On November 8th CSDC enjoyed the largest turnout for a fall conference in its history!

Approximately 240 people attended the one-day conference featuring a morning with Dr. Mike Schmoker. Dr. Schmoker is a former middle and high school English teacher, football coach and central office administrator. He is a national consultant and has written four books.

As part of the registration fee, participants received a copy of his newest book, Results Now. Dr. Schmoker shared information from his book, first about what he terms "the brutal facts" about education. He stated that organizations can only improve where the truth is told and the brutal facts are confronted. Then, he shared critical elements for swift, dramatic improvement in schools. Some of those include a focus on the following:

• Team-based PLC's
• Guaranteed & viable curriculum
• Radical changes to literacy instruction

He also emphasized the importance of celebrating every "small win" in these areas at every faculty & administrative meeting.

Modeling what research tells us is best professional learning, the afternoon provided participants with the opportunity to internalize information by working in teams and also cross-networking with educators from other schools and districts. Chrysann McBride and Scott Capron skillfully facilitated conversations using two different protocols ,,, The Four A's: Creating Meaningful Dialogue Protocol and The Consultancy Triad Protocol. Using these protocols gave participants structures to help personalize the morning content, focusing on their specific needs and using pieces of information from Dr. Schmoker's presentation that best met those needs.

Thanks to all those who made time to participate in the learning and to everyone who helped plan the day!