Elementary Best Practices Framework-NY |
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Theme
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Staff Selection, Leadership, & Capacity Building
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District Level
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Hire through rigorous processes and encourage teachers through mentoring and professional development
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In high performing school districts, teacher candidates show what they know through multiple interviews and often through providing a lesson. Once hired the district invests time and money in building teacher knowledge through mentoring programs and professional development opportunities.
Professional development comes in the form of committee work, involvement in various projects, and through workshops focused on improving instruction.
On Target
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Missing the Mark
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Mentoring programs are formalized and continual, embedded in part of the expectation that teachers will continue to grow in their practice
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Mentoring is informal, with teachers "just helping each other out"
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The selection and interview processes are rigorous including model lessons and multiple interviews
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Essays and single interviews are used to evaluate potential teacher candidates
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Teachers have opportunities to grow through ongoing professional development, study groups, committee work, and curriculum projects, i.e., engage in work that matters in their classrooms
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Professional development activities are sporadic
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Professional development is clearly tied to student learning
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Themes for professional development do not come from teachers’ needs
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Lockport City School District uses a rubric to evaluate teacher candidates.
Elmont Union Free School District offers professional development courses that support district goals and focus on practice-oriented topics and strategies. The Professional Development Team created courses for their staff on such topics as cognitive coaching, collaborative research projects, writer’s workshop, and many more.
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