Working with STRIVE these past two years has been transformative for our school district in so many ways. Three of the most noticeable areas of growth have been in our professional development, our use of data, and our improved instructional delivery.
Our Professional Development is more streamlined than it has ever been; ensuring our learning is supported and continuous between sessions. We have aligned our instructional needs to specific and intentional PD sessions to support teacher improvements. Using our comprehensive needs assessment to drive what our needs are, has helped determine which areas need improvement and ensures we deliver PD that develops teachers’ skills for sustainability long term.
Improving our data skills with STRIVE has given teachers the ability to own their classroom data and made data an integral part of the collaboration amongst teammates and grade-level colleagues. Learning how to unpack our data using the focus folders, and digital data spreadsheets have changed the way our teachers use their benchmark data and has been the catalyst to improving our targeted and intensive support for student achievement.
Developing a deeper understanding of the development of foundational literacy skills as well as disciplinary literacy for secondary students has been a pedagogical shift for many of our teachers; understanding the relationships between content and delivery of explicit instruction. Through this study, we have begun to develop teacher leaders in these areas in order to develop in-district trainers to sustain the knowledge and practices for staff long term.
We look forward to our continued partnership and for continued growth to come!
–Charla
Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Laurel Public School Dist. 7 & 7-70
