Elementary school teachers sharing subject and assessment specific information with middle school teachers and high school teachers is often a missing part of teacher professional development activities due to different schedules and distances between schools. Results of this collaboration include common assessments and diversity of approaches in instruction to meet the challenges and needs of students. The vertical slice format also gives students opportunities to share their knowledge with students at other grade levels. Elementary school children benefit from lessons taught by high school students. High school students find that presenting material to younger children reinforces what they are learning and their own understanding of math and science.
Strong leadership is essential for vertical slice collaboration and systemic collaboration.
Having a principal and teacher leadership team participate in the collaborative professional development activities are the lynchpins for cohesive reform and sustain subject area improvement at each grade level. Please read the individual teams' annual reports to see the methods and improvements that are taking place in our Challenge 2000 teams.