Project 2: Professional Development on the Common Core State Standards
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history"
Mahatma Gandhi
Overview
As an intern to the superintendent and acting principal of the elementary school, I was charged with the task of designing and facilitating professional development on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The primary objective was to help familiarize the faculty with the standards. The teachers are all at varying levels of familiarity and expertise regarding the standards. By the end of the year, the desired outcome was that all of the teachers would deepen their knowledge about the CCSS, become more adept at accessing information about the CCSS, address questions and social justice issues regarding equity and fairness, to be able to start planning for the implementation of the Common Core in the 2014 academic school year.
Main Activities
Over the course of the 2012/2013 school year we met as a staff after school on a Tuesday afternoon, time that is designated for professional development, for six hour long sessions that were focused on professional development around the Common Core State Standards.
The following is a list of topics for each of the sessions:
- Session 1 Introduction to the Common Core
- Session 2 Module 1 (LAUSD)
- Session 3 Close Reading
- Session 4 Staff planning time
- Session 5 Overview of the Common Core
- Session 6 Smarter Balance Assessments
During the various sessions, the faculty engaged in dialogue about the Common Core State Standards; explored the topic of an analytical close reading; delved deeper into social justice issues concerning English language learners, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and students with special needs; looked closer at the Smarter Balance Assessments; planned for the upcoming school year.
Reflection
Planning and facilitating professional development around the Common Core State Standard was an extremely meaningful process. I had to deepen my own knowledge of the CCSS in order to plan the professional development sessions and facilitate the conversations. Fortunately, as an intern, I had the time and space to do so. I can only imagine how challenging it must be to be a school leader trying to assist the school in the transition to the CCSS.
While I feel confident that I accomplished the task of assisting the PLN faculty in deepening their own knowledge of the CCSS, I have many concerns about the overall readiness of educators to teach in a way that is demanded by these standards. My fear is that teachers will not be prepared to teach them and that school leaders will be too reactive when test scores initially decline. I am also concerned that there will not be sufficient support or funding for teachers to implement the standards with integrity. My hope though is that educators take advantage of the opportunities that the CCSS present, one of which is to utilize a project-based learning approach that allows for integrated, student-inquiry driven units of study that facilitate learning across the curriculum.
One thing I realized this year in learning more about the CCSS is that he conservations in the educational community about the CCSS are highly charged. And, unfortunately, the general public’s awareness and knowledge of the CCSS should be much significantly higher. It will be very interesting to see how the transition to the CCSS plays out in the educational arena.
Connection to CPSEL
As educators it is critical that we engaging in ongoing professional development. Taking a leadership role in facilitating the professional development of teachers. My work in planning specifically addresses standard 2 and standard 5 of the California Professional Standards for Educational Leaders.
Standard 2: Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Standard 5: Modeling a personal code of ethics and developing professional leadership capacity.
Supporting Documents
Session 1 Introduction to the Common Core
Session 3 Close Reading (word document)
