June 2006-June 2007
The Iowa Department of Education is inviting SCHOOL
TEAMS to attend
a series of professional development opportunities that will help you:
Improve your
instructional strategies
Reach the
hard-to-teach student
Raise the bar for
ALL students
Close achievement
gaps
Work better as a
school team
The Teacher Development
Academies, a series of professional development opportunities, will be offered
to teams from public schools this coming summer through the 2006-07 school
year.
Each Academy will feature
research based content and nationally recognized trainers. The goal of the Academies is to support local school districts and
AEAs by offering professional development that is grounded in research and
based on the Iowa Professional Development Model.
The target audience for the Academies is local school teams that
include:
·
Teachers
·
Principal
·
AEA consultant/s who
will participate with the school team
At the present time, the
Department plans to offer each Academy twice – one in the East region of the
state and one in the West – resulting in two cadres of school teams. The
provision of two regional sessions for each Academy is contingent on the number
and location of school teams that apply. In addition to the initial summer
training, Academies will include follow-up training and support throughout the
2006-07 school year.
Academy
#1-06: Second
Chance Reading Program*
Target Area: Struggling Readers at the Middle and High School Levels
Dates
and Locations:
Session 1:
July 26-28, Des Moines
Session 2: July 31-Aug. 2, East Region
Second Chance Reading (SCR) is a program that provides a specific course
for struggling readers at the middle and high school levels. In middle schools,
struggling readers are assigned to a SCR class rather than their regular
reading class. In high schools, SCR classes are treated as an elective course.
The focus of SCR is on comprehension of both fiction and non-fiction texts, but
vocabulary and fluency are addressed as well. The training includes the
following strategies: read alouds, think alouds, inductive thinking, writing
and graphic organizers, questioning strategies, vocabulary, fluency practice,
and cooperative learning. An ICN session to explain the SCR program and
application procedures will be held on January 13, 2006, 9-10:00 a.m. See the
listing of sites at (http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/tqt/tc/academy.html).
Academy #2-06:
Question Answer
Relationships (QAR)*
Target Area: Middle and High School Reading with a school-wide and cross-curricular emphasis
Dates
and Locations:
Session 1:
July 25-27, Des Moines
Session 2: July 31-August 2, Iowa City
The dates or locations of training are subject to change depending on the geographical locations of school teams and number of participants.
Question-Answer
Relationships (QAR) is a strategy
that engages students in the process of differentiating the types of questions
students could ask of text. QAR provides a framework for organizing
comprehension strategy instruction across all grade levels and in a variety of
subject areas. Students learn to distinguish between types of questions.
Teaching students QAR gives students the language for talking about the
strategies they use to answer questions. It helps students develop an awareness
of their own cognitive processes when answering questions. QAR helps all
readers at all grade levels benefit from learning to think about information
sources used for asking and answering questions.
*NOTE: A school may choose to submit an application for a
team to attend Second Chance Reading and another team to attend QAR.
Academy
#3-06: Concept-Oriented
Reading Instruction
Target Area: Upper Elementary and Middle School Reading with a school-wide and cross-curricular emphasis
Dates
and Locations:
Session 1:
June 19-23, East Region
Session 2: June 26-30, Central/West Region
The dates or locations of training are subject to change depending on the geographical locations of school teams and number of participants.
Concept-Oriented Reading
Instruction (CORI) is a
research-based classroom instructional model emphasizing reading engagement,
reading comprehension, and conceptual learning in science or other content
areas designed for all students, including struggling readers. CORI fosters
reading engagement and comprehension through the teaching of reading strategies
while teaching content area concepts, inquiry skills, and explicitly supporting
the development of students’ intrinsic motivation to read. CORI instruction
contains conceptual themes, real world interactions, self-directed learning,
and strategy instruction situated within conceptual contexts, peer
collaborations, and self-expression of knowledge through portfolios and
exhibits.
Academy
#4-06: Cognitively
Guided Instruction
Target Area: Elementary Mathematics with school-wide emphasis
Dates
and Locations:
Session 1:
July 24-28, Des Moines
Session 2: To Be Determined
The dates or locations of training are subject to change depending on the geographical locations of school teams and number of participants.
Cognitively Guided
Instruction (CGI) is a teacher
professional development program based on over 20 years of research by Thomas
Carpenter, Megan Franke, Linda Levi, Susan Empson and Victoria Jacobs. In CGI professional development, elementary
school teachers learn a framework for how children learn the concepts of number,
operations algebra. Teachers work to
integrate this framework with their mathematics instruction. CGI is not a curriculum. The knowledge teachers gain in a CGI
workshop enhances how they implement any curriculum. CGI teachers understand how their children think about
mathematics and how children in general understand mathematics. CGI teachers know how to use what their
children currently understand to plan instructional activities for these
students. CGI teachers also understand
what children need to learn about mathematics in elementary school so they will
have a firm foundation upon which they can learn further mathematics.
Application forms for each
Academy can be found at (http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/tqt/tc/academy.html).
To be considered for
participation, applications from
school teams must be received at the Department by Friday, February 10, 4:30 p.m. Because the Department anticipates
more applicants than it will be able to accommodate, the application process
will be competitive. Each school that is interested in participating will need
to submit an application.
Applications can be faxed to
Gretchen Kelley at (515) 242-6025 or mailed to Gretchen Kelley at the Iowa
Department of Education, Grimes State Office Building, Des Moines, IA
50219-0146.
The number of participants
that can be accommodated at each regional offering of the Academies is limited,
so it is possible that some applications will not be accepted. The Department
will notify schools and AEAs of their application status no later than Monday,
April 3, 2006.
For
additional information about each academy, please contact:
Cognitively Guided Instruction: Judith Spitzli at judith.spitzli@iowa.gov or
515-281-3874
Concept Oriented Reading Instruction: Deb Squires at deb.squires@iowa.gov or 515-281-6235
Second Chance Reading: Deb Hansen at deb.hansen@iowa.gov or 515-281-6131
Question Answer Relationships: Deb Squires at deb.squires@iowa.gov or 515-281-6235