Northwest Regional Professional Development Program, in accordance with the Nevada Revised Statutes, is committed to building regional partnerships which provide equitable access for teachers and administrators to support and sustain professional and student learning.


Northwest RPDP will work in collaboration with districts, the Nevada Department of Education, and institutions of higher education to provide high quality research-based learning opportunities, aligned with the Nevada Professional Development Standards and content standards adopted by the State of Nevada to: offer diverse professional learning opportunities centered around current research on effective instruction for student learnin; improve and increase communication among the Northwest RPDP region members concerning professional learning for teachers and administrators; improve and increase communication among the Northwestern, Southern and Northeastern Nevada RPDPs; use technology to build capacity among the partnerships.

The NWRPDP and Teach For Success (T4S)

T4S, formerly Teach for Success, was created by WestEd, a research, development, and service agency, to provide administrators, instructional coaches, mentors, and teachers with a common understanding of research-based instructional practices. The T4S process empowers educators with consistent instructional criteria, a way to collect data regarding that criteria for effective instruction and a common language with which to discuss the data around teaching practice. Our Northwest Regional Professional Development assists over 50 schools in our region with data collection, training, and using the T4S protocol to guide Professional learning conversations.

The T4S protocol’s neutral language allows all stakeholders to examine objective data and discuss effective teaching practices. The six components of effective teaching that emerged from WestEd’s synthesis of the professional literature are as follows:

  1. Teaching Techniques to Support and Engage All Students in Learning
  2. Student Engagement
  3. Cognitive Level of Questions and Activities
  4. Instructional Practices to Support all Learners
  5. Assessment Practices
  6. Learning Environment

Objective data collected with the T4S classroom observation protocol can inform administrators, coaches, trainers, and teachers about how these elements of effective instruction are being implemented. T4S data can support and build the leadership capacity at schools by helping stakeholders identify learning goals, support collaboration around effective instruction, and provide objective and specific feedback.

The following is a description of how the T4S framework has been used within the NWRPDP region.


How different audiences can use T4S data to help shape a school's improvement plan:
Teachers:
  • Receive training on the elements and criteria of the protocol
  • Observe classrooms at their own site and within the district to deepen their understanding and identify effective practices in action
  • Uses protocol to guide lesson planning that incorporates the essential elements of effective lessons
  • Uses data from observations to reflect on personal practice and set goals for growth
  • Uses the protocol to gather data during peer observations and to inform professional learning conversations
  • Collaborate in learning communities around elements of the protocol and data results
  • Use a common language to reflect on teaching practices and lesson implementation
  • Reflect on whole school data to inform and contribute to school improvement planning
Professional Learning Communities:
  • Use protocol to organize and plan lessons collaboratively
  • Use data, broken down into grade levels, subjects, or teams, to focus professional dialogue around effective teaching practices
  • Use protocol for peer observations and as third point during reflection and planning conversations
  • Use data from peer and whole school observations to triangulate data from other sources and facilitate problem solving discussions around student learning
  • Use data from peer and whole school observations to triangulate data and assess needs for professional learning
Principals:
  • Uses protocol as a tool to focus instructional conversations with individual teachers
  • Uses data from whole school observations to set goals for professional learning
  • Uses data from whole school observations to inform school improvement plans. (T4S longitudinal data can track changes in teacher behavior that correlate to student achievement over time)
  • Uses T4S as a common language to facilitate conversations with peers around effective instruction
  • Use data to document success of professional learning goals
Coaches or Mentors:
  • Use protocol to observe teachers and coach with a common language toward areas of strength as well as areas for growth
  • Model lessons that demonstrate elements of the protocol for teachers and facilitate discussions around elements of effective instruction
  • Use data to document the growth of mentee’s or colleague’s instructional practice
  • Use protocol to build a common language for teachers around effective instruction
NWRPDP Trainers:
  • Use data from observations to inform and focus training or professional conversations around effective instruction
  • Use protocol to build a common language for teachers around effective instruction
  • Use data to document shifts in teacher practice over time
  • Use data to inform professional learning goals and plans
  • Use data to document success of professional learning goals
  • Model lesson using elements of the protocol
  • Use protocol and data as third point during reflection and planning conversations
District Administration:
  • Use the data from schools to identify trends and set goals for professional learning
  • Use data to assess whether professional learning goals were attained
  • Use data to support acquisition of grants and other funding to support professional learning structures and resources needed by schools such as instructional coaches.
  • Use data to connect professional learning with student achievement

 

Four NWRPDP Workshops and PLC Resources that Align with the T4S Protocol

 

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