A recent collaboration between UNH and Measured Progress is providing local middle schools with professional development opportunities meant to complement and support them in their efforts to improve student learning.
“One of the obligations, if you will, of a land grant university [like UNH], is to reach out into the public, and this is one example of that,” said Mark Wiley, marine education specialist at the New Hampshire Sea Grant.
Through the collaboration, Wiley has been given the opportunity to take teachers out on the Gulf Challenger, the flagship of the UNH Marine Program, to conduct water testing.
Thirty-five middle school teachers from Barrington, Dover, Exeter, Hampton and Newmarket began working with UNH content specialists, math and science coaches, and Measured Progress professional development specialists in July to form the Seacoast Assessment Literacy Collaborative.
Most of the prime partner schools selected for inclusion in the program are considered high-need schools due to their official identification as a school in need of improvement. While Newmarket Junior/Senior High School has not been designated as such, each of the other four schools in the collaborative has failed to make adequate yearly progress according to state assessments.
“The collaborative model is meant to help teachers improve their classroom assessment practices at the middle-school level,” said Deborah Farrington, Measured Progress professional development specialist and Math and Science Partnership (MSP) grant project manager.
Measured Progress and its partners were recently awarded a $75,000 Math and Science Competitive Partnership grant to strengthen knowledge and application of effective classroom assessment practices in math and science. The grant is designed to help teachers educate and assess students to the standards laid out in state law, and is authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education website.
School-based learning teams, each made up of four to six teachers, focus on clarifying the alignment of content standards with classroom curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Measured Progress works with these teams to provide additional training and support.
“There is a need for every teacher to be involved with professional development at all times,” said Tim Kurtz, director of assessment at the New Hampshire Department of Education.
Wiley explained that, while the teachers are the primary beneficiaries, it is ultimately the students that benefit.
“It helps with the challenges associated with teaching in the science field,” he said. “My job is to help take marine related information to the public and schools and to the kids.”
In addition to providing new opportunities to incorporate marine science into the classroom, on-site activities give teachers the opportunity to experience a field trip from a student’s point of view, according to Wiley.
“Teachers are coming back energetic,” said Chris Andriski, principal of Newmarket Junior/Senior High School. “They’re coming back with new ideas on how to teach. By giving teachers common time throughout the year to come together and collaborate, it’s a huge advantage for students across the seacoast.”
Farrington, who coordinates training between all of the partners and collaborative members, said, “Teaching can be very isolated, so these teachers now have an opportunity to work with other teachers who are teaching the same content.”
“Any time you can provide time for collaboration, you are getting benefits, not only for your kids, but for your teachers as well,” Andriski said.
“Through this teamwork approach, teachers are learning more about utilizing assessments and how to probe students for understanding,” Farrington said. Rather than “just teaching to the text, [they’re] teaching based on what students need to learn,” she said.
While the collaboration has been receiving positive feedback, Wiley said the program is one that will take time to develop.
“We’ve really just started,” Farrington said. “The response we’ve received from the participants has been very positive. Implementation has begun, and that’s always a good sign.”
While the six-month program is set to end in December, Marking Editor at Measured Progress, Krysten Maddocks, said that Measured Progress is working to get a grant renewal in order to continue the program until the end of the school year. Pending funding, educators will meet again in the summer of 2010 to discuss how to further apply what they have learned in the classroom.
Collaborating teachers head to the field to boost skills
Published: Friday, October 23, 2009
Updated: Friday, October 23, 2009
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