EQUITABLE ACCELERATED LEARNING WORKING GROUP PROJECTS
ABOUT THESE PROJECTS:
As part of the Equitable Accelerated Learning project, educators from all over Oregon are working together to address unfinished learning exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the projects currently underway.
This project is funded through the American Rescue Plan (ESSER III).
Return to the Equitable Accelerated Learning page
KIDD (Kindergarten Innovative Design and Development) Team
Who: Thirty-five Kindergarten teachers, two Instructional coaches
Where: Bend LaPine School District, nineteen elementary schools
Student Populations: all
Subject Areas: all
What: This project aims to support teachers in making students' first experience with school a positive and rewarding one! Bend LaPine kindergarten teachers need time and support to unpack the ODE Early Learning Standards and to collaborate on how to best support all students. There is a divide between students that have access to preschool and early learning experiences and those that do not. This creates an uneven playing field as students enter kindergarten, both in academics and social emotional development. In addition, our district has moved to an inclusion model, and our teachers need support in differentiating instruction and creating a classroom culture of belonging for students experiencing disabilities. The KIDD Team will provide the time and space for teachers to connect and collaborate to best support all students.
Elementary Math Coaching
Who: Thirty Elementary Math Coaches (TOSAs)/Math Teacher Leaders
Where: Ashland SD, Beaverton SD, Bend-LaPine Schools, Catlin SD, Corvallis SD, David Douglas SD, Gaston SD, Gresham-Barlow SD, Hillsboro SD, Medford SD, North Central Educational Service District, Oregon Episcopal School, Phoenix-Talent Schools, Redmond SD, Roseburg PS, Salem-Keizer SD, Silver Falls SD, Woodburn SD
Student Populations: historically marginalized, all
Subject Areas: math
What: This project establishes a collaborative group of elementary math coaches/TOSAs within Oregon. The collaborative group will discuss and unpack ways to support teachers to meet the mathematical needs of students, especially those that have historically been marginalized from our math classrooms. We will make connections and build relationships that will move learning forward for the entire state for many years to come.
Elementary Literacy Leaders (Making Complex Text Accessible to All Learners)
Who: Seventeen classroom teachers K-2, seventeen classroom teachers 3-5, seventeen instructional coaches, one district literacy TOSA
Where: Eugene 4J, 17 schools
Student Populations: differentiation for multilingual students and students experiencing disabilities, all
Subject Areas: literacy
What: This working group plans to develop and implement an inclusive classroom approach that employs effective instructional strategies to scaffold complex texts, making them accessible and engaging for all learners. Through ongoing professional development and collaboration, we will focus on equipping teachers with the knowledge and tools to effectively scaffold complex texts, leveraging evidence-based practices and adaptive teaching techniques. We aim to enhance teacher capacity to provide support and scaffolding to enable access to complex texts by all students. By addressing the diverse needs of students, we will foster a supportive and equitable learning environment that empowers every student to flourish academically and become proficient readers.
Elementary School Equitable Math Practices
Who: One district administrator, one district math coach, three elementary instructional coaches, one ELD teacher, twenty-four classroom teachers
Where: Bend-LaPine SD
Student Populations: multilingual learners, students experiencing disabilities, all
Subject Area: math
What: Two cohorts, for grades K-2 grades 3-5, will participate in a three-day seminar focusing on equitable practices for mathematics instruction. Two cohorts, a K-2 and 3-5, will participate in a mathematics studio focusing on equitable practices. The teams will also travel to the Teacher Development Group Leadership Seminar to deepen their understanding of equitable practices and learn from leaders in the field. Through the seminar and studios, the team will develop a tool to help analyze materials, systems, and practices for equitable practices that can be used when determining the next math adoption.
Elementary Interventionists
Who: Twenty-one K-5 Interventionists / reading specialists / Title I teachers, six instructional coaches, one ELD instructional coach.
Where: Bend-LaPine SD
Student Populations: multilingual learners, all
Subject Areas: literacy
What: A collaborative group of elementary interventionists will create a playbook of targeted instructional strategies to provide intervention teachers with evidence-based literacy instructional strategies tailored to individual student needs and aligned with Tier 1 curricular goals that outline specific learning objectives, targeted interventions, and a clear pathway for transition back to Tier 1. The team will do this by establishing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) where intervention teachers and instructional coaches in the Bend LaPine School District collaborate to share best practices and develop effective literacy intervention strategies. Alongside instruction strategies, the group will analyze the current Tier 2 system for structures that limit students' access to strong instruction. The goal of this working group is to ensure that students move in and out of intervention groups that provide targeted support.
K-5 Data Reasoning and Integration
Who: Five to six content specialists (math and science)/K-5 teachers, thirty K-5 teachers, four teacher leaders
Where: Lane Educational Service District
Student Populations: multilingual students, students experiencing disabilities, all
Subject Areas: interdisciplinary, math, data reasoning standards
What: The working group's problem of practice is related to the introduction of the data reasoning domain in the 2021 Oregon math standards and the support available (curricular and instructional) for K-5 teachers. In order to enact this domain and create conditions for data literate students in our K-12 system, teachers need opportunities to unpack the standards, understand the data reasoning progression K-5, and have access to curricular tasks where students reason about data through authentic contexts related to science, social studies, Tribal History | Shared History, place-based phenomena, and/or community issues. In designing such materials, our co-design process will center the needs of multi-language students and students with disabilities through Universal Design for Learning to ensure that we create an inclusive foundation for curricular design in this domain. Data reasoning and data science are high-demand skills that will benefit all students in our system, regardless of their postsecondary plans.
Biliteracy and Bridging in Dual Language
Who: Seventy-five K-12 dual language teachers (Spanish and Russian), six bilingual coordinators / instructional coaches
Where: Woodburn SD
Student Populations: multilingual learners in dual language programs
Subject Areas: literacy, all
What: A group of eighty-one dual language teachers and instructional coaches will work in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to address the question: What are the most effective ways to tap into students' linguistic assets and leverage them to help students access grade level content and develop their biliteracy in a dual language system? They will focus on creating bridging activities and lessons (cross-linguistic connections) and metalinguistic awareness to support students’ biliteracy development and access to grade level content.
Teaching Early Literacy from a Multilingual Perspective
Who: One district leader, three TOSAs, two OSU faculty, thirty-five ELD, Dual language, and classroom teachers in grades K-2
Where: West-Linn Wilsonville and other districts throughout the state
Student Populations: multilingual learners
Subject Areas: literacy
What: This university / district partnership plans to develop a course with a focus on supporting K-2 teachers in the teaching of early literacy skills to multilingual students in English (for English-medium program) and in both English and additional languages (for dual-language programs). The course is being planned in its initial stages by West-Linn Wilsonville and OSU faculty. The working group will add three additional districts (expanding to a larger set of geographically dispersed districts) to be involved in planning and teachers participating in the course.
Middle School Data Literacy for All
Who: Twelve middle school math and science teachers, three TOSAs
Where: Bend LaPine
Student Populations: all, multilingual learners, students experiencing disabilities
Subject Areas: math, science, social studies
What: This project addresses the need for PD for teachers to address the new middle school Data Science standards. DataSpire will engage math, science and social science teachers, in professional development and the design of project-based lessons that allow students, especially multilingual learners, some voice, choice, and autonomy. Teachers will have flexibility to use the materials in ways that are responsive to students’ mathematical strengths and needs as well as cultural and linguistic backgrounds to optimize student's learning in mathematics.
Math Identity and Redefining Academic Discourse in K-5 General Education Math Classrooms
Who: One instructional coach, one community design partner, three 2nd-3rd Classroom Teachers, one K-5 Teacher of the Deaf, as well as around ten students, two Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreters, four parents, six community partners, seven classroom teachers and school staff, and one site administrator
Where: Portland Public Schools
Student Populations: Mainstreamed General Education Students from Portland Public Schools and students from the Columbia Regional Inclusive Services Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program (CRIS), multilingual learners
Subject Area: Math
What: Through the Human-Centered Design process and using Universal Design for Learning, the project team will develop multisensory ways for students to express their conceptual understanding in math, so that students can fully participate in mathematical discourse and grow their math identities. The Human-Centered Design process is centered in an equitable, shared vision and leadership amongst participating community members. The project not only will yield products to strengthen professional learning for math academic discourse for all learners in Portland Public Schools but also will develop resources available to other Oregon educators and institutions.
Grow Your Own Teachers While Growing Your Dual Language Program
Who: Four DL teachers, one teacher leader, one administrator
Where: North Wasco SD and Columbia Gorge ESD
Student Populations: Multilingual learners
Subject Areas: Multiple subjects and literacies
What: In this project, novice educators, in their first two years of teaching in a dual language program, will work with instructional coaches to identify their needs and generate a list of key topics for professional development. Through weekly coaching conversations and regular observations, the teachers and coaches will work with the coaches to address those key topics and areas for improvement. Coaches will track the teachers’ progress and challenges and work collaboratively with the teachers to develop a handbook for building a dual language program while growing your own teachers. Through this process the novice teachers will develop skills to continue to reflect on the program and make improvements, thereby becoming leaders of the dual language program and advocates of their own professional learning.
Ambitious Math PD and Coaching
Who: Fifty K-8 teachers from rural areas, twenty instructional coaches, two administrators
Where: Southern Oregon Education Service District: Ashland SD, Butte Falls SD, Central Point SD, Eagle Point SD, Grants Pass SD, Klamath County SD, Klamath Falls City SD, Medford SD, Phoenix-Talent SD, Pinehurst SD, Prospect SD, Rogue River SD, Three Rivers SD
Student Populations: all, multilingual learners, students experiencing disabilities
Subject Areas: math
What: This project establishes a community of practice for ongoing support, to increase southern Oregon educators’ use of ambitious practices that include rough draft thinking and meaningful student discourse in mathematics instruction. These ambitious practices will help teachers engage all students in developing a deeper conceptual understanding of core math ideas, sense-making, and articulating generalizations and justifications about core math ideas. The ambitious teaching practices ensure that every student has a voice and the ability to engage with math as a community. Teachers who teach a high percentage of MLL or students experiencing disabilities and rural educators will be prioritized in professional development. This opportunity will help each participating teacher become an advocate for every student to become a 'doer of math'.
Exploring Collaboration and Co-teaching to Integrate Content and English Language Development
Who: Ten TOSAs/district leaders, two OSU faculty
Where: Beaverton SD Columbia ESD, Corvallis SD, David Douglas SD, Gresham-Barlow SD, Intermountain ESD, Salem-Keizer SD, Sherwood SD, Springfield SD, Woodburn SD
Student Populations: multilingual learners
Subject Areas: ELD + all content areas
What: A group of district leaders, teachers, and university partners have been convening monthly since Fall of 2019 to support each other in implementing integrated English Language Development (ELD) or other collaborative approaches, in which ELD instruction occurs within content area classes, predominantly (although not exclusively) in English language arts. This approach has the potential to improve multilingual students’ content, language, and literacy learning, as well as enhance students’ socio-emotional well-being. The group seeks to create a guide for implementing integrated ELD across grade levels. The guide will cover topics such as staffing, professional development, scheduling, budgeting, and assessment, among others. In addition, the group will seek to include the students’ perspectives on these integrated approaches.
Enhancing Excellence: Professional Development and Coaching for Special Education Teams in Rural School Districts
Who: 4 coaches, 45 special education teachers, 60 special education instructional assistants
Where: Jefferson County SD and Jefferson County Education Service District
Student Populations: Students Receiving Special Education Services
Subject Areas: All
What: The "Enhancing Excellence" initiative will provide professional development to special education teams in four key areas: instructional practices, individual education plan (IEP) development, trauma informed classrooms, and adult wellness. A team of special education coaches and teachers will work together to co-design a 3-day professional development opportunity for the summer of 2024 that will be responsive to the needs of the teachers and instructional assistants. Ultimately Enhancing Excellence, with its focus on mitigating inequities, will contribute significantly to leveling the playing field for students facing economic challenges, language barriers, and disabilities. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, the project aims to create an inclusive and supportive educational environment that maximizes the potential of every student, irrespective of their background.
Expanding K-8 Teachers’ Capacity to Improve Student Well-being and Math Literacy in Rural Oregon
Who: 2 Portland State University Faculty, 1 Executive Director of Oregon MESA, 6 K-8 co-leaders (3 MESA Teacher Advisors from rural Oregon and 3 Educator Partners of rural school-based-health centers), 150 K-8 math teachers in rural Oregon
Where: Statewide (PD opportunities in Bend, Corvallis, and Roseburg)
Student Populations: Multilingual learners and students experiencing disabilities, all
Subject Areas: math, social emotional learning
What: This project will establish a collective of K-8 teachers of math with representatives from rural districts across Oregon. It will draw on established partnerships with two key programs —school-based health centers and Oregon MESA (Oregon Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement)—to support teachers’ efforts to improve student well-being and math literacy, particularly for youth who are multilingual learners and/or students experiencing disabilities. The collective will provide professional development on curriculum and pedagogy that reduces students’ math anxiety. The collective will also provide colleague-level emotional and social support for teachers.
PPS High Dosage Tutoring Comprehensive Plan
Who: The Learning Acceleration Team, 30 Teachers & EAs, and 2 consultants
Where: Portland Public Schools
Student Populations: All students with identified gaps in literacy development
Subject Areas: Literacy
What: Based on district assessment data, this project addresses the need for explicit, systematic, small-group literacy instruction in foundational skills for reading in English for elementary student. The project develops a comprehensive plan to guide teachers and instructional support staff to facilitate the implementation of high-dosage tutoring sessions through a variety of delivery models (in-person and remote) to maximize the number of students served. This project will develop and pilot 15 high-dosage tutoring modules that include lesson plans, materials, and activities based on best practices in structured reading support and the framework of West Virginia Phonics (an open source). It will also create online professional development modules to train tutors in assessment practices and high-dosage tutoring instruction.