By Brad Hendrixson
Stanley Elementary School is known for their dedicated educators, who care deeply about students and are constantly developing their practice to meet the needs of their students. As first-year ANet partners, they’ve chosen instructional priorities that will align instruction with standards. In ELA specifically, they’re prioritizing complex text. In math, the focus is on the major work of the grade.
As a first step towards pursuing these priorities, the leadership team spent time learning about the shifts in the standards and studying the planning and teaching practices that match these demands and support the diverse needs of students.
With a clear understanding of the standards, the principal and math coach are working side-by-side with teachers to select the curricular resources that meet the demands of the standard, balancing units of study from EngageNY and Math in Focus. As a result, teachers are intentionally connecting daily lessons to the standards and reinforcing the major work of the grade.
In ELA, the principal, literacy coach, and teacher leaders are focusing on using complex texts with all students and connecting all aspects of literacy with daily lessons that incorporate reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Yes, it did! Leaders and school-based coaches supported teachers through a complete teaching & learning cycle in both ELA and math. As a result, the data from the A1 interim assessment showed that Stanley students’ mastery of the standards was above average in all grade levels.
Now, teachers and leaders are participating in reflection meetings that will lead to using the data to adapt instruction and plan upcoming lessons. Keep up the great work, Stanley!