ELA Standards of Practice
September 2019
Why?
Our minimal standards of instructional practice are rooted in the Literacy Essential Practices. The Literacy Essentials from GELN's (General Education Leadership Network) mission is to provide leadership and direction focused on teaching and learning among Michigan's ISDs/RESAs. Their collaboration across the state has lead to the development of BIRTH through Grade 12 Essential Practices in the area of Literacy. To learn more, click HERE.
In January of 2019, the entire elementary instructional team came together to further clarify what it means to have a strong Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and we spent a considerable amount of time establishing that strong, consistent and accountable Tier 1 instruction is at the heart of MTSS.
I also shared that my number one focus in my position is to work towards strengthening Tier 1 instruction. I take this work very seriously! I take Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA) goal very seriously- every student should have access to a high-quality public education regardless of where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make.
Answering this question from a parent's perspective is also important:
"What essentials of literacy instruction can you promise my child will receive in your school?"
Our answer should be consistent. It shouldn't matter if a student is in 3rd grade at Leonard or at OE. At the end of the day, we need to guarantee that all kids will have access to our minimal standards of instructional practice no matter which school they attend!
Of course the list below doesn't capture EVERYTHING that we do. I know there is more, but this is what we are trying to guarantee every child, every day, in every one of our elementary classrooms. Just because an item isn't on this list (such as handwriting), doesn't mean we are not teaching it.
Lastly, I feel confident that we are ready to hold ourselves and one another accountable to these minimal standards of instructional practice because we have had many learning opportunities and lots of time to learn the units and instructional methods. We will continue to support these standards of practice through professional learning and we will support other areas we want to grow into. Maureen and I have provided all principals with a comprehensive list of professional learning opportunities related to the items below that date back many years so that they can reference them or share with you if needed. Please also know that we are aware that we need to continue to systematically support growth in areas such as classroom libraries. This is a costly endeavor that we will need to be thoughtful with.
Elementary Minimal Standards of Practice as of September 2019
Teaching the board adopted curriculum
Using the workshop structure
Workshop and teaching point at least 4 days a week
Read aloud with accountable talk (outside of the workshop) at least 4 days a week
All classrooms will have libraries to support student choice
Interactive writing as a daily scheduled part of the day (DK-1); method of instruction DK-5
Shared reading as a daily scheduled part of the day (DK-2); method of instruction DK-5
(Age/grade appropriate) Word Study every day
In the future...
Eventually, the goal is to communicate, in a similar manner, the minimum standards for instructional practice in math, science, social studies, etc. I will communicate these after I feel as confident about our time and efforts spent supporting these areas.
While we will continue supporting balanced literacy, we will also begin emphasizing professional learning for math instruction. We have begun some initial planning and will be working with Oakland Schools to help us plan meaningful learning experiences around math instruction. It's time to make more concerted, systematic efforts in math! I'm excited about it!
Anita R. Qonja-Collins
Email: anita.qonja@oxfordschools.org
Website: www.oxfordschools.org
Location: 10 North Washington Street, Oxford, MI, USA
Phone: 248.969.5096
Twitter: @AnitaQonja