| ... |
Agenda Reg - Chula Vista
Elementary School District
www.cvesd.org/DISTRICT/.../13-
01-23,%20Agenda%20Reg.pdf
Jan 23, 2013 - at the Hilltop
Drive Elementary School Site to
Child Development. Associates
.... Principal Bonnie Nelson
will accompany the students to
the meeting. ADDITIONAL ...
standards-based instruction and
utilization of data to drive ......
decision-making. ... Dr. John
M. Nelson Ill, Asst. Supt.,
Instructional Services.
CHULA VISTA ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
www.cvesd.org/.../minutes%
20English%20August%202011%
20(2).pdf
Aug 23, 2011 - very busy this
summer, making sure the
best teacher has been
placed in every classroom. ...
John Nelson said parent
leaders at school sites will be
involved on making decisions
and this data will help ...
Standards-Based Tests in
Spanish (STS), and California
English Language Development
Test.
John Nelson
See also: Site-based decision-making at CVESD
Site-Based Teams Customize Chula Vista's Instruction
The School Administrator
AASA
May 2011
Latino Leadership and Learning|
by JOHN M. NELSON III
Chula Vista Elementary School District, like many districts across the country, is
dealing with achievement gaps in each of our 45 schools. English language learners
continue to lag behind their peers, especially in reading/language arts.
Instead of fearing the accountability measures associated with No Child Left Behind,
the school district has embraced the federal law for establishing a sense of urgency
at all levels in the organization. We have developed a culture of continuous
improvement, resulting in significant gains in achievement for English learners and all
other students over the past five years.
Students' learning results began to change when we focused on sustained, content-
specific staff development. Instead of pursuing a more conventional approach (such
as focusing on mathematics, science or history instruction), we focused on English
language development for all students during this five-year period, not just those
designated through state measures.
Customized Training
Using a model of instruction known as Gradual Release of Responsibility, we
concentrated our staff training on improving the academic language necessary for
students learning English to achieve proficiency. To do this, Chula Vista has been
building the capacity of teachers and administrators through school-based teams,
called instructional leadership teams that customize their professional learning to
meet the needs of their specific school sites' content.
In collaboration with Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, the San Diego State University
professors who devised the Gradual Release of Responsibility, our district has
focused on improving the quality of instruction for all students. Instruction by highly
qualified teachers within the general education classroom is the basis for Tier 1 in
response to intervention. Fisher and Frey's model consists of four phases of learning:
• Focus lessons establish purpose, model, demonstrate and think aloud to expose
the cognitive moves of the expert, the teacher.
• Guided instruction supports learning, primarily in small groups, through the
strategic use of questions, prompts and cues.
• Collaborative learning promotes productive group work, with students interacting
with peers to clarify their conceptual understanding.
• Independent learning finds opportunities inside and outside the classroom for
review, extension and enrichment.
This instructional framework became our district's outline for all content-specific
professional development. The model's linchpin was the collaborative learning phase
of instruction, where students work as partners to discuss, interact and produce.
Site-Level Decisions
Implementing the Gradual Release of Responsibility in nearly 1,400 classrooms
spread across 45 schools represented a major challenge. The schools (six of them
charters) covered a range of diversity. A one-size-fits-all approach would not be
successful. However, we had a significant tool at our disposal, site-level instructional
leadership teams.
Chula Vista has spent the past 10 years establishing instructional leadership teams
at every site. Their primary role is to lead each school's improvements in teaching
and learning. Each team decides the school's instructional program and leads and
monitors its implementation. The leadership teams consist of teachers (usually one
per grade level) and the principal. The teams meet regularly to discuss instruction
and review teacher assignments and analyses of student work to determine
schoolwide needs.
In addition, the site-based teams monitor full implementation of promising practices,
planning and adjusting professional learning as needed. Their most important
responsibility is developing a plan to build the capacity of all staff. They collect,
organize and display schoolwide data on student performance and monitor the
effectiveness of current allocation of resources and make adjustments.
Using this structure, each instructional leadership team participates in five full-day
professional development sessions each year. The first half of each session focuses
on a status check among school teams and expands their knowledge base
concerning the instructional model. The second half of each session focuses on
capacity building. Teams construct plans for professional development they will lead,
and work with individual teachers who can benefit from additional coaching and
mentoring.
The instructional team decides how to customize training for the school's staff. The
team determines how it will deliver the relevant information over a nine-week cycle.
The cycles include presentations of new information, implementation with positive
feedback from coaches and site administrators and peer observations.
Evolutionary Tool
Over the last several years, the instructional leadership team has evolved from being
a conduit for professional learning into a creator. For example, during several recent
professional development sessions, these teams created a bank of language frames
for each grade level and content area to support the development of English
learners. Similarly, teams have created content and language objectives derived
from state standards for each discipline and grade level. Establishing what will be
learned and how students will use it is critical for students who are learning English.
In addition, the site-based teams conduct instructional walk-throughs at different
sites as well as at their own schools.
These efforts have resulted in breakthrough results across the system. In 1999, only
four schools met their state performance targets; last year, 40 of 45 schools had
done so, and only two schools remain on California's program improvement status.
While the results are impressive, we will continue until we eliminate the achievement
gap in total.
John Nelson is assistant superintendent for instructional services and support in the
Chula Vista Elementary School District in Chula Vista, Calif. E-mail: john.
nelson@cvesd.org
See also: Site-based decision-making at CVESD
Site-Based Teams Customize Chula Vista's Instruction
The School Administrator
AASA
May 2011
Latino Leadership and Learning|
by JOHN M. NELSON III
Chula Vista Elementary School District, like many districts across the country, is
dealing with achievement gaps in each of our 45 schools. English language learners
continue to lag behind their peers, especially in reading/language arts.
Instead of fearing the accountability measures associated with No Child Left Behind,
the school district has embraced the federal law for establishing a sense of urgency
at all levels in the organization. We have developed a culture of continuous
improvement, resulting in significant gains in achievement for English learners and all
other students over the past five years.
Students' learning results began to change when we focused on sustained, content-
specific staff development. Instead of pursuing a more conventional approach (such
as focusing on mathematics, science or history instruction), we focused on English
language development for all students during this five-year period, not just those
designated through state measures.
Customized Training
Using a model of instruction known as Gradual Release of Responsibility, we
concentrated our staff training on improving the academic language necessary for
students learning English to achieve proficiency. To do this, Chula Vista has been
building the capacity of teachers and administrators through school-based teams,
called instructional leadership teams that customize their professional learning to
meet the needs of their specific school sites' content.
In collaboration with Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, the San Diego State University
professors who devised the Gradual Release of Responsibility, our district has
focused on improving the quality of instruction for all students. Instruction by highly
qualified teachers within the general education classroom is the basis for Tier 1 in
response to intervention. Fisher and Frey's model consists of four phases of learning:
• Focus lessons establish purpose, model, demonstrate and think aloud to expose
the cognitive moves of the expert, the teacher.
• Guided instruction supports learning, primarily in small groups, through the
strategic use of questions, prompts and cues.
• Collaborative learning promotes productive group work, with students interacting
with peers to clarify their conceptual understanding.
• Independent learning finds opportunities inside and outside the classroom for
review, extension and enrichment.
This instructional framework became our district's outline for all content-specific
professional development. The model's linchpin was the collaborative learning phase
of instruction, where students work as partners to discuss, interact and produce.
Site-Level Decisions
Implementing the Gradual Release of Responsibility in nearly 1,400 classrooms
spread across 45 schools represented a major challenge. The schools (six of them
charters) covered a range of diversity. A one-size-fits-all approach would not be
successful. However, we had a significant tool at our disposal, site-level instructional
leadership teams.
Chula Vista has spent the past 10 years establishing instructional leadership teams
at every site. Their primary role is to lead each school's improvements in teaching
and learning. Each team decides the school's instructional program and leads and
monitors its implementation. The leadership teams consist of teachers (usually one
per grade level) and the principal. The teams meet regularly to discuss instruction
and review teacher assignments and analyses of student work to determine
schoolwide needs.
In addition, the site-based teams monitor full implementation of promising practices,
planning and adjusting professional learning as needed. Their most important
responsibility is developing a plan to build the capacity of all staff. They collect,
organize and display schoolwide data on student performance and monitor the
effectiveness of current allocation of resources and make adjustments.
Using this structure, each instructional leadership team participates in five full-day
professional development sessions each year. The first half of each session focuses
on a status check among school teams and expands their knowledge base
concerning the instructional model. The second half of each session focuses on
capacity building. Teams construct plans for professional development they will lead,
and work with individual teachers who can benefit from additional coaching and
mentoring.
The instructional team decides how to customize training for the school's staff. The
team determines how it will deliver the relevant information over a nine-week cycle.
The cycles include presentations of new information, implementation with positive
feedback from coaches and site administrators and peer observations.
Evolutionary Tool
Over the last several years, the instructional leadership team has evolved from being
a conduit for professional learning into a creator. For example, during several recent
professional development sessions, these teams created a bank of language frames
for each grade level and content area to support the development of English
learners. Similarly, teams have created content and language objectives derived
from state standards for each discipline and grade level. Establishing what will be
learned and how students will use it is critical for students who are learning English.
In addition, the site-based teams conduct instructional walk-throughs at different
sites as well as at their own schools.
These efforts have resulted in breakthrough results across the system. In 1999, only
four schools met their state performance targets; last year, 40 of 45 schools had
done so, and only two schools remain on California's program improvement status.
While the results are impressive, we will continue until we eliminate the achievement
gap in total.
John Nelson is assistant superintendent for instructional services and support in the
Chula Vista Elementary School District in Chula Vista, Calif. E-mail: john.
nelson@cvesd.org
Why This Website
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
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