School Type: Public	School Setting: Rural
Level: Elementary	School Design: Traditional
Content Presented By:
National Awards Program for Model Professional Development

Summary

The practice: Professional development should be based on analyses of the differences between (a) actual student performance and (b) goals and standards for student learning.

• Student math scores rose 9% above the district average and its own previous year's scores.
• In 1996 test scores of girls on the Kansas Mathematics Assessment test were 70.17 compared to 49.6 in 1993.
• 7 of 8 science fair participants placed 1st.
• Conducted a year-long study of ways to implement the National Council of Teachers' of Mathematics (NCTM) standards throughout the school.
• Yearly evaluation through Kansas assessment tests, curriculum tests, and performance-based tests

Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, a small school with declining enrollment in rural Kansas, is a professional development school in partnership with Kansas State University. Beginning with its partnership in 1990, Woodrow Wilson teachers began to examine their educational process. They explored all dimensions of the school including the use of space, personnel, resources, technology, research, and time.

Woodrow Wilson teachers have set a high bar for teaching and learning. Test data revealed that students at Woodrow Wilson needed improvement in problem solving, science and mathematics. Working as a team, a number of teachers participated in an action research project that identified similar needs for students. Using these data, evidence compiled for the Quality Performance Accreditation process, student results on state assessments, and ongoing classroom assessments of student problem solving ability, teachers at Woodrow Wilson know which students need extra support, different instructional processes, or more time to learn.

The state and district standards and the state assessment results help teachers know how their students perform in relationship to other districts' students. Data about student performance give Woodrow Wilson's teachers the information they need to identify their professional development needs and goals and to modify instruction to help all students succeed.

This site also exemplifies the following practice(s):

• Professional development should be primarily school-based and built into the day-to-day work of teaching.  

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This resource is developed and maintained by The Education Alliance at Brown University. Seed funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Send comments to: loom@alliance.brown.edu