In addition to th e instructional coaches, teachers
have access to the three Common Core math
coaches from th e district. These trainers, effective
teachers who were selected by the state to receive
intensive training on Common Core standards,
offer after-school assistance and workshops to any
interested teacher and administrator. Last year, they
began training district teachers on the constructed
response scoring system the state is implementing
in preparation for new assessments in 2014-15.
Novice teachers. New teachers participate in a
comprehensive induction and training program that
includes learning about the state’s new teacher
evaluation system, “Thoughtful Classroom Strategies,” and “Quality Instructional Practices.” The
thoughtful classroom practices are based on the
work of Silver, Strong, and Associates who in turn
based their work on books by Robert Marzano. The
thoughtful classroom approach focuses on identifying academic skills used in successful schools and
includes:
• Vocabulary CODE, a method of vocabulary
instruction that helps students connect with the
vocabulary terms, understand new words and
their connections to words they already know,
and practice using the word;
“Word Works: Cracking
Vocabulary’s CODE”
http://www.tnscore.org/scoreprize/
downloads/2012/Vocabularys_Code.pdf
• Task rotation, a method of st udent assessment drawing on questions fr om four learning
styles: mastery, understandi ng, interpersonal,
and self-expressive;
• Compare and contrast, a series of methods to
examine similarities and differences when given
criteria for investigation and then using information
in a synthesis task;
• Reading for meaning, a method for enhancing
comprehension by giving readers anticipatory
statements with which they agree or disagree, and
then reading text to support or refute their predictions; and
• New American lecture, which is a method of direct
instruction that consists of “hooking” the students’
interest in the topic, “chunking” information into
segments, guiding students’ notes with a graphic
organizer, and reviewing the lesson through questions using the four learning styles.
New teachers are also assigned mentors from the
school and receive extra attention from instructional
coaches. They meet with their mentors monthly at
the central office and typically have both group-level
and individual-level needs addressed.
Teachers stress both rigor and engagement, and
students respond positively. “You are encouraged to
do your personal best all the time,” one student said.
“If you don’t get it, the teachers will show you another
way to do it, and then you figure out that there are
many ways to solve problems,” another student added. “The teachers are always there for you.”
“The
teachers
are always
there for
you.”
Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2012 SCORE Prize District Winner
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