Harnessing the Power of
Teacher Leaders
Fort Bend ISD Secondary Curriculum Coordinators
Susan Voradakis – Social Studies susan.voradakis@fortbendisd.com
Perri Segura – Science perri.segura@fortbend.k12.tx.us
Trisha Peterson – Math trisha.peterson@fortbend.k12.tx.us
Sue Tull – ELA sue.tull@fortbend.k12.tx.us
Sharon McGlaun – “Retired” smcglaun@msn.com
TSSSA Conference – March 30, 2007
Fort Bend ISD


Suburban District –
southwest of Houston
Secondary Schools:



10 High Schools
12 Middle Schools
2 Alternative Campuses
You might be a coordinator if you…












Write curriculum
Create assessments
Read, research, and attend conferences
Organize district staff development
Train teachers, department chairs, administrators
Read, research, and attend conferences
Attend meetings
Mentor teachers, department chairs, administrators
Read, research, and attend conferences
Lead meetings
Facilitate, lead, and serve on committees
Read, research, and attend conferences….
What is the expected outcome?






Understanding of CIA?
Implementation of state/district curriculum?
Data-driven decision making?
Improved test scores?
Teacher success?
Student Success?
Reality

Campuses sometimes operate in reactive rather
than proactive mode (constant remediation of
students rather than instruction).

Busy administrators provide little instructional
leadership or expectations.

Teachers are expected to “collaborate” before or
after school, or they work in isolation.

Data does not impact instruction.

Students do not reach their potential.
…School culture and supervision tend to ignore or
divert teachers from implementing and
continuously improving their mastery of effective
instructional and assessment practices. We don’t
commonly see teaching, followed by assessment,
then adjustment to practice on the basis of assessment
results. Isolation masks the starkly different results
achieved by different teachers.
- Mike Schmoker, Results Now
Think Pair Share

How do you make the TEKS the focus of
classroom instruction and assessment?

How do you bring about systemic change
within a content area, grade level, and school?
The good news is that we know what to do.
Education research has equipped us with
abundant evidence on instructional and
leadership strategies that are likely to result
in improved student achievement.
– Doug Reeves, “Closing the Implementation Gap”
Effective Practice







Marzano – High Yield Strategies
DuFour – PLC
Schmoker – Collaborative Planning
Gardner – Learning Styles
Tomlinson – Differentiated Instruction
McTighe & Wiggins - UBD
And many others …
Putting It All Together:
One High School’s Results
2005 TAKS
Met Standard at Panel Rec.
2006 TAKS
Met Standard at Panel Rec.
Difference
9th Grade Math
41%
26%
-15
10th Grade Math
30%
42%
+12
11th Grade Math
49%
64%
+15
10th Science
23%
35%
+12
11th Science
44%
54%
+10
10th Social Studies
72%
76%
+4
11th Social Studies
85%
93%
+8
9th ELA
74%
78%
+4
10th ELA
52%
80%
+28
11th ELA
83%
86%
+3

Discuss the slide with your neighbor.

Write down any questions that you have based
on the data.
The purpose of the presentation is to demonstrate
how to make a difference at the campus level by –
1. Impacting teachers directly, through teacher
leaders. These leaders, rather than coordinators or
other administrators, relay information and
implement district expectations.
2. Implementing the TLC model of collaborative
planning, deeper understanding of the curriculum,
and reflective practices that drive instruction.
TLC
Teacher Leadership Corps
History of the Program

Beginnings

Year 1 – one school

Year 2 – four schools
TLC Campus Structure
Principal
Campus Coordinator
(Dean, AP)
Lead TLC
ELA Team
English I
English II
English III
Reading
Math Team
Algebra I
Geometry
Algebra II
Science Team
IPC
Biology
Chemistry
Social Studies
World Geography
World History
U.S. History
Self Reflection

Do you have a similar structure?

What do team leaders do?

Do teams meet regularly?

What is the focus of the meetings?

Do teachers grow, does instruction improve, are student
scores going up as the result of team meetings?
How is TLC Different?
“I have been a part of small learning communities
which addressed cross curricular learning themes
to motivate students and staff. This TLC initiative is
different as it affects students by affecting
teachers’ instruction. That can be a sensitive area
for the unwilling. However, it is the most powerful
and most necessary. Mediocre instruction
produces mediocre students. We owe ourselves
and our students more than that.”
- TLC Teacher
Goals of TLC

Short term - Improve student achievement on
TAKS

Long term – Focus on TEKS and enhance
classroom instruction

Long term – Develop effective peer coaching
networks to support teachers and students.
Tools of TLC

Curriculum Calendar with target student
expectations

Collaborative Team Planning Form – focus on TEKS

Mini Assessments – collect information on impact of
instruction

Data Reporting Forms – collect data to determine
next course of action
Target SE’s

Develop team curriculum calendar for entire
year

Identify areas for improvement –target SE’s

Plot target SE’s for specific instruction and
assessment on team calendar

Can’t fix all problems, but have to start
somewhere
Sample Calendar
Collaborative Team Planning Process

Teams meet at least once per week

Not just lesson planning

Collaborating/discussing instruction

Creating time in the schedule does not create
buy-in or understanding
Focused Collaborative Team Planning
Date:
Teachers/Administrators in Attendance:
Reflections:
What worked last week and what didn’t?
Why? And now what?
Student Expectations:
Which one of the tested TEKS are you going to focus on
this week? Write it out.
Analysis of TAKS Assessment:
(1)How was this Student Expectation tested on TAKS?
(2)What did you learn by looking at the tested items?
(3)What skills must be used by students to successfully
answer the items?
Teacher Assessment:
(1)How will you continuously determine whether your
students learned what was expected at the level of
TEKS/TAKS?
(2)Will you give a mini-assessment? If so, attach the
items.
Teaching Strategies:
What teaching strategies will you use to move students to
the level expected of them on TAKS?
Activities:
What do you expect the students to do?
Monitor and Adjust:
What will you do if the students do not learn it?
Team:
Teachers/Administrators in Attendance:
Reflections:
What worked last week and what didn’t?
Why? And now what?
Students did poorly on warm-up questions covering 13th,
14th, 15th amendments. The warm-ups did not include direct
instruction.
Student Expectations:
Which one of the tested TEKS are you going to focus on this
week? Write it out.
US 18B - Evaluate various means of achieving political
rights, including the19th, 24th, and 26th amendments.
Analysis of TAKS Assessment:
(1)How was this Student Expectation tested on TAKS?
(2)What did you learn by looking at the tested items?
(3)What skills must be used by students to successfully answer
the items?
Teacher Assessment:
(1)How will you continuously determine whether your students
learned what was expected at the level of TEKS/TAKS?
(2)Will you give a mini-assessment? If so, attach the items.
1.
Teaching Strategies:
What teaching strategies will you use to move students to the
level expected of them on TAKS?
Review/reteach, or teach cause/effect,inferencing, drawing
conclusions; review amendment purpose and process;
review 13th-15th; introduce 19th, 24th, 26th
Activities:
What do you expect the students to do?
Students will choose a suitable Thinking Map organizer that
demonstrates cause/effect context for amendments
(13th,14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, 26th).
Monitor and Adjust:
What will you do if the students do not learn it?
Determine which amendments are confusing to students;
develop interactive timeline to review Civil Rights amdmts
Follow-up:
List any follow up responsibilities or materials needed and the
person responsible for each.
Voradakis – locate questions
McGlaun – adjust calendar
2.
3.
03,04,06 – 2/3 questions use cause/effect; 1 question
uses excerpt and inferencing
Students must relate amendments to their historical
context
Cause/effect; inference; drawing conclusion
Sample Lesson Plan
Week: April 2 - 6
Monday - Tuesday
Instructional Activities
Objectives


TEKS: Civil Rights Objectives
TAKS:

8.17B/US7A –Trace the historical development of the civil rights
movement in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries including the 13th, 14th,
and 15th amendments

US 18B - Evaluate various means of achieving political rights,
including the 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments.
Procedures:
1.
Review the results of mini-assessment with students. Have students explain why
the distractors are incorrect.
2.
Skills mini-lesson: C/E, Inferencing, Drawing Conclusions - Jarrett book pp. 3 –
10
3.
Content Lesson: Civil Rights Amendments
1.
Station Rotation – each amendment
2.
Foldable – flip book on amendments
3.
C/E Thinking Map – each amendment
Assessment(s): Mini Assessment
Mini Assessments








TAKS Format
Limited to 1-2 SE’s
4-5 questions each
Every 3 weeks
Can be integrated into regular test or as a stand alone
assessment
Can be formative or summative
Determine “passing” standard (compare to TAKS)
Team decides on rules for administration of tests
Data Analysis

Everyone sees everyone’s data

Discuss the results and the reasons for the
results

Identify remediation strategies and
incorporate into upcoming lesson(s)
“This is definitely the most rewarding program I
have ever been a part of. In looking at what the
team has accomplished so far this year: segmenting and
adapting the curriculum to fit the needs of the students;
incorporating best practices…, aligning our team
goals…, pinpointing problem areas and adapting our
teaching to those needs, I can truly say that TLC has
brought our department a long way.”
- TLC Teacher
Lead TLC

Monitor progress of teams through collecting
documentation, meeting with teams,
conducting walk-throughs, etc.

Provide support for TLC teachers

Liaison between campus and district
administrators
Role of Administrators

Provides vehicle for legitimate instructional
leadership

Attend team meetings

Monitor implementation through focused
walk-throughs

Provide accountability for all team members
NCREL recommends, based on research on
schools that are making the most progress
with improving student results, that schools
provide teachers with three hours of
collaborative time each week.
– SMART Goals
Other Components & Issues

TAKS Support

Coaching

Scheduling
District Support Structure
District TLC
Coordinator
ELA
MATH
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
“Buddy” Coordinator
“Buddy Coordinator”
“Buddy Coordinator”
“Buddy Coordinator”
Helping Teachers
2
Helping Teachers
2
Helping Teachers
3
Helping Teacher
1
Campus Helping Teacher
1
Campus Helping Teacher
1
Campus Helping Teacher
1
Campus Helping Teacher
1
CAMPUS Meetings
Team TLC
 Attend
 Attend
weekly
campus TLC mtgs.

 Attend
district
TLC mtgs.
 Attend
Attend
 Attend
training
“Buddy”
Coordinator
Lead TLC
Lead weekly
team mtgs.

DISTRICT Meetings
weekly
team mtgs.
Lead weekly
campus TLC mtgs
district
lead TLC mtgs.
district
TLC mtgs.
 Attend
training
 Attend
weekly team
TLC
Coordinator
 Attend
mtgs.
mtgs.
 Attend

weekly
campus TLC mtgs
weekly team
Meet with each TLC
 Attend
 Attend
district lead
TLC mtgs.
weekly
campus TLC mtgs
Lead district lead
TLC mtgs.

Lead district TLC
mtgs.

 Attend
coordinator
mtgs.
 Attend
 Attend
mtgs.
Lead
training
district TLC
coordinator
mtgs.
 Attend
training
Teachers must be clear about the connection
between their own learning and improvements in
student learning.
– Joan Richardson, “Think Outside the Clock”
Growing Our TLC’s


Book Study
Weekly Team Meetings





Share successes
Discuss difficulties
Lessons in Leadership
Effective Classroom Instruction Training
Content Area Trainings
Reflections
2005 TAKS
Met Standard at Panel Rec.
2006 TAKS
Met Standard at Panel Rec.
Difference
9th Grade Math
41%
26%
-15
10th Grade Math
30%
42%
+12
11th Grade Math
49%
64%
+15
10th Science
23%
35%
+12
11th Science
44%
54%
+10
10th Social Studies
72%
76%
+4
11th Social Studies
85%
93%
+8
9th ELA
74%
78%
+4
10th ELA
52%
80%
+28
11th ELA
83%
86%
+3
Additional Resources










TLC Program Outline
TLC Glossary
TLC Program – Use of TLC Period
Sample Curriculum Calendar
Collaborative Team Planning Form
Mini Assessment Data Form
Mini Assessment Reflections
Planning Considerations
Tic TAKS Forms – Grades 10 & 11
Resource List