On September 14, 2008, Carrie Hill requested additional information regarding CC 1 Consultant Contract for Grant Wiggins & Associates

REQUEST:

How many sessions does the flat $55,000 cover or is the provision of these services delivered in some other manner?

RESPONSE:

The flat fee of $55,000 covers the following activities:

1) A team of consultants from Authentic Education will offer a two-day training in Understanding by Design (as mandated in the Magnet Schools Assistance Program Grant) for approximately 250 teachers at five MSAP Grant schools in Palm Beach County. These schools are:

  • Forest Park Elementary School (Candidate IB PYP School)
  • Pahokee Elementary School (Candidate IB PYP School)
  • Plumosa Elementary School (Performing Arts Magnet School)
  • Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School (Candidate IB PYP School)
  • Conniston Middle School (Candidate IB MYP School)

On day 1, Grant Wiggins, assisted by a small group of AE consultants, will present an overview of backward design, with emphasis on the importance of:

  • Identifying the “big ideas” of learning
  • Developing powerful assessments that assess both for students’ achievement of understanding and their ability to transfer classroom learning to new situations
  • Creating tight alignment between clear learning goals, valid assessments, and effective learning activities

This introduction will be conducted with reference to the IB planners so that teachers clearly understand how backward design and IB planning integrate.

On day 2, the group will divide into building-specific schools. Each of the three elementary schools will have one consultant to work with their staff and the middle school will have two consultants. On this day, the ideas of Dr. Wiggins’ initial presentation will become more concrete, as consultants and staff work collaboratively to begin to design actual teaching units. The IB schools will be using the IB planner. Plumosa Elementary, the performing arts school, will use an arts integration unit template.

2) Follow Up Services include:

a) Access to the online course (UbD 101) for all staff at all target schools, with guidance for local leaders on how to facilitate that course and monitor progress. One result of the online course will be that each teacher (or designated team of teachers) will produce a unit that they can teach. The online course will remain active for the full school year, enabling teachers to consult its resources as they need them.

b) An AE senior associate returns to Palm Beach County for three days to work with teams from any or all of the target schools, providing feedback and guidance on unit design completed to date, observing unit teaching, and making recommendations for future directions. Entire school staff would not need to have release time simultaneously; rather, our associate could work with smaller teams, one at a time.

c) The AE senior consultant returns again, continuing to assess progress, with an emphasis on analyzing student work resulting from pilot units and revising based on those results.

d) Grant Wiggins and AE senior associates provide unlimited, ongoing support, including:

  • Review of draft units in progress, with feedback to designers
  • Monthly phone meetings with school and district leaders, as requested, to review progress and plan next steps
  • Provision, if requested of materials to use in school staff meetings, to reinforce the curriculum design effort

The benefit of this program is that it provides support over time, rather than presenting a new set of ideas in the fall and then moving on to business as usual.