The Memorial High School Equity Team, comprised of ten teachers from a variety of disciplines, will purchase resources to study how to implement effective communication strategies in order to host a series of evening

for a diverse ... more »

Ms. Otto will support a core team of colleagues during their first year using the Lucy Calkins writing curriculum.  The group will practice collegial reflection of best teaching practices.  Support will be given through model lessons by both veteran and new ... more »

Through Mrs. Rzewski Copeland’s action research project, student reading levels will be measured using the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) in September.  During the course of the school year, half of Mrs. Rzewski’s students will use the ... more »

Ms. Wallin will lead a group of school nurses in a collaborative effort to enhance knowledge about school nurse case management and expand the current program of school nurse case management in Alexandria City Public Schools.School nurses will share information ... more »

Mrs. Baird will receive instruction on intervention strategies for lower socioeconomic students at a Ron Clark Academy Workshop.  She will learn innovation and out-of-the-box successful methods to achieve the ability to create a "family" in her classroom, full of ... more »

The Department of Psychology in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) will train educators to become coaches for their schools in School-Wide Positive Behavioral Support (SWPBS).SWPS training will allow a burgeoning base of school psychologist coaches to provide ... more »

Ms. Wardrip and Mrs. Knight will lead a professional learning community of elementary school library media educators which will meet on a monthly basis throughout the school year to share best instructional practices, discuss learning resources, analyze data, and ... more »

School psychologists will meet monthly throughout the year to learn about cross-battery assessment practices that are closely aligned with the ever increasing research data on cognitive processes.  The purpose of this cross-battery approach is to conduct ... more »

Mrs. Marino and partners will attend Spanish language courses to better the relationship between teachers, Latino parents, and students who speak limited English.  Participants will learn Command Spanish which increases communication and understanding by building ... more »

Ms. Voigt will implement a Balinese Painting unit in her Drawing & Painting classes based on first-hand experiences gained during travel to Ubud, Bali.While abroad, Ms. Voigt will have the opportunity to work directly with Balinese natives to learn new painting, ... more »

A study group comprised of new and veteran elementary teachers will meet throughout the year to identify and implement best instructional practices in reading.  The teachers will analyze student work, monitor achievement, discuss professional readings, and ... more »

To enhance the learning of science teacher candidates in an accelerated graduate program, Dr. Lesniak and Ms. Albano will conduct a study group of secondary teachers who mentor pre-service teachers during student teaching.Beginning with mentor teachers' experiences, ... more »

To allow teachers to understand more deeply math content and its intra- and inter-disciplinary connections, Ms. Moonan will lead a collegial study group at Hillside Avenue School.The group will provide novice/pre-service teachers with a deep conceptual understanding ... more »

Ms. Weed and Ms. Castronovo’s study group will focus on creating, implementing, and evaluating vocabulary lesson plans to accompany story book read alouds used in science, social studies, and language arts curricula.The group will also create vocabulary lesson ... more »

This action research project will investigate ways of developing a general music program that provides building blocks of skillful jazz improvisation in young students.The project will consist of a qualitative study of teacher practices and high school jazz musician ... more »

In order to better understand math pedagogy, critical/foundational skills in mathematic interventions, and to increase her and her team's knowledge of primary mathematics content, Mrs. Gault will attend monthly meetings of the Math Leadership Support Network.Ideas, ... more »

Mrs. Wiggins and Mrs. Larkin will enhance the district's literacy professional development plan by facilitating DVD/book studies for teachers, classroom aides, and administrators.This professional development will revolve around learning more about the ... more »

In order to alleviate the stress of combining the formerly separate Wildwood Middle and High schools, Mrs. Haeser and partners will create cross-curricular, multi-grade level professional development teams.Additionally, books will be purchased for small focused ... more »

Ninth grade biology and English teachers will focus on developing the knowledge and tools to teach, as well as to provide, students with common experiences.The biology teachers will explore common hands-on labs and lessons as well as problem-based learning ... more »

Mr. Davenport, Ms. Abbs and their team will conduct an action research project to compile strategies for teaching elementary mathematics.  After Mr. Davenport and his team accumulate their best practices, they will travel to schools with proven mathematics ... more »

After receiving training in Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), Mrs. Robertson will provide minimum two-day, in-house trainings, and follow-up workshops to interested staff.Students to receive NMT will be identified, and the music therapists will follow through with ... more »

Teachers at Tara Hills Elementary will create a professional learning community to increase engaged, effective student learning by participating in the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards'

process.They will improve their teaching practice in ... more »

Ms. Jimenez will attend the

training offered by Thinking Maps, Inc.Three-day follow-up sessions will continue beyond the training that will address questions and concerns regarding implementation of the strategy.Upon full completion of the ... more »

Mrs. Davis will attend the AP Art History Training Conference to gain the tools necessary to deliver and design AP curriculum for the classroom, after which she will conduct in-service trainings at high schools in her district to align curriculum and content ... more »

Language arts students at Marquette Elementary will increase their written expression skills by participating in

.  This school-wide spelling program will offer students the opportunity to work at their instructional levels.  ... more »

Key Peninsula Middles School will implement a three-tiered "launching pad” comprised of student-centered foundational elements: infusion of Aerospace based STEM into multiple curricular areas with an emphasis on the use of technology as an instructional and a ... more »

In order to deepen critical thinking and problem solving skills in at-risk students, Ms. Olsten and Mr. Parsons will introduce global issues through cross-curricular, activity-based learning.  Students will consider issues through biographies, interviews, and ... more »

Students with cognitive disabilities will be taught how to use public transportation so they may be autonomous in their travel.  This project will develop travel training designed in a mobile device that provides different levels of support to deliver ... more »

Ms. Williams and Mr. Cross will implement a curriculum of improvisation instruction with middle school and high school orchestra students.  Students will learn to improvise short melodic passages freely over a harmonic structure.  After completing the ... more »

Advanced dance students at Williams Middle School will attend the South Carolina Dancing Festival (SCDAncing Festival).  Upon returning to school, they will share their experiences with 200 other students in dance classes.  Students will also use dance to ... more »

Ms. Schrier and Mr. Jaffe will create an

to increase student engagement and achievement.  By using interactive, technology-rich lessons, students will be equipped with the 21st century skills necessary for success in higher education and the ... more »

To develop a vision for the future, Mrs. Gibson and Mrs. Hembree's classes will participate in multi-dimensional instruction including field trips, guest speakers, hands-on activities, and literature experiences to explore career opportunities and life ... more »

In an effort to encourage students to enter the engineering field and to develop cross-curricular skills between technology, math, and science, Mrs. Anker and Ms. Highman will develop a course in robotics.  Students will be encouraged to develop skills in ... more »

Mrs. Sutyak's biology and Mr. Verlie's physics classes will use current technology to complete inquiry-based investigations.  These projects will prepare the students with 21st century skills in STEM research by focusing on the plastic crisis, which is quickly ... more »

Fourth grade teachers at Northwood Intermediate School will collaborate to create learning stations for all fourth grade students.  These stations will be specifically created to engage and capture the attention of the students in targeted areas of weakness in ... more »

Ms. Oetting and Mrs. Skerry will move from leading and directing to guiding and responding with the use of interactive technology in the classroom.  Students will work with an interactive whiteboard, multiple integrated devices, and digital lesson materials in ... more »

By utilizing a student-response clicker system, algebra students will get immediate feedback and will be able to keep track of their progress on learning objectives.  Daily opening and closing questions will be used to check for student understanding and to ... more »

At-risk and special education students will take a leadership role in Mrs. Mattson and Mr. Fleming's Giants Go Green recycling project.  Using critical thinking and problem-solving skills, at-risk high school students will work cooperatively with elementary ... more »

Mr. Prescott and Mrs. Stolz will provide middle school instrumentalists the opportunity to increase their confidence and become leaders through solo musical performance.  By practicing and performing solo literature along with the accompaniment SmartMusic ... more »

Students from Mr. Rometti's high school business classes and Ms. Walbrink's fifth grade class will work together to produce a promotional video which will be available to the public and viewable on the web.  Students will develop and analyze surveys, plan ... more »

Ms. Gorden and Mrs. Ireland will implement a hands-on, discovery-based curriculum in kindergarten and first grade.  Using Montessori math, language, science, and social studies materials, students and teachers will work collaboratively with a fundamental focus ... more »

In order to strengthen and improve proficiency for students who need practice in explicit reading skills, students will use a computer based supplemental literacy program, Lexia Reading.  By providing explicit, systematic, and structured practice in phonics, ... more »

Students in the

will conduct research on various topics involving real life applications of chemistry.  Based on this research, students will prepare two chemical demonstrations of their choice and perform these demonstrations to middle ... more »

In order to improve achievement in language arts learners, first through fifth grade teachers will incorporate testing skills into grade level specific “Coach Books.”  The materials will give teachers and students useful information to use in ... more »

Working as a team with a seventh grade English teacher, art teacher, and reading specialist, Mrs. Herens and Mrs. Carey will introduce students to classic tales in graphic format.  Starting with the graphic novel to hook students' interest, readers will ... more »

Second and fourth grade students will take part in a pilot program where iPods will be used to support the writing process.  Audio and visual prompts on the iPods will inspire students to write about new ideas.  Students will then have the opportunity to ... more »