Instructional Leadership
Leadership Institute & Professional Development
Systems, Structures and the Science of Reading are the key ingredients in all highly-performing schools.
Professional Development
Administrators
Administrators PD
Keys to Literacy knows the research on effective schools and works with districts and school leaders to create focused systems of learning.
How Children Learn to Read
This course is an overview on the research behind How Children Learn to Read and is rooted in the Science of Reading. Participants develop a clear understanding of the implications of oral language, phonological processing and learn the necessity of a structured literacy approach.
Universal Instruction: Whole and Small Group Instructiton
Participants will learn the basis of the learning process and what can hinder a student’s ability to learn. Also discussed are high-leverage instructional strategies, including explicit instruction, how to design and deliver a lesson and effective lesson planning tools for both whole group and small group instruction. Instructional leaders will leave with a clear understanding of what they should see teachers doing in classrooms. Often instructional leaders are unaware or lack the knowledge of what a good literacy block looks like. This session delves into how the literacy block should be constructed, what components of reading are critical to teach, the necessary timeframes and a gradual release model to the units taught. Participants also learn the purposes and research behind small group instruction and how to differentiate.
Comprehensive Assessment System
Choosing the correct assessments to guide literacy instruction can be a daunting task. This professional development session explains what we should be assessing and why we should assess it. Discussions will include examples of highly effective and appropriate screening, progress monitoring and diagnostic assessments. Participants are provided with a background on the reading brain and how it links to assessment. Instructional leaders will learn the importance of creating an instructional calendar to ensure all students are provided with the assessments necessary in a timely manner.
Interventions for Struggling Readers
What comprises quality interventions for struggling
readers?
Participants will learn:
- The research behind high-quality interventions
- How to select a research-based intervention and the lay-out for instruction
- How to vary times and intensity for grade levels, to maximize impact on student
success - Principals will be introduced to our proprietary Intervention Calculator, which supports
leadership in determining how many minutes, and sessions of interventions, a school
needs to effectively meet the needs of students who require intervention. Instructional
leaders will also learn how interventions should be based on individual need.
Building Leadership Teams
A building/school leadership team promotes two-way trust and open communication between administration and staff. This session guides administrators and teacher leaders through the steps of creating a Building/School Leadership Team. By creating a building leadership team, you create a shared-decision making process within your school culture. Research indicates that schools with a shared-decision making process have higher achievement outcomes than those that don’t.
Data Analysis: Understanding the Subskills of Assessment
Often educators know how to give the assessment, and even how to interpret the results. What is often missed are considerations for the instructional implications and appropriate actions taken based on the data. This session addresses what the outcomes of a high-quality literacy assessment can inform a teacher about instruction and how to create an action plan.
Effectively and Timely Feedback
This professional development session delineates the roles and responsibilities of the coach and principal, how to enlist teachers into working with the instructional coach and the difference in instructional feedback that the coach provides and that the principal provides. This session also provides the research on quality professional development. Instructional Coaches will receive access to proprietary tracking forms to use when working with teachers. Principals will receive teacher feedback forms for their use. This session is also customizable to link observations and evaluation protocols to quality common evaluative measures such as Danielson/Marzano (and locally created) frameworks.
Building the Relationship between principal and coach
A quality relationship between the building principal and instructional coach can be one of the most rewarding relationships there is. Regrettably, this pairing can be fraught with potential disaster if not well planned and understood. This session provides principals and coaches with clear responsibilities, tools for communication and how to avoid the trap of “Asking mom or asking dad.”
Professional Development
Paraprofessionals
Paraprofessionals PD
Too often, schools do not have enough highly trained staff to meet the demand of students who require intervention. Consider leveraging all human resources as a solution! It is often more cost-effective to train paraprofessionals than hire Reading Coaches or similar job-types. Most schools, especially those who receive Federal Title I funds, staff classes with paraprofessionals, or instructional aides. With the right training and support in research-based materials, paraprofessionals can become highly qualified individuals who are a key component in improving a school’s literacy outcomes.
HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO READ PARAPROFESSIONAL EDITION
It is critical for any adult who engages with children on their journey to becoming a reader to understand the Science of Reading. When equipped with the “why”, it becomes seamless to train paraprofessionals in any research-based literacy intervention.
Suggested Training Options:
- Half-day, in-person can be combined with Delivering Highly Effective Interventions
- Two (2) half-day webinars
COACHING AND MODELING
A Schools Cubed Consultant works in partnership with literacy leadership at each school to provide individual support for each paraprofessional through modeling and coaching. A transfer of responsibility is achieved once the paraprofessionals have demonstrated that there is high fidelity to the intervention resource, and instructional decisions are made to meet needs on individual students in the small group.
Training Options:
- Please contact us for a customized plan to meet your need
Contact our team to learn how we can partner together in your district!
We offer a range of services including PreK-12 evidence-aligned professional development and coaching for educators; comprehensive literacy audits and literacy leadership coaching; and partnerships with institutions of higher education. Together we can help you create the knowledge, systems, and structures required to support critical literacy work.