What are SCALE Institutes and Study Groups?
SCALE’s vision of education reform relies on an approach that ultimately weaves itself into the fabric of a school district’s operation.
This approach works by bringing together professional development, immersion [1] for students and teachers, partnerships with K-12 and higher education, and engagement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty. Because this is a new way of teaching for many educators, professional development is facilitated by two primary tools: the Institute for teacher immersion unit training, and the Study Group for consistent and supportive educational leadership. In tandem, these tools cover the educational spectrum and help build a unified community among scientists, mathematicians and educators for long-term sustainable changes. This collaborative process of building a shared vision, common knowledge, and similar beliefs about best practices for teaching and learning is essential for long-term success. Both Institutes and Study Groups are supported by SCALE, the Quality Educator Development (QED) project and several state-level Title IIB grants.
Science Immersion Units
SCALE’s ten-day training Immersion Institutes for teachers, focusing on content and pedagogy, are designed to give teachers real work experience with the science immersion units. An important aspect of the Institute’s success is the follow-up sessions that support classroom implementation of the immersion units, including analyzing student work for comprehension. Currently there are 22 Institutes in Los Angeles Unified School District, 4 in Madison Metropolitan School District, and 3 in Providence Public Schools.
Math Institutes
Math Institutes have a long history with the California State University, Dominguez Hills Mathematics Department’s Center for Math and Science Education. Joint application of SCALE and QED resources has allowed Dr. Eunice Krinsky and her colleagues to revise the math Institutes and expand the number of institutes offered at CSUDH and California State University, Northridge. The math Institutes help teachers develop a deeper understanding of math practices and the accepted forms of argument and justifications for correct answers. Crucial to a deeper understanding of these concepts is the capacity to use adaptive reasoning, which is the ability to think logically about the relationships between concepts and situations—a skill that is emphasized in the math Institutes. At CSUN, two math Institutes have been held for middle school teachers on teaching pre-algebra and algebra. These Institutes were markedly different than prior professional development programs because participants were taught how to merge content with better pedagogy, according to survey responses. Modeling active learning and a close collaboration between all partners also distinguished Institutes from past professional development.
SCALE partners Madison Metropolitan School District and the University of Wisconsin-Madison run a different type of math Institute aimed at middle school teachers called Math Masters. Now called Expanding Mathematics Knowledge, this second round of Wisconsin Title IIB funding is for grades 3-5 teachers in nine partner school districts using a similar design.
Study Groups
The Study Groups, created in collaboration with the WestEd National Academy for Leadership, focus on best practices and research in professional development to build a consistent approach across the partner institutions. The two-day a month series also provide a forum for sharing and building on participants’ expertise. Study groups are also called “train the trainer” sessions, since they are aimed at STEM and education faculty, administrators and select lead teachers. There are eight Leadership Study Groups planned for February through December 2007 on the following topics:
- February—Building/Refining a Vision
- March—Professional Development Frameworks
- April—Facilitation Guides (preparation for Institutes and follow ups)
- May—Practice Facilitation
- September—Reflection and Evaluations
- October—Analyzing Student Work
- November—PD Lesson Study
- December—Transferring Lessons Learned