A description of how the LEA will provide training and/or incentives to enable teachers to:
Teach to the needs of students, particularly students with disabilities, students with special learning needs (including those who are gifted and talented), and those with limited English proficiency;
Improve student behavior in the classroom;
Involve parents in their child’s education;
Understand and use data and assessments to improve classroom practice and student learning and
Become and remain technologically literate.
LEA Narrative Description 19:
The district works in collaboration with the Department for Exceptional Students, Department of Compensatory Programs, Gifted and Talented, Curriculum and Instruction, and English Language Learners to provide appropriate training that will remediate, enhance or prepare teachers to work more effectively with students who have special learning needs. Classes are offered online using GA Virtual High School and A+ online software as well as through the local colleges and universities. District-wide training on Response to Intervention (RTI) continues to ensure that each school implements a comprehensive system for meeting the needs of students. The Georgia Formative Instructional Practices (FIP): the keys to student success, which was designed to enhance educators’ use of formative instructional practices modules were completed by all district level administrators and selected principals. Savannah-Chatham County has a systematic plan for providing training for all teachers based on a yearly needs assessment. Job-embedded professional learning is provided for all teachers to meet the specific needs of students and teachers as determined by the needs assessment. Our ESOL teachers and school social workers have attended presentations on the rights of migrant students. Additionally, in-service on Understanding Migrant Students and Families; and Migrant Rights will be provided. This systematic approach has led to an across-the-board increase in student achievement. This plan has been funded by Professional Learning funds, local funds, Title I and Title II funds. Specific training on content is identified by student academic data. For example, in the past, district mathematics and English/language arts teachers spent time during the summer training on the alignment of the GSE/GPS standards with the curriculum to improve student achievement. For the 2013-2014 school year, Title IIA funds was used to pay for mathematics content training to target teachers at our lowest performing schools. Every effort is made to match the training offered to teachers to proven academic needs of students. For example, disaggregation of academic data over the last two years has clearly shown that there is a gap between subgroups particularly with minority males. As a result of this analysis, we have determined that we need to focus on teaching minority males differently. The professional learning department will develop and offer workshops to address teachers of students with diverse backgrounds to share best practices and to raise engagement and achievement. Additionally, during the summer of 2014, Cultural Diversity training was provided to all principals so that school leadership was in a position to articulate the expectations to the faculty and staff.
Professional Learning targeted principals as we required all principals to participate in the Reading Instruction for Administrators course during the 2011-2012 school year. This course was required for all new principals and all assistant principals during the 2012-2013 school year. During the 2013-2014 school year, professional learning continued to offer the course for new principals and assistant principals.
The district will continue to prepare teachers to address differentiated instruction based on the diverse learning needs of the students. Teachers through professional learning opportunities are offered instruction in differentiated instruction and gifted education. District “Focus Walk Feedback” forms are used by school-level and district-level personnel as they observe classrooms for standards-based strategies including differentiation. Once any need has been determined, district content specialists and professional learning staff members provide assistance to the teachers so that teaching and learning are improved. Teachers are also given the opportunity to enroll in a course that offers strategies in working with diverse students. During the first year of employment with the district, all teachers are given instructions on teaching students of poverty and teaching students of diverse cultural background.
The district provides systemic and ongoing professional development opportunities for ESOL teachers, EL designees, regular education teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, and administrators in the identification, screening, and monitoring of limited English students. Effectiveness is measured through quarterly file reviews conducted by the ESOL coordinator to ensure consistency in reporting and service.
A review of some due process actions taken by the board of education reveals that teachers need to have experiences dealing with students who are from culturally diverse backgrounds so that their instructional needs can be met effectively. Ongoing professional development will be made available throughout the district. When it is determined that additional professional development is needed, those opportunities will be made available; however, special provisions will be made in the district’s high-needs schools. In high-needs schools, the staff participates in courses addressing strategies for working with students from diverse backgrounds and low socio-economic status in addition to effective teaching practices. Additionally, these same schools will also participate in a Poverty Simulation activity.
Finally, the principals and their scheduling teams input master schedules using a district data base, but hand schedules as necessary to ensure that no student will receive an inexperienced, or ineffective teacher two years in a row. Students who are performing below expectations are monitored through the RTI process, and their schedules receive additional scrutiny. Teachers in regular education and alternative education programs also participate in the district’s Induction program where they are supported by site mentors and induction coordinators and district induction coordinators. Content coaches provide support to alternative education programs via consultative support. Further, support is provided by content specialist coaches. Finally, although nothing but time will take care of inexperience, steps can and will be taken to remediate ineffective teachers and paraprofessionals through the district’s Professional Review Panel. We will follow the guidelines from the state as we move forward to ensure we continue to have mentors in place to support new administrators and teachers in our district. Site-based Coordinators will coordinate mentor/mentee pairs to support new teachers in each school building. Title IIA will provide stipends to teachers for mentoring teachers new to our system
Project Success has been in operation for four school years. An alternative to suspension program, Response to Intervention (RTI) ensured that each school implemented a comprehensive system for meeting the needs of students. Each school designed a Pyramid of Interventions used as a framework for assisting students in the learning process. RTI training will continue based on school data. A RTI tracking and management computer program has been implemented to support the RTI process. This program will give school personnel access to RTI documents for all students supported in the RTI process.
A comprehensive plan for working with middle schools to decrease suspensions was implemented which included the use of RTI to provide alternatives for students and to reduce suspensions. This plan has been expanded to include middle and high schools, and other targeted schools with higher suspension rates. School-based IDEA funded personnel (6 Behavior Support Teachers) provide direct support to students, staff and administration to build alternatives to suspension at targeted sites. Administrators will develop alternatives to suspension through trainings provided by the Department for Exceptional Students and an implementation plan that will be monitored throughout the year.
Thirty-two schools will participate in the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support project in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education.
Data and Information department created a Rapid Response system to be used to interpret our discipline data on a daily basis. Training was provided for the administrators. Program updates will be implemented based on user feedback. Disproportionality data, support and training are provided to the schools that have the highest disproportionality data through the Department of Exceptional Students on an ongoing basis throughout the school year. Teachers receive training in violence prevention through district trainings such as non-violent crisis intervention and gang recognition. Professional staff through a partnership conducts training with local police, fire and emergency management agencies. Training is conducted for implementation of the safe school plans at each school. Training is site specific based on individual school and staff needs. School counselors are also involved as needed in providing training for teachers on a variety of topics involving alcohol and other drug prevention and violence prevention. Disproportionality data, support and training are provided to the schools that have the highest disproportionality data through the Department of Exceptional Students on an ongoing basis throughout the school year.
Every Title I school is required to train the teachers and the staff on creating family-friendly schools. Parents play a very important role in the overall academic and social-emotional success of a child. Academic parent meetings are held at the district and school level on a regular basis to keep the parents abreast of high-stakes testing, curricular decisions, and instructional practices in the classroom. Schoolwide plans, parent policy, and the school-home compacts are created with the help of parent input. School counselors provide parents sessions on issues that affect a child at the various stages of their growth and development. Teachers encourage parents to attend parent meetings and parent conferences. Additionally, parents are provided with information on how they can enroll in Parent University and other programs offered by the district or the community. Parents are given a survey in the fall and in the spring to provide input on what they think works and what needs changing or altering.
Every school requires grade level, team level, and content area level teachers to meet regularly to look at data and make instructional decisions based on the findings. Data includes benchmark data, common assessments, and high-stakes test results. All schools also have a school-level data team that analyzes the data to ensure that sound instructional practices are being adopted in the classrooms. Additionally, attendance data and discipline data is also looked at to provide the optimal educational experience for the students. Schools have Response to Intervention (RtI) teams in place to assist teachers with finding research based instructional practices and classroom management strategies. Assistive technology, which was funded with ARRA funds, meets the needs of students with disabilities as per their IEPs. Technology was purchased for use by teachers of students with disabilities with ARRA funds to assist in writing IEP’s using the new special education management system.
The SCCPSS empowers students, teachers, and staff personnel by providing access to technology and information needed for teaching and learning, planning, decision-making, and evaluation. The Technology Division has been entrusted to provide technology leadership and to ensure the effective and efficient use of all district information technology and communications tools. Every teacher in the district was given the opportunity to enroll in and completed the state required computer literacy/competency course at no expense to him or her. The district paid for the cost of the course and the training. Additional training will be offered through the technology department to help teachers remain technologically literate. The following are specific vision statements that communicate specific areas for growth and /or improvement.
Provide continuous professional development training for the successful support and use of technology within the instructional and administrative environment.
Provide equitable access to technology throughout the district and community.
Capture, analyze and provide meaningful data for data-driven decision making to support accountability and operational excellence.
Provide district technology resources online for access anytime, anyplace, and anywhere.
Provide, analyze and report metrics to ensure quality of service is maintained during the instructional time period.
Engage parents, businesses and other community stakeholders through the use of technology.
Improve the instructional and administrative processes through the use of integrated technology.
Ensure fiscal responsibility and effective stewardship of all district technological resources.
Use technology to support a safe and secure environment for students and staff.
Establish, monitor, and record technology literacy competencies to ensure students are prepared in 21st century skills.
Communicate effective use of technology district-wide and throughout the community.
Establish a technology modernization life cycle to be reviewed and maintained annually.
Establish technology district standards and maintain annually.
Establish 21st century standards for classrooms, media centers, and business offices.
Create digital citizenship in all our students.
Apply for grants, in order to participate in research and development of merging technology for instructional integration.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
20. Professional Learning and all federal programs
A description of how the LEA will develop a three-year professional learning plan that will be included in the LEA Comprehensive System Improvement Plan according to the requirements in Rule 160-3-3-.04 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING.
LEA Narrative Description 20:
The Professional Learning Department will continue to coordinate the Race to the Top mandated Teacher and Principal Induction Programs as a school district requirement even though the grant funds have ended as of June 30, 2015. The following two initiatives represent two major thrusts in the SCCPSS that provide professional learning and support to teacher and principals and focus on identified retention needs. The Teacher Induction Phase (TIP) Program (THRIVE 1, THRIVE 2, THRIVE 3 induction programs) provides support to teachers with 0-3 years of experience. The Principal Induction Program (PIP) supports new administrators with 0-3 years. These initiatives provide district and school level coordinators and mentors who provide ongoing support, training, mentoring and coaching over time.
New teachers also participated in new teacher orientation to acclimate them to the system and are provided follow-up support and training in THRIVE.
Professional learning opportunities are offered to all staff throughout the school year at no cost to district employees who complete the courses they sign-up for.
The SCCPSS continues to encourage master teachers who desire to become administrators to enroll in the Accelerating Teacher Leadership Program.
The Race to the Top Initiative has driven Professional Learning to target literacy, science and mathematics over the previous and present school years. The initiatives have targeted Administrators and Teachers in our district.
The LEA will develop a three-year professional learning plan that will be included in the LEA Comprehensive System Improvement Plan using the System Improvement Fieldbook and an analysis of the data in the Comprehensive System Profile. Ensuring that equity is utilized by administrators as it pertains to placement of teachers and students will also be a target for the 2015-2016 school year.
High quality, research-based professional learning is crucial to the success of the district’s system of standards and assessments. Research conducted in 2006 found that high quality professional development is sustained over time; focused on specific content areas or instructional strategies; supported the collective learning of most teachers in a school; aligned with school and teacher goals; and provided opportunities for teachers to practice and apply new knowledge.
It is the belief of the professional learning staff that high rates of student achievement are directly related to the quality of classroom instruction, regardless of the gender, ethnicity, primary language, or socio-economic status of the student; the quality of classroom instruction is dependent upon the content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and belief systems of the teacher; and teachers develop these characteristics through quality pre-service preparation programs, thorough induction processes, and ongoing professional development opportunities.
All teachers need ongoing training and support, but especially those working in high-need schools. Savannah-Chatham is committed to providing high-quality professional development to educators over the entire course of their careers. The professional learning activities sponsored by the district will continue to be provided based on data analysis findings and deployed to schools most in need. All professional learning activities will meet Learning Forward: the Professional Learning Association Standards for Professional Learning standards and the CCRPI definition of high-quality professional learning.
Preparing teachers to work with the needs of diverse students is a goal of professional learning in Savannah-Chatham. Opportunities are afforded to teachers to engage in differentiated instruction courses that focus on the diverse needs of the students. At the end of each school year, the Professional Learning Department receives and reviews all school’s professional learning and/or school accountability plans. The plans are reviewed by the Professional Learning team members for the purpose of identifying specific needs that each school has noted. The needs are clustered and then courses/trainings are sought and offered. Individuals who have expertise in the identified areas are requested to serve as instructors. Neither schools, nor individuals have to pay for courses/trainings that are sponsored by the district. The professional learning Needs Assessment is on file in the professional learning office. The individual schools review pertinent student data and revise their professional learning plan as needed for each school year. The professional learning plan must be tied to the school/district accountability plan. Each school has a data team that has the responsibility of determining the priority of the needs to be addressed. Funding for the courses/training is provided through Title I, Title IIA, IDEA and professional learning funds.
Is Plan Descriptor Revised?
21. Professional Learning; and all federal programs
A description of the activities that the LEA will carry out with program funds, including professional learning for teachers and principals and how their activities will align with challenging state academic standards. The description should outline the LEA professional learning programs and sources. The LEA professional learning programs should be consistent with nationally established criteria for quality professional learning, with such characteristics as incentives, self-directed learning, and authentic connections to actual work.
LEA Narrative Description 21:
The Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools System provided research-based, standards-focused professional learning activities for both administrators and teaching staff. The Title IIA Professional Learning Plan was created through collaboration with many partners including Title I, Title IID, Technology, Exceptional Child, Division of Curriculum/Instruction, Professional Learning and outside agencies such as First District RESA, Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Georgia Department of Education, Armstrong State University, Savannah State University, and Georgia Southern University.
There is a systematic plan for providing training for all teachers based on a yearly needs assessment. Job-embedded professional learning is provided for all teachers to meet the specific needs of students and teachers as determined by the needs assessment. This systematic approach has led to across-the-board increase in student achievement. This plan has been funded by Professional Learning funds, local funds, Title I and Title IIA funds.
The supplemental professional learning activities provided by the district fall into several categories, all of which conform to the guidelines presented in federal programs such as Title I and Title IIA and also to the 7 Standards of Professional Learning described by Learning Forward. Activities are provided for all staff including bus drivers, custodians, school resource officers, secretaries, paraprofessionals and school nutrition personnel. It is our belief that everybody who works within our school system contributes to the academic success of all students. Listed below are some examples of professional development opportunities for the staff at Savannah Chatham Public School System:
Teacher Basics: Differentiated Instruction, Georgia Standards of Excellence/ Georgia Performance Standards, Making Standards Work, Effective Teaching Strategies, Formative and Summative Assessments, Unit Planning, Classroom Management that Works, Responsive Classroom, Co-Teaching, Standards-Based Instruction, and Lexiles.
Content classes: Reading Endorsement/Specialist, The Struggling Reader, Verbal Learning, K-5 Math Endorsement, Science Endorsement, ESOL Endorsement, Exemplars, Grades 3-5 Math Content, Using Manipulatives in Mathematics Instruction, International Baccalaureate, AVID, Making Classroom Connections through Art, FOSS kit training, Writing, GSE/GPS, Math, ELA, Social Studies, other Science content classes as needed, and Literacy courses for principals.
Technology: Google Applications for Educators, Edmodo, Class DoJo, Symbaloo, Kahoot, Weebly, Blogging, Coding, Google Classrooms, SLDS, Compass Learning
Student Support: Bus Safety, Cyber Bullying, Drugs, Violence, Bullying, GANG Recognition and Symbols as requested, PBIS Training
Specific Teacher Needs: Classroom Management, Working with Students of Poverty, Co-Teaching for Exceptional Students, Teaching in High Needs Schools, Response to Intervention
Induction: Mentoring and Coaching Training for Site-Based Induction Coordinators, Training for Mentors, Training for Principal Mentors
GaTAPP Programs of Study include general education courses such as Essentials, Exceptional Child, Teaching of Reading, Diversity, Standards-based Instruction; seminars such as Home-School Connection, Instructional Technology, Classroom Management; and content enhancement courses as needed by the individuals. GaTAPP program was phased out during the 2012-2013 school year. First District RESA provided GaTAPP services for teachers in our district during the 2013-2014 school year.
Statement of the percentage of professional learning opportunities that were scientifically based (high quality):
Professional Learning opportunities are based on researched-based best practices and this information must be documented in all course proposals prior to approval to offer to our teachers. Professional Learning Coaches, Professional Learning Math Coaches and Professional Learning Literacy Coaches must also document on their electronic support calendars how scientifically based practices are incorporated in their group and individual support provided at school sites during the school year. (Ex. of scientifically based learning opportunities offered: Diversity Issues and the Impact of Poverty, Understanding and Engaging Boys, Professional Learning Communities at Work, Classroom Management that Works, Pedagogy of the Gifted)
For the 2014-2015 school year, nearly 92% of courses offered by the professional learning department were researched-based and approximately 80% of teachers participated in at least one high quality professional learning activity.
