- Process -
The Standards-Based Change Project
The Standards-Based Change Project within Partnership READ is based on statewide educational reform work adapted from the Standards-Based Change Process of the Language Arts Network directed by Dr. Kathryn Au in the state of Hawaii.
Through the Standards-Based Change Project (SBCP), the University of Illinois at Chicago with support from the Chicago Community Trust and Comer Foundation, is helping a network of Chicago Public Schools bring coherence to their school-wide literacy education program. The work focuses on:
- Creating a school infrastructure of a Lead Literacy Teacher; a Leadership Team consisting of representatives from each grade level, the administration, and school specialists; weekly Grade Level meetings; and whole-school faculty and staff meetings.
- Articulating a school philosophy and vision that specifies the literacy development students in the school can expect when they graduate and making visible to parents, students, and faculty how each grade level will contribute to accomplishing the vision of the graduating reader and writer.
- Creating an accountability system that is standards-based, with clearly articulated goals, rubrics, and evaluation tools. The system guides instructional decisions through careful examination of evidence of students’ levels of achievement in the fall, winter and spring. Classroom-based assessments administered in fall establish baseline information and identify instructional focus areas. A winter mid-point assessment is administered to insure that instructional focus areas are relevant and on track and that students are learning. A spring post-test is administered to evaluate students’ progress.
- Building capacity within the schools through enhancing the knowledge base of the Lead Literacy Teachers and the school staff to meet the needs of their diverse learners.
- Creating high-quality demonstration models by developing a comprehensive, school-wide literacy curriculum implemented through high quality literacy instruction that can be replicated in other settings.
Core Activities include professional development in three settings.
In-School activities include (a) mini-courses focusing on the role of standards in literacy instruction, ways of organizing for instruction, and strategies for successful reading and writing and (b) grade level meeting support for the standards-based change process.
University-Based activities support the development of the Lead Literacy Teachers as literacy specialists and coaches, and classroom teachers in the Partnership READ Fellows Program.
Cross-Site Events provide opportunities for professional learning among the participating schools and university participants. Through participating in these different events, Sschool-based professionals enhance their knowledge about literacy instruction and assessment, and how to insure coherence within each of their grade levels as well as across the grade levels in the school. University participants extend their knowledge of effective ways to support and enhance literacy learning and assessment and ultimately, students’ literacy achievement.
