NESSC High School Redesign in Action Conference

Current research suggests that high-functioning professional learning communities (PLCs) have a positive impact on student learning. At Bacon Academy, we identified the need to broaden the notion of a professional learning community to incorporate not just a team of teachers, but the entire faculty.

In 2014, the school established an action research team called the Teacher Learning Community to take on the development of a school-wide professional learning community. Presenters will share the process that the team used to surface teachers’ needs, including surveys for teachers and students, interviews, and classroom observations.

Through this session, participants will gain an understanding of how to function as a school-wide PLC that can help teachers access research-based strategies to improve instruction. Participants will learn about Bacon Academy’s working model for how to conduct action research in their schools and will leave with protocols to support the development of an action research team in their own schools.

Proficiency-based learning can take a wide variety of forms from state to state, school to school, and even classroom to classroom. And yet, certain beliefs and practices tend to be held in common across even diverse proficiency-based learning systems. To better define this shared pedagogical foundation, upon which schools can build their proficiency-based learning work, the Great Schools Partnership created the “Ten Principles of Proficiency-Based Learning,” which describes the features found in the most effective proficiency-based systems.

But what do these principles look like in the classroom? How do teachers make them meaningful for themselves, students, and colleagues?

In this workshop, participants will examine specific, purposefully implemented practices that various teachers use in their mastery classrooms to bring the ten principles to life. Through this exploration, participants will deepen their understanding of how these practices, when used for purposefully, can have positive effects on student achievement. In small learning groups, participants will add to the presented collection of practices. They will be able to transport these concrete strategies back to their schools, with an understanding of how each supports at least one of the ten principles.

Proficiency-based learning can take a wide variety of forms from state to state, school to school, and even classroom to classroom. And yet, certain beliefs and practices tend to be held in common across even diverse proficiency-based learning systems. To better define this shared pedagogical foundation, upon which schools can build their proficiency-based learning work, the Great Schools Partnership created the “Ten Principles of Proficiency-Based Learning,” which describes the features found in the most effective proficiency-based systems.

But what do these principles look like in the classroom? How do teachers make them meaningful for themselves, students, and colleagues?

In this workshop, participants will examine specific, purposefully implemented practices that various teachers use in their mastery classrooms to bring the ten principles to life. Through this exploration, participants will deepen their understanding of how these practices, when used for purposefully, can have positive effects on student achievement. In small learning groups, participants will add to the presented collection of practices. They will be able to transport these concrete strategies back to their schools, with an understanding of how each supports at least one of the ten principles.

As high schools begin to shift toward mastery-based learning and its transformative impact, districts play a critical, yet unexplored, role. How can districts best support and nurture their schools through this process? And how do they create coherent, focused plans for the design and implementation of mastery-based learning?

One key way is through the development of a curriculum framework that aligns the district's mission, vision, and strategic plan for teaching and learning with critical beliefs and values.

In this session, participants will investigate the process that Naugatuck Public Schools uses to support the transition to mastery-based learning. Based on research and the experience of schools and other districts in the region, the process brought teachers and administrators together to develop a framework and create cross-curricular and content standards using a Design Thinking approach. These standards have become the backbone of district-wide curriculum development work and the basis for alignment among district-wide expectations, rigor, and beliefs about student achievement.

Presentation slides linked here. 

Research shows that a proficiency-based feedback system increases student engagement, encourages personalized instruction, and gives students much greater control of the learning process. But for many educators, making the transition to proficiency-based learning and assessment can be challenging. Schools often have pockets of teachers who have successfully transitioned to proficiency-based grading and feedback practices. How do you get from pockets of proficiency-based grading to schoolwide adoption?
In this presentation, four teachers and a principal from Ellington Middle School will show participants how one school developed a school culture of learning that has led to the implementation of proficiency based learning and assessment in all classrooms.
Participants will learn strategies for developing and implementing a schoolwide proficiency-based model from the ground up using book clubs, teacher study groups, parent and student input, and effective practices for building community support.

As high schools begin to shift toward mastery-based learning and its transformative impact, districts play a critical, yet unexplored, role. How can districts best support and nurture their schools through this process? And how do they create coherent, focused plans for the design and implementation of mastery-based learning?

One key way is through the development of a curriculum framework that aligns the district's mission, vision, and strategic plan for teaching and learning with critical beliefs and values.

In this session, participants will investigate the process that Naugatuck Public Schools uses to support the transition to mastery-based learning. Based on research and the experience of schools and other districts in the region, the process brought teachers and administrators together to develop a framework and create cross-curricular and content standards using a Design Thinking approach. These standards have become the backbone of district-wide curriculum development work and the basis for alignment among district-wide expectations, rigor, and beliefs about student achievement.

Presentation Slides linked here.

This student-led presentation will provide participants with a unique student perspective on what it is like to learn in a personalized-learning high school. Students will describe how their educational experience at Three Rivers Middle College (TRMC) has allowed them to be highly successful in college courses while still in high school.
Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, authors of How Google Works, define a smart creative as “a hardworking person who will question the status quo and attack things differently.” Students will discuss how developing habits and practices that support a growth mindset, delayed gratification, grit, and restorative practices empowers students to become “smart creatives” and prepare for life and work in an ever-changing world.

Research shows that a proficiency-based feedback system increases student engagement, encourages personalized instruction, and gives students much greater control of the learning process. But for many educators, making the transition to proficiency-based learning and assessment can be challenging. Schools often have pockets of teachers who have successfully transitioned to proficiency-based grading and feedback practices. How do you get from pockets of proficiency-based grading to schoolwide adoption?
In this presentation, four teachers and a principal from Ellington Middle School will show participants how one school developed a school culture of learning that has led to the implementation of proficiency based learning and assessment in all classrooms.
Participants will learn strategies for developing and implementing a schoolwide proficiency-based model from the ground up using book clubs, teacher study groups, parent and student input, and effective practices for building community support.

This student-led presentation will provide participants with a unique student perspective on what it is like to learn in a personalized-learning high school. Students will describe how their educational experience at Three Rivers Middle College (TRMC) has allowed them to be highly successful in college courses while still in high school.
Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, authors of How Google Works, define a smart creative as “a hardworking person who will question the status quo and attack things differently.” Students will discuss how developing habits and practices that support a growth mindset, delayed gratification, grit, and restorative practices empowers students to become “smart creatives” and prepare for life and work in an ever-changing world.

Current research suggests that high-functioning professional learning communities (PLCs) have a positive impact on student learning. At Bacon Academy, we identified the need to broaden the notion of a professional learning community to incorporate not just a team of teachers, but the entire faculty.

In 2014, the school established an action research team called the Teacher Learning Community to take on the development of a school-wide professional learning community. Presenters will share the process that the team used to surface teachers’ needs, including surveys for teachers and students, interviews, and classroom observations.

Through this session, participants will gain an understanding of how to function as a school-wide PLC that can help teachers access research-based strategies to improve instruction. Participants will learn about Bacon Academy’s working model for how to conduct action research in their schools and will leave with protocols to support the development of an action research team in their own schools.