Professional Learning Solutions

 

Importance of Effective Tier 1 InstructionImpactful Tier 1 Instruction

Curriculum-based Professional LearningCurriculum-Based Professional Support

Culture of SuccessBuild a Culture of Success

Sustainable Professional LearningSustainability 

Impactful Tier 1 Instruction

Tier 1 instruction is the core instruction for all students, and the best way to ensure success for the most students. CTL supports the implementation of research-informed practices that align to brain as well as impact research. All of our work is designed to support teachers in:

  • Effective instructional strategies and classroom management
  • Research-based content standards focus
  • Differentiation to support flexible groupings, on-going feedback and formative assessment.
  • Mentoring  and job-embedded coaching for refinement of practice
  • Sustained support for retention and sustainability

Creating consistent high teacher expectations impacts student success and increases student motivation.

    Curriculum-based Professional Support

    High-quality instructional materials accelerate student learning and that impact grows even larger when teachers participate in curriculum-based professional learning. Yet in too many cases, instruction is poorly aligned to the research on learning, and a wide gap remains between traditional teacher professional development and what is needed to teach with high-quality instructional materials. Research from Harvard’s School of Education identifies that the best way to impact teacher practice is to provide them with professional learning that utilizes the curriculum they will be teaching in the classroom. This allows teachers to focus on process without having to think about the content they will be delivering, as well as, provides teachers a lever and a guide, helping link teachers’ actions and ideas to new standards in a concrete, focused way.

    Curriculum-based support:

    • Develops education staff’s knowledge and skills in implementing the curriculum
    • Focuses on developmentally appropriate, and sufficiently rich content and skills that contribute to later content demands
    • For curriculum enhancements, focuses on content and skills that support student’s development in specific domains
    • Monitors curriculum implementation and fidelity by collecting and using data as part of a continuous improvement process

    Build a culture of success

    CTL programming improves the skills of teachers to successfully and reciprocally link literacy and content to promote student leaning. When coupled with a strong vision for instruction developed with leadership, success breeds success. CTL provided challenging, engaging professional learning that is practical and applicable to every classroom. In working to ensure leadership support for implementation, we see increases in teacher efficacy, teacher effectiveness and student achievement. 

    • Provide challenging, engaging professional learning that is practical and applicable
    • Results oriented increases in teacher efficacy, teacher effectiveness, and student achievement
    • Build leadership capacity to support teacher implementation and improve culture
    • Focus on comprehensive literacy practices:
        • Instructional planning to reduce cognitive load, and increase learning
        • Gradual release process from teacher-directed to student-directed
        • Reading comprehension activities for before, during, and after reading
        • Student to self; student to student; student to teacher dialogue for deeper learning
        • Writing to learn opportunities to make meaning of new content
        • Vocabulary focused strategies to build stronger communication of learning
        • Authentic writing tasks in forms, purposes, and audiences for all content areas

    sustainability

    The problem that many schools may face, after initial successes, is in having the ability to sustain long-term improvement. We know that teachers have the greatest impact on student learning, but they have greatest impact when the entire system works together to support student learning. CTL works systematically to achieve sustainable practices

    Leadership and Shared Ownership: 

    • Establish a common vision for student learning, and share responsibility
    • Engage all teachers and leaders in multiple ways to achieve the vision

    Meaningful Teacher Collaboration: 

    • Foster a culture where continuous learning for educators is valued and expected
    • Establish collaborative work routines that prioritize effective planning to support student learning
    • Develop and make routine opportunities for peer observation and feedback cycles

    Effective Use of Data:

    • Use a wide variety of data to guide decisions about instruction
    • Implement practices and approaches that show efficacy in addressing learning gaps 

    Academic Rigor and Student Support:

    • Work to create high expectations for students and staff members alike
    • Implement student-centered instructional practices that actively engage students in learning

    Effective Family and Community Partnerships:

    • Foster family and community engagement to fulfill the school’s visoin 
    • Communicate student performance and school goals