensure constructive dialogue (Garmston) Cross grade level coaching

The Past

High School Level (9-12) Formed a CLT of 9-12 th grade math teachers HS Math CLT presented at CONNECT-ED Summer Institute (June 2010) Designed and Presented Science Proficiencies (visual dialoguing and protocols) Workshop focusing on Big Ideas for 9-12 Science teachers

Successfully Navigating the Obstacles

District Priorities for Professional Development Time Lacking Supportive Conditions for Successful PLCs (time, resources, shared vision) Changes in district leadership and overall staffing Scary to find out we don’t deeply understand what we teach- SMART goals helped

Imprint

Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings guiding our teaching Collaborative study through PLCs are now a preferred form of Professional Development Assessment design to uncover misconceptions and design of targeted instruction based on student understandings and how content builds K-8 Understanding of why standards matter and the ability to unpack the standards What we’ve learned in Connect-Ed is directly applicable to our classroom environments PLC protocol and Big Idea influence on Response to Intervention and PAC process

Impact

Curriculum Documents that reflect Big Idea thinking K-12 Professional Learning Community development within grade levels- building leadership capacity (about 45 teachers) Teachers are more comfortable with the big ideas in math and science and how they develop throughout grade levels

The Future

Additional cross grade level CONNECT-ED PLCs to begin in September Focus on Student Work to impact teacher work.

Big Idea Professional Development as new curriculum is introduced and implemented Possible creation of Mini-BIMs to provide opportunities to learn content expected in Common Core standards Teachers requesting CONNECT-ED style PLCs for Language Arts Possible Consortium networking around common tasks and assessments that develop the Big Ideas for students