Professional Development Plan PCS-PTCRN Presented by: Jocelyn Artinger

Overview of Presentation School Background Previous Plan Adaptive Challenge Updated Plan

School Background Charter school opened in 2012 Over 250 students –Coming from several school districts including Penn Hills, Woodland Hills, Gateway, East Allegheny, Pittsburgh Public, and McKeesport. –60% African American, 39% White, 1% Other –60% students qualify for free or reduced lunch –Over 20% students have an IEP

School Background cont. Staff –18 teachers (general education and special education) –Three Paraprofessionals –One Literacy Coach –One Guidance Counselor –Two Administrators –One Administrative Assistant –Two AmeriCorps members –Several other building support personnel

Previous Professional Development All teachers are required to work 220 days –Ten PD days at the beginning of the school year –Professional development during these days covered content specific topics, culture, mission building. –Ten embedded days during the school year –Focus on the UICs –Five additional days SY District wide focus on the Universal Instructional Components: –What is happening in the classroom? What does it look like? Teacher and student roles? Curricular focus? Percentage of time spent in each UIC?

Previous Professional Development cont. PCS Universal Instruction Components (UIC) Think Aloud /Modeling Explicit Instruction Guided Practice and Exploration Small Group Exploration, Application and Actualization Individual Application and Actualization Whole Group, Small Group and One-on- one Small Group Individual Assessment/Feedback/Re-teaching Personalization All Instructional Design includes a distinct Beginning, Middle and End

Previous Professional Development Plan cont. What we have done so far… Topic CoveredRationaleFollow-Up Aug. PDIntroduction to the UICs and Lesson Plan Template Examine what the UICs are and how they fit into the lesson plan template. (2 Hours) Observe lesson plans and classrooms to check for understanding. Sept. PDHow do the UICs fit into my classroom? Illustrate to teachers how the UICs fit into an instructional block and what each component looks like. (2 Hours) Provide feedback on how each teacher is implementing the UICs/ Oct. PDUICs in ActionAllow teachers to categorize the UICs, identify and correct any misconceptions and introduce the new walkthrough tool. (2 Hours) Walkthrough the school using the tool to identify strengths and deficits.

Adaptive Challenge UIC walkthrough in October with the Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Gathered and analyzed walkthrough data Students in “small groups” but they were not exploring together or having group discussions with Accountable Talk. –Why is this important? –Tharp and Gallimore: “Assistance of child learning is accomplished by creating activity settings in the classroom that maximize opportunities for coparticipation and instructional conversation with the teacher and, frequently, with peers.” Modification of PD focus for the remainder of the school year

Three Guided Questions for the remainder of the year: –1. What is Guided Instruction? –2. How do we use data to drive small group instruction? –3. What depth of knowledge is taking place during small group instruction? VS. Updated Plan

TopicRationaleHoursUICs for PDFollow-Up Jan. PD What is Guided Instruction? What is Guided Instruction? Why use small group instruction? How do we facilitate it? Teacher roles vs. Student roles? How do small groups fit into G.I.? 8 Explicit Instruction, Small Group Exploration Administrators will co-plan and teach a G.I. lesson in each grade level. Feb. PD How do we use data to drive small groups? Using DeCartes, 4Sight, DIBELS, and F&P data to plan for small groups. 8 Explicit Instruction, Small Group Exploration, Individual Application Administrators and coaches will work with grade level teachers in order to use data to plan. Mar. PD What is the depth of knowledge achieved in small groups? What type of questioning, activities, and tasks are present during small groups? What is happening in Guided Instruction throughout the building? 4 Explicit Instruction, Small group Exploration, Individual Application Teachers will use the Webb’s Walkthrough Form created during PD to participate learning walks throughout the building. May PD What did you find? a follow up to March PD. Teachers will share out what they found during learning walks. We will identify commonalities and next steps. 4 Explicit Instruction, Small Group Exploration Teachers and Administrators and Coaches will set goals for SY Updated Plan cont. PCS-PTCRN PD Schedule for the remainder of the year

Updated Plan cont. What does success look like? –Students will work in Small Group Exploration, Application, and Actualization: –Small groups of students working together to explore content through processes and procedures. Students are discussing problems, and how they can be solved/processed using information and ways of knowing or doing. –20-40% of instructional time –Teacher role: Circulating to address questions and misconceptions –Student role: Facilitation and Application.