Gaston County Schools
Teacher Feedback Sessions
PURPOSE
- provide an avenue for teachers to voice their concerns with the district's implementation of the new standards;
- evaluate the progress of the implementation plan throughout the district;
- identify current needs of teachers and schools as they attempt to implement all new standards in every subject area, K-12; and
- consider any adjustments to the implementation plan not considered prior to receiving teacher feedback.
WHO
Selected teachers should be able to -
- articulate their own concerns, and adequately convey the concerns of their peers;
- freely express what is working and what is not working with the implementation process; and
- offer constructive feedback and possible solutions to any perceived gaps in the implementation plan.
The following representatives were identified, for each school -
- Two (2) K-2 teachers
- Two (2) 3-5 teachers
- One (1) 6-8 English/Language Arts teacher
- One (1) 9-12 English/Language Arts teacher
- One (1) 6-8 Math teacher
- One (1) 9-12 Math teacher
- One (1) 6-8 Science teacher
- One (1) 9-12 Science teacher
- One (1) 6-8 Social Studies teacher
- One (1) 9-12 Social Studies teacher
WHEN
Over the course of six days, we heard from teacher representatives from
- 32 Elementary Schools,
- 11 Middle Schools,
- 10 High Schools, and
- 1 Alternative Schools
HOW
Teacher representatives from each school were given the opportunity to -
- identify any issues and/or concerns associated with the implementation of the new standards,
- clarify each issue/concern to best communicate the perceived issues to any stakeholder not in attendance,
- assess the priority of each issue/concern according to how quickly it may need to be addressed, and
- provide suggested solutions and/or responses for each issue by identifying who, how, and when the perceived need should be addressed.
All from each representative in each session were captured using a standard template in Google Docs, and shared with stakeholders for review and follow-up. After all sessions were completed, the Instruction Department worked collaboratively to review the feedback from each session, and to determine the next steps to be taken.
OUTCOMES
At a follow-up Instruction Department Meeting, the common issues and concerns were identified from the captured discussions from each session in Google Docs.
Mandatory Teacher Professional Development on Tuesday, January 22, 2013, were designed with many of the identified commonalities from Teacher Feedback sessions, which included -
- Fountas & Pinnell Phonics/Word Study/Shared Reading
- Writing Workshop for Unit Planning
- Math Common Core Standards Unit Planning
- Integrating Science into Shared Reading
- Uncovering Student Ideas using Formative Assessment
- Literacy in the Content Areas
- Diverse Learners
- Google Sites Training
- ThinkGate Training (Online Assessments)
- Pacing Guide Updates for Art, Band, Chorus, Health/PE, CTE
- The Power of Two
- Teacher Work Sessions with Targeted Curriculum Facilitator Support
FOLLOW-UP
- direction of PD for summer and 2013-2014 school year,
- modality of PD delivery (face-to-face vs. online),
- timing of PD offerings (summer, planning periods, after school, early release days, etc),
- perceived content area needs, and
- perceived instructional material needs.
Teacher Surveys are also designed to identify any professional growth needs that teachers feel need to be met, and allow for general feedback related to district curriculum support documents/resources (pacing guides, instructional planners, benchmarks, and websites). Feedback from each survey will be utilized by grade level/subject area Curriculum Review Teams to update and make revisions to the curriculum support documents over the summer.
Gaston County Schools
Deputy Superintendent - Instruction
Email: ldmorrow@gaston.k12.nc.us
Website: http://www.gaston.k12.nc.us
Location: 943 Osceola Street, Gastonia, NC
Phone: (704) 866-6100