QTL News & Stories
Comprehensive School Reform Seeks to Build Capacity First™
January 2006
A Harnett County school participating in Comprehensive School Reform is turning a potential negative into a positive - taking advantage of the opportunity to give its teachers some innovative professional development.
LILLINGTON, NC - Teachers at Western Harnett High School are getting intensive staff development through the Capacity First initiative. The locally developed model is a combination of programs designed in partnership with The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning to bring about "deep change" and an improvement in student outcomes.
She was apprehensive at first, but after completing QTL™, Western Harnett High English teacher Deborah McAliley was upbeat. "The results are more than worth the initial feelings that say 'I can't do that,'" she says.
Teachers have begun the process by participating in the QTL™ Model, Quality Teaching and Learning, which combines proven teaching strategies and best practices with modern teaching tools - from computers to digital microscopes and GPS devices. The QTL Model Classroom engages teachers in how to utilize those tools effectively to help students learn.
Western Harnett High participants went through the program in teams of four, beginning with five days in a classroom where they learned just as students do. They completed assignments that used computers and other tech apparatus as tools for learning core subjects from math to language arts, as well as electives like agriculture and physical education. They learned that those tools are much more effective if they are used along with teaching strategies that engage students.
"This has been a fantastic week," said assistant principal Frances Harrington after completing the five classroom days of QTL™. "I really don't know that I could do justice to the program with my meager words of praise. In my 33 years of teaching, this was the BEST workshop and most usable workshop I have ever attended."
"This stuff is GREAT!," says math teacher Nancy Blackmon. "This is not just another technology workshop that you walk away from saying 'yeah, but how is this gonna help me with a REAL classroom of 30 kids?' QTL™ gave me the tools and confidence to step out of my comfort zone, and make learning student-centered and FUN!"
Head football coach Bill Wyrick also called it a very productive week. "This is practical hands-on information that can be used by any teacher, not just classroom teachers," he said. "This has been the best instruction on technology that I have ever taken."
Rachel Porter of The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning led most of the Western Harnett QTL™ sessions. She says there was some resistance at first, and some teachers felt they were being punished because of the school's CSR status. But spirits were up by the end of the first week, and by week two teachers were getting excited about the things they were learning. Several months later, Porter feels like part of the family, and sees a real difference at Western Harnett High.
Masonry teacher Russell Taylor works with English and masonry students during a collaborative project called "The Walls We Build." Taylor expects end-of-course grades may rise thanks to use of new teaching strategies.
"The teachers are reaching out to one another more," she says. "They are more aware of and interested in what others are doing. This is a difference I have been able to feel as I walk down the halls and notice teachers stopping one another and popping into classrooms that they may not have ever been into before. The overall 'feel' of the school has been impacted by this."
After the initial five days in a classroom, teacher teams designed and implemented collaborative projects that had their students working together on assignments built around a common theme such as "Human Effects on the Environment," "The Walls We Build," and "The Evolution of Weaponry and its Effects on Society." Some examples:
- Math, social studies and business teachers worked together on a project called "Election Trends 2004." Civics students researched voter turnout during the 2004 election. Business students used the data to create spreadsheets. Algebra students used the spreadsheets to find trend lines and correlations between demographics and turnout rates. The media coordinator assisted with technology and documented the process with a digital camera.
- A project called "Numb3rs" had several classes studying math and numbers within their own subject area. Art classes examined connections to geometry, proportion and scale. Students in an Exceptional Children class used a recipe and baked cookies; business students figured out how to increase the amounts of that recipe to make enough cookies for a bake sale. Others documented the project with digital photos and a PowerPoint presentation that explores the theme of numbers in everyday life.
- One team conducted a "Fantastic Fruitcake Foray" that had English, Spanish, chorus and family & consumer science students working together. English students researched food customs, Spanish students used that research and compiled a bilingual cookbook of ethnic Christmas foods. Chorus students rehearsed a song and skit about fruitcake for an evening performance for parents. Food Science students made fruitcake to sell at school and at the performance.
Exceptional Children teacher Tina Denson's students participated in a collaborative project that had them researching children's literature and creating PowerPoint presentations to share with students in a Parenting class. Denson says she plans to look for more ways to engage her students with others in the school.
"I have told everyone that has asked, that this has been the best workshop that I have ever taken," said Denson. "We have been active, not lectured to or talked down to. We've been out of our seats, and learned new technology that does not seem to be above us 'old school' teachers who did not come from technology enriched college programs."
Porter says the collaborative projects engaged students, got them interested, and allowed teachers to give them more responsibility for their own learning. She says that is also having an impact on the school.
"The students I spoke with felt a level of empowerment in the role of 'helping the teacher out,'" she says. "And the teachers overwhelmingly reported that the students were more engaged and performed at a higher level on activities and lessons that were related to the project."
The QTL™ participation is part of a larger project at Western Harnett called Capacity First. Capacity First aims to provide training, encouragement, collaboration and support for the teachers in CSR schools. It combines QTL™ with two other noted programs for educators: Rutherford Group's Learning Centered Schools, and Murphy's Whole Faculty Study Groups®.
Harold Brewer, Senior Vice President for Programs at The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning, says the combination of programs is designed to help CSR schools change in fundamental ways. High quality teaching, collaboration and best practices are critical components of what Brewer calls "deep change."
Improving student outcomes is the ultimate goal. He believes Western Harnett High is already making great strides.
"Every school and every faculty is different and deserves a model that addresses their needs in a manner that respects their strengths and their goals," Brewer says. "It is a pleasure to work with teachers who demonstrate such a high level of commitment to improving professional practices and meeting student needs. It is hard work and requires personal and professional effort on the part of teachers and administrators who intend real change. Everyone benefits when the capacity for high quality teaching improves."
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