22^nd Annual HSTW Staff Development Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops
July 7 - 9, 2008

P-1. Institute for Leading Technical Assistance Visits (2.5 days, by invitation only) $250

Note: Participants must be nominated by their HSTW/MMGW State Coordinator to attend.

This institute is for local, district and state leaders selected by their HSTW state coordinator to lead Technical Assistance Visits in their home state. State coordinators will give their recommendations to the SREB State Services staff. Participants MUST have already served on a TAV team prior to attending this institute. To become certified as a technical assistance team leader an individual must attend the institute, serve on a subsequent technical assistance team, and write two acceptable reports.

Objectives:

Participants will learn how to:

• lead a Technical Assistance Visit team.

• gather data related to schools and classrooms.

• write a report that provided recommendations for school improvement.

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P-2. Developing Master Teachers (1.5 days, by invitation only) $225

Note: Participants must be nominated by their principal or district office supervisor to attend.

The intent of this workshop is to prepare teachers and school leaders from HSTW/MMGW network schools who are able to get ordinary students to perform at exceptionally high levels to become trainers of other teachers. Participants in the workshop must be teachers nominated by their school district office or school principal with accompanying evidence that their students are significantly out-performing others on grade-level or end-of-course exams. The workshop will help teachers determine what they do that makes them more successful and to develop a 10-hour workshop to teach other teachers in their school or district how to adopt their most successful practices.

Objectives: Participants will:

• identify their classroom management practices, instructional planning, teaching strategies, student assignments, classroom assessments and other practices that contribute to their success.

• develop a training plan with identified materials using adult learning theory to teach other teachers in their school and district to adapt their proven approaches to classroom instruction.

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P-3: Getting Teacher Assignments to Grade Level (1.5 days) $225

Two strands:
P-3a. High School
P-3b. Middle Grades

Many students in both middle grades and high school are given assignments below grade level. Rewriting assignments and assessments so they are at grade level or above has been proven to raise student achievement, but teachers must work together to agree on what “grade level” looks like. Participants in this workshop will be asked to bring copies of sample assignments and classroom assessments and will use a score sheet to compare them with grade-level indicators. They will rewrite their assignments and assessments so that they meet grade-level expectations and readiness indicators for the next level.

Objectives: Participants will:

• use a set of indicators to determine if current assignments and assessments are below, at, or above grade level.

• rewrite existing assignments and assessments to raise the level of rigor.

• learn strategies for leading other teachers in analyzing teacher assignments and assessments to see if they engage students in higher-level, intellectually challenging work.

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P-4. Leading the HSTW/MMGW Effort: The Role of Principals and Site Coordinators (1.5 days) $225

The building principal and the site coordinator are key figures in the implementation of the HSTW and MMGW designs. They must be able to clearly communicate the HSTW/MMGW Key Practices to various stakeholder groups, set up and support focus teams recommended by SREB, and engage the faculty in using data to determine changes needed in school and classroom practices to improve achievement and high school graduation rates. This workshop will provide school leaders an opportunity to learn how to lead staff in the implementation of the HSTW/MMGW school improvement design.

Objectives: Participants will:

• examine strategies for getting the faculty to take ownership of the school’s challenges.

• learn how to work with faculty to implement the HSTW/MMGW design.

• study how to use the HSTW/MMGW Assessment data to improve school and classroom practices.

• learn how to develop and implement an effective professional development plan.

• critique where they stand in implementing the components of the HSTW/MMGW design and identify gaps to focus on next year.

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P-5. Developing Programs of Study in Broad Career Pathways to Prepare Students to Meet College- and Career-Readiness Standards (1.5 days) $225

Participants will examine components and principles of an effective program of study pathway. They will develop a philosophy on creating program of study pathways that provide students opportunities to apply academic skills and to deepen their understanding of academic concepts through authentic problems and projects. They will develop one optional program of study pathway to take back to their schools to include descriptions for career/technical courses and identified anchor assignments in career/technical courses that can be the basis of integrating academic and technical studies and will identify ways academic and career/technical teachers can work together to support students.

Objectives: Participants will:

• look at the organizational structure, school climate, and other components needed to implement program of study pathways that will enable career/technical and academic teachers to work together.

• design programs of study around broad career pathways in high-demand, high-wage fields and develop the descriptions for career/technical courses leading to a bachelor’s degree or employer-recognized certification.

• develop anchor assignments around authentic problems and projects that will require students to apply academic knowledge and skills to complete.

• prepare information for parents on how program of study pathways with a career focus can deepen academic learning, add relevance to students’ high school experiences, and prepare them for college and a career.

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P-6. Teaching Mathematics Embedded in Career/Technical Studies (1.5 days) $225

Many high school programs continue to move career/technical (CT) students through a system of mathematics that barely qualifies them to graduate, let alone to apply mathematics in a high-wage career. The new direction in CT education calls for instruction that enhances mathematics achievement in CT courses and programs in order to prepare students for high-demand, highwage careers. This workshop will assist teams of CT and mathematics teachers to embed mathematics into activities, problems and projects in the career/technical classroom while also enhancing students’ mathematics skills in the mathematics classroom. Participating teams will produce lessons around activities, projects and problems they will use in the first 12 weeks of school.

Objectives: Participants will:

• learn how to use an instructional design that enhances mathematics achievement through CT instruction.

• learn how to assess students’ mathematics awareness as it relates to CT lessons.

• develop teacher assignments and instructional materials and identify related study materials that enhance mathematical learning related to projects and assignments in career/technical courses.

• develop projects, problems, activities and assignments that require students to work through mathematics examples embedded in the CT curriculum.

• learn how to use available materials to enable students to work through traditional mathematics examples related to the mathematics embedded in a career/technical project.

• develop formal assessments to determine students’ mastery of mathematical skills embedded in their CT assignments.

• learn how to work with a learning community of academic and CT teachers to plan integrated lessons, give each other support and feedback, and collect data on student achievement.

• develop a calendar of CT projects that will be used for mathematical learning during the first 12 weeks of the school year.

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P-7. Teaching Literacy Skills Embedded in Career/Technical Studies (1.5 days) $225

An essential skill for the 21st century is the ability to comprehend, analyze and interpret materials and the ability to communicate orally and in writing. This workshop is designed to help career/technical teachers identify the literacy skills embedded in student assignments and use instructional strategies to engage students in reading technical materials and communicating orally and in writing. Participants will learn methods for improving students’ achievement in CT courses while advancing their ability to read and communicate effectively in the technical language of the field. CT teachers should come with an English teacher and work together to develop an instructional activity plan for the first few weeks of school. They will identify projects, problems and activities with embedded literacy skills and will learn how to work together to advance reading and technical achievement.

Objectives: Participants will:

• apply an eight-step process for engaging students in reading and writing activities in the career/technical classroom.

• learn about the reading and communications standards that employers expect of graduates.

• learn how to assess students’ reading performance.

• identify opportunities to develop students’ literacy skills through existing career/technical assignments.

• develop assignments and instructional materials that increase students’ ability to read and communicate in the language of the career field.

• identify study materials that enhance literacy related to projects and assignments in the career/technical courses.

• plan a process through which CT and academic teachers will work together and support each other to advance student reading achievement.

• gain an understanding of reading standards and how they are applied in career/technical studies.

• leave with a series of nine lessons to engage students in reading technical materials.

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P-8. Actions Adults Can Take to Get Student Behavior to Meet School Expectations: The Well-Managed Classroom (1.5 days) $225

Many schools have trouble getting students to attend and stay in class and do their work. These schools have tried a variety of quick-fixes to no avail. Research shows that punishment alone is not the answer. If the actions of the adults in the school are not helping to solve the problem, then it is probably time for the adults to make changes in their processes related to discipline and behavior management. This workshop will focus on what teachers can do to manage their classrooms in order to get students to take responsibility for their own behavior. The workshop will address preventing and correcting problem behavior and encouraging positive behavior.

Objectives: Participants will:

• understand the concept of a Positive School Culture.

• discuss factors that affect students’ behavior.

• learn methods to proactively teach rules, procedures, consequences and skills.

• learn to differentiate between three types of praise and when to use each type.

• acquire various processes for correcting problem behavior along a continuum of correction, teaching alternative behaviors and using effective consequences.

• identify ways to manage the environment, oneself and the student’s learning during emotionally intense situations.

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P-9. Designing Standards-Based “Catch-Up” Courses in Grade Nine (1.5 days) $225

Many students enter the ninth grade unprepared for high school studies. This workshop is designed for school teams from grades eight, nine or both wishing to design standards-based one-semester “catch-up” courses in English/language arts/reading and mathematics. Teams must consist of teachers of English, mathematics or both and school and district leaders. HSTW’s new guide, Planning for Improved Student Achievement: A Guide to Writing Standards-Based Units and Lessons, will form the basis of the workshop. This guide provides a wealth of information on the value of standards-based planning and instructional delivery. Planning tools are provided that help participants organize daily lessons and units using engaging, research-based strategies with embedded study skills and literacy strategies. Participants will work with content experts using field-tested standards-based units for “catch-up” courses designed to prepare students for Algebra I and college-preparatory freshman English. Teams will leave the institute with a skeleton standards-based unit and a set of field-tested units in mathematics or English/language arts/reading aimed at under-prepared eighth- or ninth-graders.

Objectives: Participants will:

• use a standards-based planning process and tools for creating units of instruction for use in ninth-grade “catch-up” courses.

• develop essential questions that link to state curriculum standards.

• determine what students must know and do to master a given standard and how to design a series of written and performance assessments that lead students to mastery.

• use sample, field-tested standards-based units as models to plan standards-based units that embed study skills and literacy strategies in daily instructional activities so that these are intentionally and frequently taught throughout the unit.

• use a rubric for evaluating the quality of developed units and the assignments and assessments they contain.

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P-10. Redesigning the Ninth-Grade Experience to Reduce Failure (1.5 days) $225

The ninth-grade year is a “make or break” time for many students. The ninth-grade experience will determine for many students whether they will succeed and enter grade 10 with a plan to complete high school that will prepare them to achieve a stated educational and career goal. The failure rate is higher in grade nine than in any other grade level. Schools must arrange experiences so that most students complete at least college-preparatory English and Algebra 1, declare a goal for beyond high school that they are committed to achieve, establish a connection with an adult who will assist and support them, and develop effective study skills and other habits of success.

Objectives: Participants will:

• identify the changes in school and classroom practices schools must make to create the optimum ninth-grade experience and help most ninth-grade students succeed and enter 10th grade well-prepared.

• compare their school’s ninth-grade practices to an ideal program and identify gaps.

• determine specific changes the school can make during the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 school years to improve student success and graduation rates.

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P-11. Technology Centers That Work (1.5 days) $225

This workshop focuses on what technology centers can do to: a) align classroom expectations with those of employers and postsecondary institutions; b) broaden the definition of rigor to include the ability to apply academic knowledge and skills to address authentic activities, projects and problems; and c) improve the transition from the home high school to the technology center. Teams will identify a set of actions they can take to improve student achievement and performance through their shared-time technology centers.

Objectives: Participating teams will:

• develop awareness and understanding of goals and key practices that have been customized for shared-time technology centers;

• determine the status of their school and classroom practices as they relate to each TCTW Key Practice;

• determine whether their career/technical curriculum, instruction and courses meet the requirements of Perkins IV or of old vocational education;

• examine strategies for aligning their curriculum to 21st-century skills and to college- and career-readiness standards;

• determine whether their courses have authentic real-world projects, problems and activities for teaching technical knowledge and skills and the embedded essential academic knowledge and skills.

• review how to create a program of study pathway that connects the shared-time technology center and high school academic and CT studies, and high school and postsecondary studies and the workplace;

• leave with a set of actions for implementing the goals and key practices of Technology Centers That Work at their center.

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P-12. Integrating 21st-Century Skills into Career/Technical and Academic Classroom Assignments (1.5 days) $225

When asked, most employers said that the ability to apply academic and technical skills to think critically and solve problems, communicate orally and in writing, work collaboratively in teams, demonstrate creativity and innovation, and become a lifelong learner are very important in the workplace. This workshop seeks to assist career/technical and academic teachers to embed these skills in their lesson and unit plans in ways that increase academic and technical achievement and preparation for the workplace.

Objectives: Participants will:

• study 21st-century skills and identify the school and classroom practices that advance these skills.

• apply a process for embedding 21st-century skills into assignments in ways that will advance both academic and technical achievement.

• develop sample lesson plans that will engage students in using 21st-century skills to advance mastery of essential college- and career-readiness standards.

• complete a plan for sharing their model lessons with other CT and academic teachers.

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P-13: The Big Six: What Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do to Be Proficient Readers (1.5 days) $225

Two strands:
P-13a. High School
P-13b. Middle Grades

HSTW has identified six essential skills that ensure reading comprehension and higher-order thinking skills for all students. These skills have been correlated to grade levels on the HSTW assessment for grades eight and 12. Participants in this workshop will learn how to embed reading strategies into their curriculum in ways that advance subject matter and reading achievement. They will understand the level of reading students must demonstrate in career/technical and academic classes in order to master the content and the teaching strategies they can use.

Objectives: Participants will:

• understand the reading standards students must be able to master in grades eight and 12.

• examine their curriculum and identify opportunities to enhance reading performance, advancing subject matter mastery, and make students independent learners for further study and life.

• consider assignments that teachers in different subject areas can use to develop grade level skills while advancing mastery of subject matter content.

• develop assessments to determine whether students meet grade-level reading standards within a given field of study.

• design lessons with embedded literacy strategies for each of the first 12 weeks of school to accelerate subject matter knowledge and performance on reading standards.

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P-14. Strategies that Motivate Students to Redo Work Until It Meets Standard (1.5 days) $225

Teachers frequently report that they do not require students to redo work to meet standards, which means that too often students are allowed to settle for C’s, D’s and F’s. However, at job sites, most adults would report that they must redo work that does not meet their employer’s expectations. This workshop will assist teachers to determine quality standards for their classrooms and demand that students meet those standards, regardless of how many times they must redo the work.

Objectives: Participants will:

• learn how adults’ and students’ beliefs can affect student motivation.

• teach students how to make smart effort.

• develop examples of clearly defined expectations for student work.

• look at grading and classroom practices that will motivate students to make the effort to succeed.

• create a set of classroom practices to model during the first 12 weeks of school to get students to make greater effort to meet grade-level standards.

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P-15. What School Boards and District Leaders Can Do to Support School Leadership Teams (1.5 days) $225

Making lasting change in school and classroom practices to improve student achievement is difficult in any school. School leadership teams must be able to depend on certain conditions if change is to occur. This workshop focuses on what district leaders and school boards must do to provide principals the working conditions that support them in leading changes in school and classroom practices that are linked to improved student achievement. Participants will leave with a plan for aligning their policies and practices with the conditions that support lasting change.

Objectives: Participants will:

• review effective district and school board policies and activities that are strongly related to increased student achievement.

• review district policies and practices for creating supportive conditions for the school principal and school leadership team and identify major gaps.

• examine a set of conditions identified by exemplary school principals as critical to performing these responsibilities and analyze conditions in their own districts.

• work in small groups to formulate school board actions needed to put into place supportive working conditions for school principals.

 

 

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For more information, e-mail SummerStaffDev@sreb.org.