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Shallowford Falls Elementary School
Marietta, GA
School Type: Public
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School Setting: Suburban
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Level: Elementary
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School Design: Traditional
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Content Presented By:
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National Awards Program for Model Professional Development
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Summary
The practice: Professional development should provide opportunities to gain an understanding of the theory underlying the knowledge and skills being learned.
- Selected staff committee developed a philosophy, mission, vision, and belief statements for Professional Development (PD)
- New staff must have views consistent with those of the school
- New staff interview process involves grade-level teachers.
- Overnight staff retreats away from campus
- Small, focused study groups addressing a particular issue
- Extensive documentation of teacher effectiveness and of student learning.
- Developed a consistent philosophy/approach for the teaching of reading, language arts, writing, and spelling.
Professional development experiences at Shallowford Falls
Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia, allowed teachers to
develop theoretical understandings that they applied to their
school improvement activities. After the school identified
improved communications skills as its new focus, a small
group of teachers proposed their own models based on
teaching "balanced literacy." Faculty voted for training
focused on this philosophy and over the course of one year
spent eight sessions, each running two to three hours,
learning about the approach. Extensive teacher dialogue
helped teachers understand the philosophical underpinnings,
which then became the foundation of collective planning for
performance goals, instructional activities, and other
professional development activities.
This site also exemplifies the following practice(s):
- Professional development should be based on analyses of the differences between (a) actual student performance and (b) goals and standards for student learning.
- Professional development should incorporate evaluation of multiple sources of information on (a) outcomes for students and (b) the instruction and other processes that are involved in implementing the lessons learned.
- Professional development should be connected to a comprehensive change process focused on improving student learning.
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