 |
Role Group Strategies:
Community
High-quality professional development involves teachers collaborating and reflecting on practice, which requires significant time. Volunteer in a school so that teachers have more time for collaboration.
 |
|
Broad Creek Middle School, Carteret, NC
The Real D.E.A.L. Schools
http://www.governor.state.nc.us/Office/Education/_pdf/RealDeal_Booklet.pdf
Broad Creek Middle School is one of eight schools honored by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley as a school that leads the state in both student achievement and teacher working conditions. Parental involvement and volunteers are an integral part of the school’s success. Volunteer programs include tutoring, mentoring and a partnership with a group of local marines.
|
|
|
Grandparents Helping in the Classroom
Christian Science Monitor, March 9, 2006
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0309/p08s02-comv.html?s=hns%20
In this editorial, the Christian Science Monitor reports the mutual benefits experienced by seniors and students when older Americans volunteer in the classroom. Since there will be a dramatic increase in the number of Americans over the age of 65 in the next 15 years, the potential impact of this group is great. The article reports on a recent study of volunteers from Experience Corp in Baltimore and discusses the cost effectiveness of such a program.
|
|
|
Treating Teachers as Professionals
By Diane Curtis 10/1/2000
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_412&key=238
This article features the Sherman Oaks Charter School, where teachers meet from 11:30-1pm daily for professional development. They create time for the meeting by combining a lunch, study hall, and recreation period, which is staffed by para-professionals and parent volunteers. This article addresses the content of such meetings and how they create that time in their schedule.
|
 |
|
Communities in Schools Volunteer Page
http://www.cisnet.org/about/where.asp?.=NC
This site gives contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses for all Communities in Schools (CIS) network offices in North Carolina. CIS encourages community members to become involved in schools through mentoring, helping with after-school programs, bringing health specialists into schools, and teaching job skills.
|
|
|
North Carolina Public Schools Volunteer Page
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/parents/involved.html
NC Public Schools lists a variety of organizations across the state that can help community members become involved in education.
|
 |
|
It’s About Time
Wade, C. (2001). Teaching Quality in the Southeast: Best Policies and Practices, 7.
http://www.teachingquality.org/BestTQ/issues/v01/issue07.pdf
In this brief, a Wake County Public School teacher outlines the demands placed on a teacher’s time during the typical school day and discusses the importance of providing teachers with time for professional collaboration and reflection.
|
Community
Identify and promote professional learning resources available within the community. Create school-community partnerships with businesses, museums, universities, and academic organizations, immersing teachers in current professional content knowledge and scholarship.
|
|
Broad Creek Middle School, Carteret, NC
The Real D.E.A.L. Schools
http://www.governor.state.nc.us/Office/Education/_pdf/RealDeal_Booklet.pdf
Broad Creek Middle School is one of eight schools honored by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley as a school that leads the state in both student achievement and teacher working conditions. Parental involvement and volunteers are an integral part of the school’s success. Volunteer programs include tutoring, mentoring and a partnership with a group of local marines.
|
|
|
|
Business Partnership Resource Page.
The George Lucas Educational Foundation.
http://www.glef.org/php/keyword.php?id=008
This webpage features articles on how businesses can become involved in schools and the benefits of these partnerships. Articles and video clips profile successful programs in which companies provide grants, speakers, field trips, mentoring or job shadowing opportunities for students.
|
|
|
Connecting with Experts in the Real World
Demee-Benoit, D. (1999, September 1). Edutopia Online. The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_468&key=238
This article outlines several outreach programs from science centers, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens and natural history museums that are providing professional development to teachers. Such partnerships can help schools to provide the kinds of instruction necessary to improve student achievement and to promote deep levels of content knowledge among their teachers.
|
|
|
|
"Finding Common Ground: Working with the Community to Provide High-Quality Professional Development"
Teachers take charge of their learning: Transforming professional development for student success
Renyi, J. (1996). The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education
http://www.nfie.org/publications/charge/section4.htm
A portion of this guide to professional development is dedicated to engaging the community in efforts to improve teacher development and student learning. The author describes successful partnerships in specific schools and districts that involve parents or businesses and other professionals in student and teacher learning. It also includes a series of recommendations for creating a "network of learners" consisting of students, parents, teachers, and the community.
|
|
|
Partnership pays off for business and schools
Curtis, D. (2000, September 1). Edutopia Online. The George Lucas Foundation.
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_441&key=008
The Bayer Corporation has established one of the most successful business-education partnerships in their “Making Science Make Sense” program. This article from the George Lucas Educational Foundation outlines the program which provides professional development opportunities for teachers and content-based presentations to students in schools across America.
|
|
|
Community Partnership Resource Page
The George Lucas Educational Foundation.
http://www.glef.org/php/keyword.php?id=189
This webpage provides a variety of resources from the George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) on school and community partnerships. It includes articles describing programs in specific school districts and research on the importance of community involvement in general.
|
|
|
Critical Issue: Establishing Collaboratives and Partnerships
Peterson, K. (1995). North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le300.htm
This Critical Issue Report outlines ways in which school administrators can make connections to community groups, enlisting their partnership in addressing many of the non-academic issues that interfere with student achievement. It recommends "action options," describes implementation pitfalls, profiles a number of schools successfully engaging the community, and provides an extensive list of resources and contacts. |
|
|
Critical Issues: Providing More Time for Professional Development
North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL) (2004)
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/profdevl/pd600.htm
The authors discuss different means to create time for professional development ranging from “traditional strategies,” such as banking time or creating an extended day, to embedding it within the school day or taking advantage of online opportunities. One suggestion is that teachers take advantage of summer internship or corporate training opportunities to enhance their knowledge.
|
|
|
Developing Effective Partnerships to Support Local Education
School Communities that Work: A National Taskforce on the
Future of Urban Districts (2002).
http://www.schoolcommunities.org/images/Partnerships.pdf
This paper describes design and operating principles used in effective education and community partnerships. The authors emphasize that partnerships should focus on equity in addition to results and aim to affect youth engagement and development.
|
|
|
Issues and Challenges in Financing Professional Development in Education
Cohen, C.E. (2001, June). The Finance Project.
http://www.financeproject.org/Issues%20and%20Challenges%20in%20Financing.pdf
This report examines the challenges associated with financing professional development and highlights promising funding practices. It Includes information on federal and state initiatives, school district initiatives, initiatives developed outside of the public schools, and the creation of partnerships.
|
|
|
Supporting good schools is good business
Goldberg, M. (2003, September 23). Edutopia Online. The George Lucas Educational Foundation
http://www.glef.org/php/article.php?id=Art_894&key=008
This article outlines the importance of business support for schools. It describes the kinds of supports that businesses can provide, from monetary contributions to lobbying policymakers, and explains the role that businesses can play in the professional growth and learning of teachers.
|
Community
Engage policymakers in conversations related to the importance of providing professional learning opportunities for teachers.
|
|
ASCD Capwiz Advocacy Toolkit
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (2004).
http://capwiz.com/ascd/home/
These pages help those interested in education reform become involved in the policy-making process. The site provides links to elected officials, tracks current issues and legislation, and highlights important elections and candidates. It also includes a feature that identifies the major media outlets serving every zip code and allows users to send an advocacy email directly from this site.
|
|
|
Making the connection: A guide to involving policymakers in a community dialogue on education
Guzman, J., Mutchler, S., Pan, D., and Pollard, J. (2000). Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/policy93/policy93.pdf
Engaging policymakers in dialogue on education is a practical action step that communities can take to influence school reform. This resource provides step by step instructions on creating effective community dialogue on education issues.
|
|
|
