Posted June 26, 2007

“Districts, Schools and Classrooms
That Work”
A Day of Inspiration!

If you missed this January 25, 2007 workshop, you missed an outstanding day of professional learning and networking! Educational practitioners from three schools discussed their challenges and successes with systemic change. The three school teams that presented were from around the state.

Lumberg Elementary – Jefferson County Public Schools Received the Governor’s Award in 2004 for increased student achievement.

Bruce Randolph Middle School – Denver Public Schools Instituted school-wide best practices grounded in rigorous curriculum and literally turned the school around.

Thornton High School – Adams 12 Five Star Schools Raised composite score on ACT’s by 1 point in just one year.

Teachers and administrators from these schools described the processes they used to implement systemic change. They also identified their focus and shared specific results based on data gathered over time. In addition they described the roles of teachers, coaches, and administrators as they moved through challenges and enjoyed successes. And of course, an important part of this endeavor is the decision- making processes used as they continue this journey.

From elementary to middle to high school, there were common elements that contributed to their success. Some of those elements include:

• Strong leadership
• School-wide consistent behavior expectations
• Professional learning community environment
• Job-embedded professional learning
• Content-focused, data-driven learning

In addition to hearing the “stories” presented by these school teams, participants engaged in facilitated conversations to help them connect the information to their own schools. The first was an hour-long question and answer session with participants grouped by level with the presenters. After lunch, mixed groups spent time using a graphic organizer based on the CSDC Framework and engaged in in- depth discussions integrating what they had learned with their own situations.

Some comments from participant evaluations included:

“Thanks for modeling what good professional development is all about.”

“What a powerful day of learning.”

“I have two concrete things that I will take back to my school.” “Wow! This exceeded my expectations.”

“This was my first CSDC workshop and won’t be my last.”

“These schools are an inspiration!”

Participants left the workshop with concrete strategies for implementing systemic change within their buildings. Connections were made from one school to another, one colleague to another, with email address exchanges. And people were truly inspired by the work of their colleagues. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of this workshop, especially our outstanding presenters!