By focusing on literacy across the school we broke down the isolation of working as individuals. We became a team and literacy became a common problem to solve. We first saw the need for consistent expectations across classrooms. The process of identifying key questions related to student learning, a review of the literature and research, review of data, and development of an implementation plan which includes feedback and coaching is reflective of how we take on continuous curriculum improvement. At Blue Oak School, support is provided to any staff who has new responsibilities or is having a problem with their teaching assignment.
Teachers see professional study and research groups as part of their role.
Staff book clubs or committees have been formed to address remediation, spelling instruction, gifted and talented student enrichment, and attention deficit disorder issues. These groups form spontaneously out of staff interests. We have found that dedicated and highly skilled teachers who are committed to learning from data on student progress and professional study within a community context can make a difference.