The 2017 Award of Excellence for

Promising Practice in

Professional Learning

Application Guidelines

LearningForward – Missouri

Application Deadline: October 29, 2016

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LearningForward-Missouri

2016-2017

LearningForward-Missouri Award of Excellence for

Promising Practice in Professional Learning

Supported by

LearningForward-Missouri

An affiliate of

Learning Forward

in partnership with

MO Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Application Deadline: October 29, 2016

For Additional Information Contact:

Jody Wood

LF-MO President

11200 Raymond Dr.

Wright City, MO 63390

Dear Applicant:

Professional learning plays an essential role in successful education improvement, serving as the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they need to be to meet the challenges of guiding all students in achieving high standards of learning and growth.

As part of the continuing effort to celebrate and honor excellence in professional learning in Missouri, LearningForward-Missouri is pleased to announce the 2017LearningForward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning. This award is designed to recognize school districtsmaking improvement toward full implementation of high quality professional learning that impacts teacher quality and student achievement (this award does not require five years of student achievement necessary to win the award as does the Commissioner’s Award for High Quality Professional Learning). LF-MO’s goal is to identify and honor high-quality professional learning initiatives that will serve as models to districts and buildings throughout the state. This recognition will:

  1. highlight promising Practices that have been in place for two or more years and are showing changes in teacher Practice which are showing promise in increasing student achievement (e.g.: reading program that has helped teachers differentiate instruction such that students are scoring higher on DRA assessments),
  2. provide a link between high quality professional learning to teacher practices to improve student achievement, and
  3. provide opportunities for teachers and administrators to collaborate, network, and learn from each other so that these Practice can be adopted and adapted throughout Missouri.

Your district is invited to apply for this award having met the initial award criteria of being fully accredited through 5thCycle MSIP. A district is only eligible to apply for the Learning Forward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning after accreditation is awarded. The primary consideration for selection is a district’s alignment with the seven professional learning standards, which include impact on student behavior and learning. You may access the learning standards here: In addition, LF-MO is committed to ensuring that selected districts reflect the size and geographic diversity of the state.

Detailed instructions for applying for this award are provided within this application package. Winners will be announced at the LF-MO Show-Me Professional Learning Conference,March 5-7, 2017. Public recognition at the conference and possible networking opportunities are among the benefits of winning this award.

We encourage you to apply for this award, as it will enable LF-MO to highlight best Practice and enable Missouri to cite specific evidence regarding the importance and impact of professional learning. We look forward to receiving your application for the 2017 LearningForward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning.

Sincerely,

Jody Wood

LearningForward-MOPresident

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders is a high priority for educators in Missouri as evidenced by the passage of two significant pieces of legislation: The Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 and No Child Left Behind. Districts throughout the state now spend at least 1% of their state funding on professional learning for educators as a result of the Outstanding Schools Act. Having professional learning as a high priority has motivated school leaders statewide to identify exemplary Practice for professional learning through the current MSIP accreditation process.

In 2000, the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Kent King, requested that the Missouri Staff Development Leadership Council, a group affiliated with the MSDC (now LearningForward-MO), create a rubric that would provide a clear, consistent picture of professional learning that leads to high levels of learning for all students. Such a rubric could then be used by districts to self-evaluate their current quality of educator learning and serve as a guide for improving the quality and results of their staff learningPractice.

This rubric uses the Learning Forward’s seven standards as a framework. Adequately addressing each of these standards is necessary for a full realization of the potential of individuals, school communities and institutions to improve and excel. The National and Missouri standards emphasize that, ultimately, professional learning needs to be evaluated on the basis of its impact on teacher effectiveness and student learning.

The LearningForward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learningis based on the degree to which a district reaches the Learning Forward’s standards while implementing a Professional Learning initiative to enhance teaching and learning. To be considered, a district’s application must demonstrate alignment with the attached modified evaluation rubric for professional learning. The application includes an open-ended format allowing each district to provide evidence of meeting Level 3 and 4 Indicators from the evaluation rubric included in these application guidelines. Districts self-nominate for the LearningForward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning.

LF-MO oversees the review and selection process. After reviewing the written applications, review teams will make on-site visits to the districts selected as semi-finalists. The on-site visits are designed to expand on the evidence outlined in the application. On-site team members will conduct interviews and make classroom visits as well as look at specific artifacts that support the district's application. Based on the results of these on-site visits, districts will be recommended for the award.

It is hoped the information you have gathered in your district review will assist you in completing this application. LF-MO is willing to provide support and is available to provide regional workshops on the standards and the Promising Practice Rubric of Excellence in Professional Learning in conjunction with the Regional Professional Development Centers. Please contact your LF-MO regional representative if you are interested in having LF-MO come to your region to support your efforts.

Contact information follows:

MSDC Jody Wood ( )

RPDC Regional Reps

Region 1
Southeast RPDC / Patty Roberts /
Region 2
Heart of Missouri RPDC / Della Bell-Freeman /
Region 3
Kansas City RPDC / Rochelle Daniels /
Region 4
Northeast RPDC / Kim Winkler /
Region 5-Northwest RPDC / Donella Sherry /
Region 6
South Central RPDC / Audrey Kell /
Region 7 -Southwest RPDC / Jay Roth /
Region 8
St. Louis RPDC / Adam Estes /
Region 9
Central RPDC / Beth Mulvey /
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Description of Promising Practice in Professional Learning

  1. Overview of District Professional Learning

Please provide a two-page summary that provides LF-MO a broad perspective of how your district is addressing the National LearningForward and LF-MO goal of "leveraging high quality professional learning to maximize student success." LF-MO is looking for an overall description on how the promising practices in professional learning works in your district and aligns to the Learning Forward/Missouri Professional Learning Standards.

  1. Detailed description of selected initiatives that are representative of district efforts.

In this section, a district should describe the district’s professional learning efforts that correspond to the standards in the evaluation rubric in this application packet. Complete this section for your promising practice in professional learning initiative that you feel would contribute to your selection as an award winner for the 2017 Learning Forward-MO Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning. Preference should be given to initiatives representative of your district’s preK-12 organization. The initiative should have been in place for a minimum of two years and the district should be able to document how this initiative was designed, implemented, and the resulting changes in both teaching and learning in classrooms. The application should focus on initiatives that have sufficient data to show a relationship between professional learning and change in teacher practice(s) and improved student achievement. Limit: 6 pages for initiative. Specific results-data related to documented change in teacher Practice and if possible linked to student achievement is not included in the page limits.

  1. Focus area for Professional Learning Initiative (learning)
  1. How does initiative align with the District CSIP (which includes the Districts’ Professional Learning Plan)?
  1. Describe the Grade Level/Department/Content Area/Focus Professional Learning Area.
  1. When did initiative begin (Design)?
  1. Describe the process used to determine this focus area (who was involved, how were decisions made, when were decisions made, on what basis was this focus area selected, what role did equity have in the decision)? Provide the data (local and standardized) and process you used to guide this decision. (leadership, data driven, learning communities, research, equity, family involvement).
  1. Describe who was involved in designing the professional learning initiative, how was it implemented, how has it been monitored? (learning communities, leadership, collaboration)?
  1. Briefly describe the research you used as the basis for this professional learning initiative? (research-based)
  1. This initiative involves what percent of the total number of teachers in the district?
  2. Provide the percent of teachers targeted for this initiative that are actually participating:
  1. Who is part of the leadership team for this initiative and describe each of their roles? If not part of the leadership team, what is the role of the building/district administration in this initiative? (leadership)
  1. Describe (up to 8) specific professional learning activities/trainings/support and processes that have been and/or are being implemented in your district around this initiative? Use the chart below to answer. LF-MO is specifically looking for activities that integrate and exemplify the National LearningForward standards in action. Use the chart below to respond.

Professional Learning Activities Description – choose activities that integrate and exemplify the Learning Forward standards in action. (design, learning, quality teaching, collaboration, equity, data-driven, family involvement) / Describe the Learning Community that was involved in these activities. / Available Documentation
(data-driven, evaluation)
  1. Describe the Professional Learning resources (time, money and source of funds, personnel, internal and external resources) that are devoted to this initiative. (resources)
  1. How are you focusing on implementation and outcomes? Describe the work with implementation and outcomes(implementation, outcomes)
  1. What additional support are you providing the following groups regarding this initiative?
  2. Students whose academic achievement has not improved.
  3. New teachers to the system.
  4. Teachers who are not on-target in their implementation of instructional strategies.

Data related to the following three questions does not count against the six pages for this initiative.

  1. Provide evidence of changes in teacher Practice that have resulted from this professional learning work. Include specific data that documents these changes. (evaluation)
  1. Provide evidence of changes in student behaviors that have resulted from this professional learning.
  1. Describe the changes in student achievement/performance if data is available that have resulted from this work. Include any specific student data (standardized and local) that you have collected that documents these changes. How was this data shared and with whom? (evaluation, equity)
2017 LearningForward-Missouri Award of Excellence for Promising Practice in Professional Learning
Applicant Contact Information

District Name:______

Name of Superintendent:______

District Address:______

______

E-mail:______

Phone:______Fax:______

District Code:______Student Enrollment:______

Contact: (person in district with whom LF-MO or site team can communicate about the application throughout the review process).

Name:______

Position:______

Address: ______

Phone:______Fax:______

E-mail:______

Names and positions of the professional learning planning team involved in the completion of this application:

NamePosition

______

______

______

Certification of Compliance with Laws Protecting Students with Disabilities:

Good teaching and learning must support the rights of all students to an appropriate education. Therefore, by submitting this application, the school or school district certifies that there are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in an applicable U.S. Education Department monitoring report, and if there are such findings, the state (or district, as applicable) has corrected, or agreed to correct the findings. (Applicants are reminded of their obligations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure that their activities are accessible to persons with disabilities.)

Applicant’s Demographic Profile

District Name:______

Number of Teachers: ______Student Enrollment:______

Number of schools/buildings at each level served by district:

______Pre-kindergarten

______Elementary

______Middle

______Junior High

______Senior High

______Other (please specify)

Population Category:

______Urban

______Suburban

______Rural

Racial/ethnic composition of the students in your district:

______% American Indian or Alaska Native

______% Asian

______% Black or African American

______% Hispanic or Latino

______% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

______% White

RPDC Region ______

Most Recent MSIPAccreditation:______

Annual Performance Report (APR) Points Earned for 2016______

Number of Limited English Proficient students in the district: ______

Percent of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch: ______

Percent of students receiving special education services: ______

Special characteristics of your school or district that you believe are relevant to your application:______

______

______

Student Performance Data
  1. Please provide MAP or other Assessment Data relevant to implementation of promising practices.

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