1. Can the districts add a fourth mathematics & language arts teacher to those networks in order to ensure that special education is represented? What about larger districts—can they send more?
That is something that may be negotiable. Districts will identify the three teacher leaders attending the content leadership networks. A team may represent – an elementary teacher leader, a secondary teacher leader, and a special educator. Up to three participants may attend from a district. If a smaller district believes they want to only send one or two teacher leaders that will be accepted. The cooperative will work with districts to determine if there is room/capacity to add teacher leaders as a part of the network.
2. Can the districts' representatives on the content networks be coaches or curriculum specialists instead of teachers?
Yes--primarily, though, we want folks who are strongly grounded in the content area and work regularly in classrooms--but coaches, etc, certainly fit that bill. Districts are best to decide that! The right people are critical, as you know. KDE has provided flexibility for districts as they consider the individuals they select to participate in the content leadership networks. The goal is for the process/content to get to all classroom teachers within a district. Please refer to the handouts provided at the summit: KY Content Leadership Networks Question and Answer and Kentucky Instructional Support Leadership Network Question and Answer Each can be found on the Unbridled Learning Summit site on the KDE webpage.
3. One district's question was would we recommend they schedule PD days (6 hrs) at intervals next year. They wondered about 6 hours in late August, 6 more in October, etc. Is this recommended; they're asking because they feel these days need to be scheduled now.
Keep in mind that the new standards will NOT be assessed in the 2010-11 academic year--so schools and districts should take their time this summer and fall to ensure that all teachers spend quality time discussing/interpreting the true intent of the standards and agreeing upon acceptable 'evidence of mastery' for the standards before rushing to have a completed set of 'deconstructed standards'. The ability to select/design high quality instruction and both formative and summative assessments rests on the quality of the targets (how well they align to the standards and how clear they are). If targets are not of quality, then neither instruction nor assessment will be.
The network participants will study the new standards in depth and will produce strong models/examples of the deconstructed Mathematics and English Language Arts standards--by December 2010. Therefore, summer/fall work in districts might be well-spent ensuring that the new standards are reviewed in teams for understanding, looking for similarities and differences between our current standards and the new, and beginning to look at their current courses/units for revisions that will need to be made. Once the Leadership Networks are underway, the teacher leaders will be able to share strong models and a clear process for ensuring that the local deconstruction process (basically refining the work of the networks) is done with a high degree of quality and consistency.
4. Will exact dates for all 8 sessions for the content networks be shared in July?
Yes--once all of the sites are set and facilitators/partners are named, the very first order of business will be to establish meeting dates, times, and locations.
5. One of the biggest concern from our superintendents this morning was using all PD hours for this next year and beyond for this purpose. Several already have days planned, consultants on contract, etc. for next year. And they feel they have other critical work if they are to meet their improvement goals. I know you don't have a solution to this issue but any insights?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all response, however the goal of the agency and all districts is to ensure Senate Bill 1 is fully implemented, including the implementation of more rigorous standards. In order to ensure various goals are met as a part of a district/schools improvement process, there should be an intentional focus on improving teaching and learning at the classroom level. This will be a primary goal of the network professional learning experiences. Districts vary so widely in their approach to instruction--and some are far along in the way that they use common planning time for PLCs to accomplish much of what will need to happen. The Kentucky Leadership Networks are designed to build capacity within every school district through an intensive focus on working with identified leaders in the content areas and administration around highly effective teaching and learning of content standards. It is recognized that while instruction around standards is the ‘core’ of the work of districts, there are other training needs that cannot be ignored. District leaders are the ones who best know the strengths and needs of their local personnel.
6. What I hear some leaders saying is that they are confident that the Kentucky Content Leadership Networks will “develop regional curriculum maps, assessments, and learning experiences”. What I am reading is that participants will “guide the processes of modeling/leading others in their schools/districts to” do these things. How our district moves forward with plans to implement the new standards is greatly influenced by which of these is accurate. Can you point me in the correct direction?
Essentially, both concepts are correct. Members of the Content Leadership Networks will work within the network structure to deconstruct standards, develop maps, develop assessments, and employ learning experiences in the classrooms. Network members will discuss progress and learn from everyone’s experiences. In addition, though, network members will be serving on district leadership teams and will be expected to also share effective practices and model processes with faculty members in the district’s schools. Online discussions will focus on supporting network members as they present information and model strategies at the local level. Information from local sessions will be analyzed to see how the network can support the teacher leaders as they continue to grow as content leaders within their local settings. So, both types of work (development and modeling) will occur with the support of the networks.
7. If so few teachers are involved in the Leadership Networks, how does the information get to all the others in a district?
The purpose of the networks is to build a team that can facilitate the sharing of information and provide professional development. Those in the Networks are being given the tools, resources, and opportunity to practice the skills necessary to lead others in their districts. This allows a district leadership team (all those involved in one of the Leadership Networks) to customize the scaling up in the district in a way that honors previous work and effective structures already in place. For example, if a district already has a strong system of professional learning communities in place, then it would be natural for the district leadership team to work with those PLC leads to share information, resources, etc. that can become the focus of those groups. Other districts may choose to convene content area groups from across a number of schools to meet regularly, lead by the Network teacher leaders.
8. I understand that the first network meeting will be in July. My district has numerous events taking place in July and key staff are planning vacations. When will we know this date? I understand that the regional entities have not even been selected yet, but I was wondering if a state-wide date was going to be set soon to aid district staff in planning.
We anticipate identifying all sites and facilitators during May and will immediately begin to set regional network meeting dates. We are hopeful that the July meeting dates can be published by late May or early June. The network teams will meet regionally during July and are likely to meet within the last two weeks of the month. The dates will vary by region.
9. The estimated date for the release of the “final” version of the standards now falls after the last estimated date for release of a CC 4.1 “crosswalk” document. What is the new timeline for the release of a crosswalk?
The goal for the publication of the crosswalk is two weeks from the publication of the final Common Core State Standards. At this time, the CCSS are scheduled to publish at the end of May, so we are anticipating a mid-June publication of the crosswalk. If we can expedite the crosswalk publication, we will.
10. What is the product at the end of the process?
Please see the handout “Scope of Work and Deliverables”—under Deliverables
11. What does “unpacking” standards mean?
This refers to a foundational process of taking the time to develop a common understanding of each standard, along with determining ‘acceptable evidence’ of mastery of a standard. It results in a set of ‘learning targets’ that should then be used to guide all instructional and assessment planning/design. For more information, see Chapter 3 of the “Classroom Assessment for Student Learning” book (by Rick Stiggins, Judy Arter, Steve Chappius, Jan Chappius, Pearson ATI). Also see: http://www.pfsd.com/uploads/DeconstructingStandards.pdf
12. How is quality control assured with different groups working throughout the state?
A core team of facilitators will meet regularly to plan and evaluate the work of every network with KDE.
13. Can you explain how the strand work done across the state will be coordinated and shared?
The common core standards and future science, social studies, and other content area standards are designed by strands. Each network will use a consistent process for deconstructing the standards but may be working on a different strand in a given content area. The core team will review the work monthly to provide overall consistency of the process. The Network Participants (Teacher Leaders and District Instructional Supervisors/PD Coordinators) will be sharing the work in their local schools and districts. There will also be an online repository for sharing all resources used and products created for everyone to access.
14. What is the estimated cost for a district participating in the project per meeting? (travel, subs, etc).
See attachment - KY Leadership Networks Estimated District Expenses
15. Can you provide a mock of a budget for typical district?
We will work to provide a mock budget for a small, medium, and large district.
16. What is the $250 fee used for?
In response to the questions/concerns we heard at the Unbridled Learning Summit, KDE has eliminated this cost to districts/schools.
17. How should a district conduct it’s PD schedule in light of this initiative?
The network participants will study the new standards in depth and will produce strong models/examples of the deconstructed Mathematics and English Language Arts standards--by December 2010. Therefore, summer/fall work in districts might be well-spent ensuring that the new standards are reviewed in teams for understanding, looking for similarities and differences between our current standards and the new, and beginning to look at their current courses/units for revisions that will need to be made. Once the Leadership Networks are underway, the teacher leaders will be able to share strong models and a clear process for ensuring that the local deconstruction process (basically refining the work of the networks) is done with a high degree of quality and consistency. This work will move districts forward with the implementation of SB1.
Districts vary so widely in their approach to instruction--and some are far along in the way that they use common planning time for PLCs to accomplish much of what will need to happen. The Kentucky Leadership Networks are designed to build capacity within every school district through an intensive focus on working with identified leaders in the content areas and administration around highly effective teaching and learning of content standards. It is recognized that while instruction around standards is the ‘core’ of the work of districts, there are other training needs that cannot be ignored. District leaders are the ones who best know the strengths, aptitudes and needs of their local personnel. For this reason, imposition of a rigid PD implementation plan by KDE could not best meet the needs of individual schools and districts.
18. What would a best practice model of PD look like? What would that model cost?
A team of individuals from a number of education entities worked on the pd framework which includes the leadership networks to determine the best ways to approach fulfilling the requirements of SB1. This team examined the most current research on large scale pd initiatives and called upon the expertise of Dr. Tom Guskey who has been advising the SB1 pd work team. The Leadership Network adheres to the research around best practice for professional learning. For more details, see the Powerpoint Presentation “Scope of Work” on the Unbridled Learning Summit webpage. Specifically, see slides 9, 10, 15-19. For additional recommendations on Highly Effective PD, see “Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad” (2009) http://www.nsdc.org/news/NSDCstudy2009.pdf
And: “Effective Teachers, High Achievers: Investing in a Teaching Profession,” The Forum for Education and Democracy, Capitol Hill Briefing, October 2009. http://rethinklearningnow.com/resources/Teaching_Brief_1009_ForumForEd.pdf
19. Is the award based on a per student/capita basis? How much could a coop be awarded? Can the grant dollars be used to pay for district travel and reimbursements to participate in the state meetings? Local PD? What specifically can the grant dollars be used for?
Based on the feedback we received during the Unbridled Learning Summit, we are revisiting a RFA grant application process. We anticipate funding eight (8) leadership locaations at each of the eight cooperatives. We have determined we may enter into a MOA rather than a more cumbersome RFA process. The funding available may be used for the following items to implement and support the content leadership networks:
· stipend for 2 facilitators to serve on a team of four to "do the work" of the networks;
· resources and materials for the participants in the networks;
· meeting space; and
· overhead costs (which will be capped for each cooperative).
If the cooperative has funding left-over once the above costs are provided, the cooperative may identify the following as an allowable expenditure:
· travel costs for district/school participants;
· additional stipend pay for facilitators working with the network for planning and training; and
· additional considerations upon request and approval by KDE.