Internship Project #2: Pre-K 12 Curriculum

Part 1: I met with my mentor in November to discuss this project

regarding literacy instruction. Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) does
not have a standard Literacy Curriculum for teachers, but instead uses
Focused Instruction for literacy. The district is in the beginning stages
of a curriculum adoption, as the attempt to do so last school year was
rejected by the school board. This school will participate in a pilot
program of the three final choices for curriculums. We will meet again
near the end of March to review the pilot.

Part 2: I chose Literacy in order to enhance my own understanding of

MPS expectations for literacy instruction. As a former special
education teacher, unfortunately my instructional background has not
focused on grade level standards, more so on IEP objectives. In order
to better support special education teachers in using grade level
standards to develop instruction, and IEP goals and objectives, I
needed to increase my understanding of literacy instruction.

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) supports literacy development of students by using a

balanced literacy approach through Readers and Writers Workshop in kindergarten
through fifth grade. Each Readers Workshop focuses on comprehension, vocabulary,
and fluency through whole group and small group instruction, and independent working
time. Students in MPS should experience 150 minutes of literacy instruction a day,
including 45-60 minutes of Writers Workshop. MPS has provided elementary schools
and teachers with detailed descriptions of how to teach through balanced literacy,
including documents outlining key practices to look for in instruction, and specific
evidence to observe in each classroom. For Secondary teachers in MPS, literacy and
ELA instruction expectations are not as detailed. The MPS website supporting Secondary
teachers is void of content. When asked about ELA instruction at the Secondary level, a
District Program Facilitator (DPF) for Secondary Schools reported that writing was the
focus in middle and high schools, although teachers have not been provided expectations
of what writing and ELA instruction should incorporate.

In 2010, Minnesota adopted the current MN K-12 English Language Arts (ELA)
Standards. These standards incorporate 100% of the Common Core ELA Standards and
contain an additional percentage of standards (about 18%). MN is considered a Common
Core state in ELA. The Common Core Standards provide teachers with ten Anchor
Standards in Literacy, and ten in Writing. Standards are then broken down into grade
level specifics becoming more rigorous and demanding with each grade level. Students
in kindergarten are expected to meet ELA standards with prompting from their teacher.
By first grade, students should demonstrate more independence in answering questions
about their readings, and by third grade students are expected to refer explicitly to the text
to support their thinking. By middle and high school, students must not only make
connections to and between texts, but they are expected to analyze and evaluate the
authors message and use of structure within the text, providing specific examples to
support their evaluation.
Internship Project #2: Pre-K 12 Curriculum

Multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) vary in each of the MPS schools. Some schools
fund positions for specific interventionists who work with students, some fund positions
for literacy coaches whose focus is more on the teacher and their instruction. This really
depends on the vision of the leadership team at each site.

Teachers across grade levels and school levels often have the same complaint when it
comes to students understanding of subject matter. Teaches at the higher level often feel
that the sending grade level have not prepared the students for the next grade level.
One way to address this, is to work cross-grade level and setting to ensure alignment of
standards. In my experience, when teachers at varying grade levels meet to discuss and
plan for standards, the sending teacher is able to gather a better picture of what the
receiving teacher or setting needs students to be able to do. Although it is difficult in a
large system like MPS to bring teachers across settings together, a literacy department
can do some of the work to align standards. MPS has taken steps to ensure this work has
begun. MPS Teaching and Learning department employees now spend a percentage of
their work time in each of the schools working more closely with students and teachers.

Good Instruction. Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde discuss good instruction or best
practice as being ways, to describe solid, reputable, state-of-the-art work in a field
(p.1, 2012). This would mean that educators are knowledgeable about current research in
education, and apply it to their practice. In a classroom this would look like more active
learning and hands-on activities, more individualized instruction and special help within a
mainstream classroom. Students experience an increase in higher-order thinking, and less
time completing worksheets and workbooks. In a Best Practice learning environment,
students have choice and flexibility in their work areas in the classroom, and there is an
increase in student-to-student interactions (Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde, 2012).

These practices were evident in all of three classrooms recently observed during literacy
and ELA lessons. In the first grade classroom the students started the lesson in a whole
group reading along. The students sat on the carpet gathering around the teacher as she
read to, and asked questions of, the students. The teacher used a variety of low level and
higher level questioning with students, calling on volunteers and non-volunteers alike.
Students then broke into three stations where they engaged in independent work focusing
on phonemic awareness skills, a small group with an Associate Educator, and a small
group with the teacher. Each station was differentiated according to the groups
instructional needs.

In the middle school lesson, students began the lesson with a quick write to reflect on the
previous days readings. Students were asked to use the text to defend the response to the
question, Did wanting to leave Afghanistan and her family make the main character a
bad person? Students were required to state their opinion and refer to the text to support
their opinion. The teacher called on volunteers to read their responses, and then they
moved on to a quiz consisting of another open-ended question. Before students began
writing, the teacher discussed which part of the Common Core Standards the quiz
Internship Project #2: Pre-K 12 Curriculum

addressed. In order to provide extra support to students who needed it, the teacher listed
transition words and phrases the students may use in their writing.

Examples of best practice instruction at the high school level consisted of students
generating questions they still had about the text they were reading. Students had the
opportunity to work collaboratively with a partner or create the questions on their own.
The class then created a large circle for a whole group discussion in which they freely
responded to each others thoughts. Statements such as, I agree with because and
I was also wondering about were observed throughout the open discussion. Students
were then released to read the next chapter of the text once again with a partner or
independently. Students were prompted to stop and think with their partner during their
reading. The specific stated purpose of the reading, and learning target for the day, was
for students to Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story, propel
the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

The observations provide a quick insight into the transitions of literacy instruction across
the grade levels as identified in the standards, as well as examples of best practices.
Students in first grade were asked answer the Who, What, Where and Why questions of a
story. Middle and high school students were asked to analyze the characters and text, and
support their thoughts with specific examples from their reading.

How does an instructional leader cultivate a culture of effective teaching and

learning? An instructional leader is focused on the schools mission of improving
teaching and learning. The leader must have the ability to stay focused on teaching,
learning, curriculum and assessment (Kaplan and Owings, 2015). In order to do this
principals now must have more than management skills, they have to have people skills
to motivate their staff, and create buy-in and dedication to their mission. You can tell a
school with a healthy culture from one with a toxic culture by how it responds to
teachers extra efforts at helping struggling students learn (Kaplan and Owings, 2015).

In his description of eight steps necessary to transform organizations, Kotter describes

step two as Forming a Powerful Guiding Coalition. He discusses assembling a group of
leaders who can lead change and work together, with the leader being an active supporter.
This helps create a shared commitment to excellence. (Kotter, 1995). In the case of
schools, the excellence is seen in best practice instruction and increase in student
achievement. In order to create the school culture necessary to affect teaching practice
and increase student achievement, school leaders need staff to feel valued and respected.
When teachers feel valued and respected it increases the trust between administration and
staff, which is needed to create a student-centered learning environment (Kaplan and
Owings, 2015).

Part 3: In my observation and experience, literacy instruction in MPS is hit or miss.

MPS put forth a lot of time and resources to develop the instructional materials for
Focused Instruction. The biggest complaint from teachers about Focused Instruction is
that it is hard to use, and depending on leadership in each building, implemented in a
variety of ways. Some teachers are screaming for a more concrete curriculum that
Internship Project #2: Pre-K 12 Curriculum

incorporates more early literacy and foundational skills. MPS has provided guidelines
for literacy block instruction, but the support of teacher materials is not well developed.

At my site, teachers are to follow a Guided Reading model for instruction. With most of
the staff being new to teaching, they are just not sure how to implement this. In mid-
January our leadership implemented 9 weeks of Guided Reading professional
development (PD). PD sessions occurred once a week, but without a literacy specialist it
has been difficult to provide the coaching necessary to ensure effective implementation.

Part 4: I met with my mentor the second to last week of March, as teachers were
finishing their pilot literacy work. Teachers at the K-2 levels each piloted a different
curriculum, with mixed opinions on the effectiveness of each. Most teachers felt
overwhelmed by the amount of materials that accompanied the curriculum, but were
happy to have options. Overall, teachers preferred the Benchmark curriculum for our
school as the materials and units well supported their IB units.

Part 5: The most important take-away I have from this project is how important it is for a
school leader to have a strong understanding of instructional practice. I found its also
very important to know what instructional weakness I have, so I can ensure I have staff
who are strong in my weak areas, and are able to not only coach me, but staff as well.
My dad has always said, You have to look at the people a leader surrounds themselves
with. That tells you more than what the person actually says. Hes usually referring to a
presidential candidate, but Ive taken that thought to heart as I prepare to become a leader
in a school.

Resources

Kaplan, L. S. & Owings, W. A. (2015). Introduction to the principalship:

Theory to Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kotter, J.P. (1995, March-April). Leading change: Why transformation

efforts fail.
Harvard Business Review, pp. 59-67.

Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., & Hyde, A. (2012). Best practice: Bringing
standards to
life in Americas classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Internship Project #2: Pre-K 12 Curriculum