Forestville Elementary School

Teacher Leadership Program

In the spring of 2006, Forestville Elementary was one of 25 FCPS schools awarded the Teacher Leadership Development Grant. Seven Forestville teachers worked this past summer on B.L.O.O.M (Building Learning through Original and Optimal Means) with the focus on the development of six areas of higher order thinking (creativity, problem solving, concept formation, critical thinking, rule use and mental representation). Thus far this year, the teacher leaders have presented five times to the entire staff, “built” a B.L.O.O.M. Blackboard course for teachers, and provided a lot of lesson plans and strategies to the staff. They continue to solicit input from children, staff members and parents. We are off to an excellent start in what we hope will be a three year developmental phase.

The description of each of the 25 grant recipients’ proposals may be found on http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/supt/ under the Teacher Leadership Development Grant link.

Description of Program

The staff at Forestville strives to develop an educational program that encompasses a child- centered approach where students actively participate in their search for understanding and meaning. Incorporating critical thinking and reasoning skills into the daily curriculum by providing teachers with training and materials in the areas of differentiation, assessment, dramatics, guided reading, SOL/POS curriculum alignment, SOL/POS mastery, student motivation, and the use of technology will increase student learning. This project will increase efficiency in spending, best practice of instruction, and better use of time by creating well developed, streamlined teaching materials, focused strategies, and needs-based in-services. Action research will measure the effectiveness of the project.

Indication of Need/Justification

The indication of need for selecting this problem stems from observation of teachers, parents and students. They recognize the disconnect between the innate ability of the students and their achievement (daily work, SOL scores, BART scores, informal and formal assessment, anecdotal notes, and student reflection).

This problem is justified as a core issue for all schools and will enable students to meet their potential as citizens who are capable of effectively adapting to the needs of a changing society.

Team collaboration, discussion with parents, and SOL data analysis will enable the staff to improve student learning by providing streamlined lessons that embrace all learning modalities. Bringing together the expertise of the staff through collaboration and vertical teaming will improve the students’ ability to succeed. This project will be shared with the Langley Pyramid and our sister school, Hutchison Elementary.

Expected Results

Increased scores on daily work, and formative and summative assessments involving analytical skills.
Strengthened links between PLC and student success.
Understanding of common language across the disciplines at all grade levels.
Teachers effectively demonstrating best practices and using the developed materials and strategies. Students demonstrating enjoyment in learning.

Evaluation Questions

Has the quality of the students’ class work improved? Have the scores on various summative exams improved?
What is the increased learning when the tenets of PLC are used? (What do we want students to learn? How will we know that students have learned what we want them to learn? How will we give time and support to students who don’t learn what we want them to learn? How will we give time and support to students who already know or learn quickly what we want them to learn?)
On assessments, do the students across the grade levels understand the common terms?
Have the students’ enthusiasm and interest in learning increased by meeting their needs through differentiation?
Has the development of streamlined teaching materials, focused strategies, and needs based in-services improved the efficiency of teaching?

Through the data collections (test results, anecdotal materials, and observation) is it evident that an increase in higher order thinking skills has occurred?

Data Collection

How will the data be collected?
Assessments (SOL, BART, daily work in class)
Anecdotal records
Survey the teachers regarding the effectiveness of materials and training in relationship to the tenets of PLC?
Who will collect data?
- TLD Team, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Committee Leads
When will data be analyzed? How?
- The data will be analyzed over the extended contract hours. This analysis will comprise part of the seven requested summer contract extensions.


	Calendar Community Programs PTA Publications & Forms School Information Study Resources Testing	B.L.O.O.M. Forestville Elementary School Teacher Leadership Program In the spring of 2006, Forestville Elementary was one of 25 FCPS schools awarded the Teacher Leadership Development Grant. Seven Forestville teachers worked this past summer on B.L.O.O.M (Building Learning through Original and Optimal Means) with the focus on the development of six areas of higher order thinking (creativity, problem solving, concept formation, critical thinking, rule use and mental representation). Thus far this year, the teacher leaders have presented five times to the entire staff, “built” a B.L.O.O.M. Blackboard course for teachers, and provided a lot of lesson plans and strategies to the staff. They continue to solicit input from children, staff members and parents. We are off to an excellent start in what we hope will be a three year developmental phase. The description of each of the 25 grant recipients’ proposals may be found on http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/supt/ under the Teacher Leadership Development Grant link. Description of Program The staff at Forestville strives to develop an educational program that encompasses a child- centered approach where students actively participate in their search for understanding and meaning. Incorporating critical thinking and reasoning skills into the daily curriculum by providing teachers with training and materials in the areas of differentiation, assessment, dramatics, guided reading, SOL/POS curriculum alignment, SOL/POS mastery, student motivation, and the use of technology will increase student learning. This project will increase efficiency in spending, best practice of instruction, and better use of time by creating well developed, streamlined teaching materials, focused strategies, and needs-based in-services. Action research will measure the effectiveness of the project. Indication of Need/Justification The indication of need for selecting this problem stems from observation of teachers, parents and students. They recognize the disconnect between the innate ability of the students and their achievement (daily work, SOL scores, BART scores, informal and formal assessment, anecdotal notes, and student reflection). This problem is justified as a core issue for all schools and will enable students to meet their potential as citizens who are capable of effectively adapting to the needs of a changing society. Team collaboration, discussion with parents, and SOL data analysis will enable the staff to improve student learning by providing streamlined lessons that embrace all learning modalities. Bringing together the expertise of the staff through collaboration and vertical teaming will improve the students’ ability to succeed. This project will be shared with the Langley Pyramid and our sister school, Hutchison Elementary. Expected Results Increased scores on daily work, and formative and summative assessments involving analytical skills. Strengthened links between PLC and student success. Understanding of common language across the disciplines at all grade levels. Teachers effectively demonstrating best practices and using the developed materials and strategies. Students demonstrating enjoyment in learning. Evaluation Questions Has the quality of the students’ class work improved? Have the scores on various summative exams improved? What is the increased learning when the tenets of PLC are used? (What do we want students to learn? How will we know that students have learned what we want them to learn? How will we give time and support to students who don’t learn what we want them to learn? How will we give time and support to students who already know or learn quickly what we want them to learn?) On assessments, do the students across the grade levels understand the common terms? Have the students’ enthusiasm and interest in learning increased by meeting their needs through differentiation? Has the development of streamlined teaching materials, focused strategies, and needs based in-services improved the efficiency of teaching? Through the data collections (test results, anecdotal materials, and observation) is it evident that an increase in higher order thinking skills has occurred? Data Collection How will the data be collected? Assessments (SOL, BART, daily work in class) Anecdotal records Survey the teachers regarding the effectiveness of materials and training in relationship to the tenets of PLC? Who will collect data? TLD Team, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Committee Leads When will data be analyzed? How? The data will be analyzed over the extended contract hours. This analysis will comprise part of the seven requested summer contract extensions.
	Forestville Curator Martha.ShortSmith@fcps.edu PTA Webmaster Louise Wilson

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