- Primary Reader: Dr. Rick Voithofer
- Second Reader: Dr. Anna-Paula Correia
What is the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project is to develop a handbook for a school/district in order to implement a cohesive reading, writing, communication, organization and 21st century skill instructional plan to increase student academic achievement in all subject areas.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
This handbook will support all teachers within Fountain Middle School (FMS) within Fountain Fort Carson School District 8. It will provide important details about each of the district’s programs that have been implemented and simple strategies that can be used immediately without any formal training. This handbook will seek to accomplish two goals: to help teachers unify with a basic understanding of district initiatives, and to serve as a plan to improve student academic achievement by means of school-wide common strategies. Additionally, if all teachers in all grade levels and content areas use these common strategies, a similar foundation will be built upon each academic year. True growth will then be observed at all levels, rather than in merely a few grades or classes. Furthermore, this manual will seek to aid in FMS’s Unified Improvement Plan (UIP), as it will look to increase student academic achievement in all core subjects. The handbook will also include teacher and student work examples, as well as peer-reviewed study results. This data will demonstrate what success looks like for each of these programs, and better answer the “why” question that some educators may have.
For new-hire teachers, this manual will provide classroom structures and activities that can be applied right away; this will allow them to be on the same page as their fellow trained tenured educators. Ultimately, the structures chosen for implementation are those that have been established as having the quickest positive impact on student learning. In addition, these strategies are very simple for all teachers to implement, regardless of what they may already employ in their classrooms. This guidebook will unite the staff, make tasks and techniques much more transparent, and achieve the primary goal, help increase student achievement in reading, writing, communication, organization and 21st century skills. Lastly, this handbook will not introduce every skill, strategy or structure for each district program as teachers will get opportunities to participate in full training during their summer, after contract hour time and in professional development purple days. The good news is the small but employable strategies introduced in this handbook can be used right away without the formal training completed for each of the programs, so no one is left behind!
Click arrow to open Milestone #1:
