Boston Collegiate Charter School
Professional Development 2012-2013
Staff Meetings
Staff meetings will be held each Monday from 2:30-5:00 PM. A quarterly calendar will be distributed to ensure relevance of the meetings to instructional planning and practice. Also indicated on the calendar will be the location of department meetings and professional development workshops, alternating between the Mayhew Street and Sydney Street campuses.
2:30 PM – 3:15 PM Meeting Descriptions
The first portion of our common meeting time will be spent in All Staff, Lower, Middle and High School meetings or common planning time. This time will consist of delivering information, clarifying school priorities and discussing age-appropriate instructional strategies. However, this time will also serve to build team relationships and celebrate staff milestones or events.
In order to allow travel time between Mayhew and Sydney Street, all staff meetings will begin at 2:40pm.
Interim Assessment Data Meetings
The Monday following the administration of ELA and Math interim assessments, teachers will attend interim assessment data meetings from 2:30-3:30PM. On these five designated Mondays, grade level meetings will occur on an as-needed basis. Within 72 hours of the administration of each interim assessment, teachers will receive complete data reports detailing class performance, individual student performance, and wrong-answer analysis to be reviewed independently before the data meetings. At the data meetings, teachers will work in teams to determine instructional takeaways and to create an informed plan for targeted tutoring.
3:15 PM – 5 PM Meeting Descriptions
Meetings will rotate between Grade-Level meetings, with an A (5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th grades) and B (6th, 8th. 11th, and 12th grades) version and Department meetings.
Grade-Level Meetings
Held between once and twice a month, grade level meetings are the primary way of ensuring consistency and communication between all members of a grade level team. The first half of the grade-level meeting focuses on specific student issues, concerns about individual students, grade-level planning, rubric trips and merit awards, common behavioral issues, test prep planning, etc. The second half of the meeting focuses on sharing best practices, sharing curricular ideas, establishing grade level expectations and interdisciplinary planning using standard meeting protocols. Grade level meetings will be facilitated by grade level leaders, and action plans developed to address the meetings’ focus issues.At various points throughout the year, all grade level team members may be asked to present pieces of student work or issues of concern as part of the meeting. At other points in the year, grade level team members are expected to participate in Response to Intervention (RTI) process.
Department Meetings
Department meeting agendas are generated by Department Chairs with the input of department teachers and based on particular content and instructional needs throughout the year. Meeting agendas will include the sharing of assessments, student work and instructional activities in order to get content and conceptual feedback. Each department will participate in one off-site full-day retreat, based on a topic of relevance, interest and need to each department.
Observation and Feedback
The goal of observation is feedback that can positively influence teaching and learning and raise the bar for student achievement. Observations:
· provide helpful feedback on specific areas including: instruction, management, assessment, and discipline
· provide data crucial to instruction and help teachers become better teachers
· help teachers meet their professional goals
· provide tangible data for annual reviews
Schedule of Observations:
Teachers will be observed by their principals and Dean of Instruction on a regular basis and on an as-needed basis by department chairs and grade level leaders. Written feedback will be placed in mailboxes by the end of the observation day. Teachers should anticipate the following observation schedule:
Principal: Weekly informal drop in observations (5 – 10 minutes) with immediate feedback
Dean of Instruction: Weekly informal drop-in observations (5 – 10 minutes) with immediate feedback and full class observation with set date agreed upon in advance, pre- and post- observation meeting to share detailed, written feedback, once per year (Dec. – March)
Peer Observation: Highly encouraged and arranged upon request and with support by the Dean of Instruction
Video
Videotaping a class or portion of a class is strongly encouraged and a required component of the Boston Collegiate New Teacher Collaborative. Videos of instruction are useful for reflecting on professional goals, clarity and effectiveness of instruction and in analyzing classroom dynamics. Videotaping can be arranged with the support of the Dean of Curriculum.
Boston Collegiate New Teacher Collaborative (BCNTC)
Learning how to navigate and best support the systems and structures of Boston Collegiate can be a challenge. To directly address this issue as well as give a forum to share best instructional practices, reflect on teaching practices and discuss issues directly related to their first year experience, new teachers to Boston Collegiate will participate in Boston Collegiate’s New Teacher Collaborative, meeting twelve Wednesday afternoons during the school year. The BCNTC will be facilitated by the Dean of Curriculum with seasoned BCCS teachers invited as guest speakers on specific topics.
Focus on Individual Professional Development Opportunities
As indicated on the school calendar there are five professional development days this year, four of which will include a one and one half hour morning workshop followed by time to plan, collaborate and incorporate workshop takeaways.
With the support of Department Chairs and Dean of Curriculum, teachers should actively pursue workshops, conferences and classes to support their teaching and professional goals. The school will work to the best of its ability to meet the financial commitment of desired requests.
In the past, many of our professional development days have been spent visiting other schools, especially charter schools, to see other teachers and programs in action. If there is a school you’d like to visit, please let the Dean of Curriculum know to help arrange the visit and coverage for classes.
Professional Development Points
Professional Development Points (PDP’s) will be awarded at the end of each school year with one hour of professional meeting time equating to one PDP. A certificate outlining the district provided professional development will be issued in June of each year.
Content Area Professional Development
In addition to participating in school-provided professional development, teachers are highly encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to attend conferences, courses, seminars, workshops and exhibits that support developing and expanding their content-area knowledge and expertise. Opportunities for content-area professional development will be posted by principals, dean of curriculum and department chairs; teachers should consult with their principal in advance of registering. Teachers should set a goal of spending at least one day out of the building per semester on content-area development.
Course Reimbursement at BCCS
Any staff member who would like to take a course that directly supports his/her work in carrying out his/her responsibilities more effectively can seek reimbursement from BCCS:
· for up to ½ of the course’s tuition cost;
· up to a maximum of $500;
· one time per year between July 1st and June 30th (fall, spring, or summer courses).
Reimbursement approval must be given by the Dean of Administration in advance of the course start date. Reimbursable summer courses may be taken by returning staff only. Reimbursement to the staff member can be given either before or after the course’s successful completion. Proof can be in the form of a certificate of completion, a grade report, a letter from the offering institution, or a course registration receipt verifying that the staff member has enrolled in the course. Tuition reimbursement covers only the cost of tuition. It does not include the cost of any fees, books, or any other non-tuition, course-related costs.