Citywide Instructional Expectations

Chancellor's Principal Conference 2013

2013 Chancellor's Principal Conference

On May 18, 2013, principals, network leaders and instructional teams, cluster teams, and superintendents attended the Chancellor's Principal Conference. Resources from the breakout sessions are available on this page. Check back soon for video of the event!

Resources From the Breakout Sessions

How Children Succeed: the Importance of Academic and Personal Behaviors

Session Description

The qualities and achievements students need to be ready to succeed in college and careers go beyond academics to skills like persistence and self-regulation. In this session, Dr. Eli Tsukayama, Ph.D., will share his research on this topic, highlighted in Paul Tough’s recent bestseller How Children Succeed, which will be distributed to all principals at the conference. Participants will also engage with the Academic and Personal Behaviors domain of the DOE’s college and career readiness benchmarks along with several on-the-ground strategies effective school leaders have used to embed these important skills in their schools—from teaching and assessing the skills explicitly to creating an atmosphere that helps students take ownership over their own decision-making and builds resilience through instructional work. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to discuss these strategies with their colleagues and consider implications for their own schools.

Materials

Exploring Expectations for Content-area Teachers

Session Description

In this session, participants will explore the continuing importance of disciplinary content standards and discuss how to support content-area teachers, including in social studies, science, the arts, libraries, and career and technical education. Participants will engage in a facilitated discussion about strategies they are currently using to support content-area teachers and provide suggestions for additional supports that would be helpful in this work.

Materials

Using Formative Assessment to Look for Evidence of Growth and Gaps in Student Work and Teacher Practice

Session Description

This session explores how school leaders can leverage effective formative assessment practice to support their staffs in making adjustments to curriculum, instruction, and assessment, moving students toward meeting the expectations of the Common Core. Using a teacher team lens, participants will first engage in a cycle of assessment practice using authentic student work from the new Common Core-aligned benchmark assessments and make connections to instructional practice. Next, transitioning to the principal lens, participants will discuss implications for teacher practice, curricular decisions, and PD planning using student work and school-wide data. Finally, participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their own school and begin planning or revising their assessment strategy, considering the structures and systems necessary to meet the draft 2013–14 citywide instructional expectations. While this session will use samples from elementary and/or middle school grades, the process of leveraging formative assessment tools to move school-wide practice is broadly applicable across all grades, particularly as new Periodic Assessment options become available for high schools.

Materials

Preparing Students for College and Careers Through Academic Programming (high school focused)

Session Description

In this session, participants will explore the Academic Programming domain of the DOE’s college and career readiness benchmarks that signal student readiness for college and careers. Participants will learn about the relationships between students' course and exam outcomes and their successful completion of college-level work upon graduation. Participants will also discuss the considerations, challenges, and trade-offs involved in providing all students with rigorous course sequences that exceed minimum graduation requirements (e.g., advanced math, advanced science, and courses for college credit).

Materials

Academic Programming Packet

Response to Intervention(RtI)—An Administrator’s Perspective K–5

Session Description

This presentation will provide a comprehensive introduction to Response to Intervention (RtI), including definition and purpose; federal, state, and city regulations; and guidelines, systems and structures. The workshop will include an examination of options for assessment, instructional treatment protocols, and implications for practice, along with a discussion of day-to-day challenges. This presentation is geared toward elementary school administrators who would benefit from an introductory-level workshop, as well as those who would welcome a review of RtI.

Materials

Providing School-Based Teacher Professional Development Aligned to the NYCDOE Teacher Evaluation System

Session Description

This session will prepare school leaders to lead school-based professional development that supports teachers in using the Danielson Framework for Teaching as part of the observation and feedback cycle, to propel professional growth. The workshop will include work time to ensure that all participants leave with a school-specific plan that fosters improved student learning through developing a culture rooted in effective teacher practice. Participants will also receive planning documents, sample facilitation guides, and supporting materials.

Materials

Preparing to Implement the Citywide Instructional Expectations: Shifting Classroom Practice and Ensuring Common Core-aligned Curricula...

Session Description

Participants will look at the curricular guidance that the current Quality Review Rubric and the 2013-14 citywide instructional expectations offer and, through analysis of a case study, grapple with the questions of how to shift classroom practice and ensure curricula are aligned to the Common Core standards in ELA and math.

Materials

Middle School Literacy: Ensuring All Students Enter High School Reading At or Above Grade Level

Session Description

This session will explore the middle-grades principal's role in school literacy leadership, and the research-based practices proven to deliver the greatest student progress gains. It will engage school leaders in examining core literacy practices being supported through the Middle School Quality Initiative and will provide resources and tools for them to use with their schools.

Materials

A Shared Path to Success: Instructional Planning to Meet the Needs of all Learners

Session Description

Materials

A Shared Path to Success Instructional Planning to Meet the Needs of All Learners

Meeting the Challenges of the Common Core for English Language Learners, led by Dr. Timothy Shanahan

Session Description

As we transition to the Common Core standards, English language learners will face additional challenges: ELLs have to learn the curriculum at the same time they are learning English. The new standards raise many questions for school leaders: How can schools support their ELLs to build effective literacy skills for informational text? What scaffolds work best with helping ELLs engage in close reading? What resources are available for school leaders and teachers of ELLs? In this workshop, Dr. Timothy Shanahan, professor of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and director of the UIC Center for Literacy, will explore specific challenges that ELLs will encounter and offer school leaders ideas about how to raise achievement for ELLs.