News

CTL Video Series: Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades

2010-02-01T10:16:44Z

CTL continues its middle grades video series with a re-broadcast of clips showing instructional examples of integrated learning and what's needed to support change in middle grades education. See the video schedule below.

Special CD Series Price: $19.95 (Save 50%)

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades originally sells for $39.95 but is reduced to $19.95 (plus $5 S&H) during this series. To order a copy of Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades at the reduced price, email Angela Jump or Contact Us. School purchase orders or checks are welcome.

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades CD

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades provides an overview of exemplary middle school practice, including:

60 minutes of video footage of real schools and classrooms
Lesson plans to accompany the video examples
Interviews from experts, students, teachers and community leaders
Other valuable resources for educators

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades is a multimedia CD-ROM designed to enhance the professional development of middle grades educators. The tool provides opportunities for users to:

Explore the unique needs of the young adolescent
Develop awareness of national middle school reform movements
Examine the characteristics of high-performing middle schools
Investigate exemplars of standards-based integrated instruction
Identify components that support instructional change

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades contains approximately one hour of video: thirty-three clips that have been carefully constructed to include administrator, teacher, parent, and student perspectives; classroom footage documenting effective instructional strategies and best practice principles; and supporting print and web link resources. The CD is an excellent tool for middle school professional development, planning sessions and work groups, etc. It is structured in such a way that individual videos and resources can be accessed immediately.

CTL Middle School Video Schedule

Standards-Based Integrated Learning

August 31, 2009: Interdisciplinary Connection: Science/Mathematics

(Video length: 1:52 minutes) In this video middle school science teacher Vicki Tidwell engages students in the study of generic variation and adaptation patterns through probability simulation, exploring both theoretical and experimental outcomes. Activities such as this encourage students to make cross-content connections as well as apply discipline-specific content to real-world situations.

September 7, 2009: Interdisciplinary Connection: Mathematics/Music

(Video length: 5:03 minutes) In this video middle school teacher Brenda Carr’s students use ratio and proportion concepts to investigate tempo in music. This activity motivates students, supports the development of their musical intelligence and allows them to explore a meaningful relationship between mathematics and music.

September 14, 2009: Interdisciplinary Connection: Mathematics/Visual Arts

(Video length: 2:56 minutes) In this video, Ms. Gray’s middle school students explore geometry and measurement concepts through architecture, a visual arts approach. Her students investigate the work of Frank Lloyd Wright to determine what mathematical and artistic qualities are present in his designs and apply this new knowledge in the creation of their own work of art.

September 21, 2009: Integrated Learning: Real World Explorations

(Video length: 3:16 minutes) In this video middle school science teacher Vicki Tidwell engages her seventh grade students in fieldwork at an aquaculture research laboratory. Her students learn the critical aspects of research design: formulation of hypothesis; management of experimentation variables; observation techniques; appropriate data collection; and analysis of results. Students use this knowledge throughout the year to design and conduct their own experiments.

September 28, 2009: Integrated Learning: Student Engagement

(Video length: 3:27 minutes) In this video, middle school teacher Lisa Frye’s students explore mathematical concepts and skills through a multidisciplinary unit of study. She describes the standards-based instructional planning, student engagement in new learning, and the application of that learning in a product demonstration.

Support for Change

October 5, 2009: Support for Change: Administration

(Video length: 3:32 minutes) Sheila Smith Anderson, a former educational programs consultant for CTL, consistently promotes the philosophy that all children can learn at high levels. In this video Sheila discusses the critical aspects of administrative support necessary to initiate and promote instructional leadership, communication structures and sustaining change.

October 12, 2009: Support for Change: Classroom Environment

(Video length: 4:50 minutes) For successful content integration to occur, teachers must establish a safe, supportive classroom environment that encourages risk-taking and problem solving. Instruction provides resources and opportunities that deepen students’ understanding of discipline-specific concepts as well as make meaningful connections and application within and across content areas.

October 19, 2009: Support for Change: Collaboration to Meet Student Needs

(Video length: 2:13 minutes) To successfully meet the needs of all learners it often requires teachers to make modifications or adaptations within their instruction to provide more scaffolding for students struggling with various learning disabilities. In this video middle school teacher Vicki Tidwell introduces her students to the scientific and mathematical procedures used to complete population studies.

October 26, 2009: Support for Change: Interdisciplinary Teaming

(Video length: 3:32 minutes) This video presents a demonstration of team planning brining together teachers with varying content expertise. The team planning process includes examining discipline-specific standards, identification of common global concepts, the design of units of study, opportunities for continuous assessment, connecting learning through global concepts, and reflection on student performance to inform instructional next steps.

CTL News

2008-07-28T08:09:14Z

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KCLC "Striving to be Our Best" Conference A Success

2010-07-23T09:06:45Z

Photo: Dennis Bega, U.S. Department of Education senior advisor, tells conferees that the Kentucky Striving Readers project enjoys a high degree of cooperation and collaboration that is critical to improving education, and is unique among the states.

U.S. Department of Education Senior Advisor, Kentucky Commissioner of Education, Kentucky First Lady Praises Educators for Nationally Recognized Collaboration to Boost Learning for All Students.

On Friday, June 25, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington, the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC), kicked off its fifth year of work under a federal Striving Readers grant with its second annual literacy conference for more than 600 Kentucky teachers and school and district administrators participating in the project. The conference was organized by CTL which serves as a lead partner in the Kentucky Striving Readers project and developed the school-wide Adolescent Literacy Model being implemented under the grant.

Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear (photo at right) delivered the keynote address in which she emphasized the critical need to remain committed to educational improvement for all students. Dennis Bega, U.S. Department of Education senior advisor, and Kentucky Commissioner of Education Dr. Terry Holliday were joined in a panel discussion on literacy development policy and practice by Kentucky Striving Readers practitioners Margie Maloney, West Jessamine Middle School assistant principal, and Gwen Wethington, Bullitt Lick Middle School literacy coach.

In his remarks, Mr. Bega noted that Kentucky’s unique collaboration among practitioners and researchers, teachers and administrators under the Striving Readers grant is effecting positive change that is being recognized at the national level. Both Mr. Bega and Commissioner Holliday urged the educators in attendance to continue their efforts to implement innovative instructional approaches that improve learning for all students.

The conference featured presentations by literacy coaches, administrators and teachers working in 21 Kentucky middle and high schools. Designed to support the development of literate learning strategies in all content areas, concurrent sessions focused on literacy integration that applies broad-based literacy strategies across content areas; literacy leadership for school administrators and teacher leadership teams; and literacy technology, emphasizing the use of technology and Web 2.0 applications to support literate learning in all subjects.

The KCLC Striving Readers grant is one of only eight such multi-year grants awarded nationwide by the United States Department of Education, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools. The goal is to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. The consortium includes CTL, Danville Independent Schools as fiscal agent for the grant, the University of Louisville, and the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development at the University of Kentucky, which serves as evaluator for the project. The Kentucky Department of Education is a supporting partner, helping to build connections between this project and related work statewide.

In addition to designing and leading all professional development for the project, CTL staff also train the Striving Readers literacy coaches in partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, which will confer certificates in secondary literacy and leadership upon each coach who has completed training over the course of the project.

The June 25th conference organized by CTL provided opportunities for teachers, administrators and policy-makers to learn firsthand about the classroom strategies being implemented under the Kentucky Striving Readers grant, with opportunities to explore challenges, successes, and implications for continuing work in the critical area of adolescent literacy.

Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium to Host Second Annual Adolescent Literacy Conference, “Striving to be Our Best”

2010-06-10T11:00:02Z

June 10, 2010

On Friday, June 25, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington, Kentucky, the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC), will kick off its fifth year of work under a federal Striving Readers grant with its second annual literacy conference, “Striving to be Our Best,” for more than 900 Kentucky teachers and school and district administrators participating in the project. The conference is being organized by CTL (Collaborative for Teaching and Learning), a Louisville-based non-profit provider of professional development for educators, and a lead partner in the Kentucky Striving Readers project. CTL developed the school-wide Adolescent Literacy Model being implemented under the grant.

Dennis Bega, senior education advisor for the U.S. Department of Education, and Kentucky Commissioner of Education Dr. Terry Holliday will participate in a panel discussion on literacy development policy and practice at the luncheon, which is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m in the Lexington Convention Center Bluegrass Ballroom. The conference itself will also feature presentations by literacy coaches, administrators and teachers working in 21 Kentucky middle and high schools. Designed to support the development of literate learning strategies in all content areas, concurrent sessions will focus on literacy integration that applies broad-based literacy strategies across content areas; literacy leadership for school administrators and teacher leadership teams; and literacy technology, emphasizing the use of technology and Web 2.0 applications to support literate learning in all subjects.

The KCLC Striving Readers grant is one of only eight such multi-year grants awarded nationwide by the United States Department of Education, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools. The goal is to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. The consortium includes CTL; Danville Independent Schools as fiscal agent for the grant; the University of Louisville; and the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development at the University of Kentucky, which serves as evaluator for the project. The Kentucky Department of Education is a supporting partner, helping to build connections between this project and related work statewide.

KCLC also includes six Kentucky school districts in addition to Danville as partners in the Striving Readers grant: Eminence Independent, and Bullitt, Pike, Washington, Jessamine and Rowan County Schools. Each participating school is implementing two programs—the CTL-developed Adolescent Literacy Model, a tested school-wide initiative to boost achievement in all subject areas for all students through improved literacy, and the Learning Strategies Curriculum, a research-based intervention from the University of Kansas for struggling sixth and ninth grade readers. More than 900 teachers and 13,000 students are participating.

In addition to designing and leading all professional development for the project, CTL staff also train the Striving Readers literacy coaches in partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, which will confer a certificate in secondary literacy and leadership upon each coach who has completed training over the course of the project.

The June 25th conference will provide opportunities for teachers, administrators and policy-makers to learn firsthand about the classroom strategies being implemented under the Kentucky Striving Readers grant. Challenges, successes, and implications for continuing work in the critical area of adolescent literacy will be explored.

For additional information or to attend the conference, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

Re-Conceptualizing English Language Arts Instruction

2010-06-08T15:32:57Z

ELA Summer Seminars

CTL is pleased to offer to middle and high school language arts teachers an opportunity to re-conceptualize the language arts program in their school and build a responsive system for reading and writing improvement.

Four, five-day seminars are planned in four regions of Kentucky. Seminars will provide an intense, focused experience with CTL adolescent literacy experts (K-12 literacy specialist and National Board Certified ELA Trainer). Seminar participants will:

Engage in study and discussion about current trends in ELA instruction in middle and high schools
Learn new strategies to support student engagement and active learning
Build a supported structure for classroom management in a high quality instructional environment
Collaborate with colleagues to plan for upcoming reading and writing instruction
Receive tools and professional resources to apply immediately in your own classroom practice

Seminars Will Provide:

An active and collaborative learning environment
All materials, resources, strategies included
Opportunities to continue to expand your practice after the seminar via CTL’s virtual learning network
CTL Certificate of Achievement
Catered breakfast and lunch each day

Dates and Locations:

July 12 – 16, 2010 Louisville KY, at CTL (see address below)
July 19 – 23, 2010 Hazard KY (location TBD)
July 26 – 30, 2010 Lexington KY (location TBD)
August 2 – 6 2010 Madisonville KY (location TBD)

Cost:

$1,500 per language arts teacher if registration is received by CTL by July 1, 2010
Late registration: $1,750 per language arts teacher if registration is received by CTL after July 1, 2010
Travel and lodging expenses are the responsibility of the participant
Discounts for two or more registrants from same school or district not avaialble

Cancellation/Refund:

Cancellations received by CTL at least seven work days prior to the session start date will be refunded in full.

To Register:

Registration is on a first-come-first served basis and seminars will be capped at 45 participants. Online registration (one for each person) can be done at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CTL_ELA_Summer_Seminars_Registration

A hard copy registration form can be downloaded at:

http://ctlonline.pbworks.com/f/CTL+ELA+Summer+Seminar+Registration+Form.pdf

Hard copy registration forms must be completed and mailed to CTL at the address below. Registration forms can also be faxed to CTL at (502) 895-9521. Registration will not be complete until payment is received (see “Payment” below).

Payment:

Purchase orders, checks or money orders are welcome. Checks or money orders, payable to CTL, should be mailed to the address below. Please direct questions about payment to our business office at (502) 895-9500 x304.

Questions?

Contact Dennis Horn at CTL: dhorn@ctlonline.org; telephone: (502) 895-9500 x329 or toll free at (800) 995-3965 x329.

Free Webinar Explores a Fresh Approach to Reading for Primary and Intermediate Students

2010-02-17T13:09:34Z

February 17, 2010

An Introduction to CTL's Artful Reading Model

Are you looking for a new approach to reading? Could your reading program use a "shot in the arm" to engage students through multiple disciplines? If so, take some time and join the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for a professional development overview of CTL's program, Artful Reading.

Artful Reading offers a unique primary and intermediate instructional model that integrates the development of literacy skills with learning in and through the arts. This program engages students through multiple disciplines and varied activities. This program applies high-quality, arts-based reading materials to enhance creative and reflective classroom practice for the primary and intermediate grades teacher.

Integrates the development of literacy skills with learning in and through the arts.
Engages students through multiple disciplines and various activities.
Applies high-quality, arts-based reading materials to enhance creative and reflective classroom practice.

CTL's Educational Programs Consultant and Arts Specialist Catherine Rubin will take webinar participants through an overview of this unique instructional model discussing the value of the arts as a critical component to literacy development.

Webinar Date: March 10, 2010
Time: 4:00 - 5:00 pm ET
Registration Deadline: March 8, 2010

REGISTER HERE

For more information, contact
Tonia Carriger
317.231.6587

This Webinar is a free Spotlight Session sponsored by CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, Indianapolis IN), a CTL partner organization. Learn more about CILC at http://www.cilc.org.

Free Adolescent Literacy Services from CTL

2010-02-01T15:21:57Z

January 25, 2010

We think you would agree that adolescent literacy development is a critical need for secondary schools.

For the past five years, CTL has been a partner in one of only eight federal Striving Readers grants, working in 21 middle and high schools in seven school districts throughout Kentucky, to improve the literacy skills of adolescents. The work is funded by the USDOE and results are showing impressive progress.

At the core of Kentucky’s Striving Readers project is CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model.

Later this spring, schools will have an opportunity to apply for funding assistance to improve their adolescent literacy program. CTL has scheduled FREE Adolescent Literacy Awareness Sessions to be held during the month of March, 2010. All session will be held at CTL in Louisville.

CTL is pleased to contribute these awareness sessions designed to assist schools and districts with making more informed and targeted applications under federal or state education stimulus funding categories.

About the Sessions

Each three-hour session will provide an intense workshop with CTL staff experts in adolescent literacy. CTL will provide print materials about the and school assessment process.

Sessions will involve the following:

Brief background about CTL’s Adolescent Literacy and results from Kentucky’s Striving Readers Grant project.
A review of how CTL’s Adolescent Literacy fits with RttT funding and other education stimulus fund categories (Title I School Improvement Grants, Investing in Innovation [i3] Grants, and Pending LEARN Grants).
What We’re Doing and Not Doing: A School Self-Assessment Process: Use of CTL’s Adolescent Literacy School Performance Guide (© 2010) to inform your school’s application under RttT and other stimulus fund categories.
Next steps.

Schedule of Sessions

A total of eight (8) three-hour sessions will be offered by CTL as follows.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010: 9 AM to 12 PM or 1 PM to 4 PM
Wednesday, March 17, 2010: 9 AM to 12 PM or 1 PM to 4 PM
Wednesday, March 24, 2010: 9 AM to 12 PM or 1 PM to 4 PM
Wednesday, March 31, 2010: 9 AM to 12 PM or 1 PM to 4 PM

All session will be held at CTL, 2303 River Road, Suite 100, Louisville KY, 40206. See Directions to CTL.

To Register

Participants are asked to register for only one 3-hour session. All registration is done online at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CTLAdLitAwarenessSessionRegistration

Registration for sessions is on a first-come-first-registered basis. Registration will close at 5 PM EST on February 25, 2010.

Additional Information

Also see CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model.

To contact CTL, send an email to info@ctlonline.org or contact Mr. Dennis Horn at dhorn@ctlonline.og, or toll free at (800) 995-3965 x329.

CTL Adolescent Literacy Model

2010-06-09T12:06:02Z

Introduction

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model is a school-wide comprehensive professional development model for middle and high schools. It provides training, coaching, strategies, tools, and processes to address the global and specific literacy improvement needs in schools today. It has been developed over ten years, and has been tested through two external research projects, where it has been shown to have a positive impact on teacher practice, teacher and student self-efficacy, and student performance.

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model is designed for customized implementation. Specific components of the Model are combined to address the targeted needs of the school. The process of customization and ongoing formative assessment for program refinement is a co-constructed process, involving school stakeholders at all levels.

Components of the Model

The model includes specific sets of professional development, tools and strategies for:

Classroom literacy integration across all disciplines;
Coaching development and support; and
Leadership development and support.

Classroom Literacy Integration Across All Disciplines

This model component focuses directly on improving the instructional practice of teachers, including:

Multi-day professional development institutes
Discipline-specific training sessions
Needs-based customized training sessions
Literacy technologies training sessions
A core set of strategies and tools for vocabulary development, reading comprehension, writing-to-learn, academic dialogue, and writing for publication
Integration of Web 2.0 literacy applications and classroom instructional hardware
Teacher planning tools for literacy integration
Self-assessment tools for teachers
Evidence gathering and reflection protocols

Coaching Development and Support

This model component focuses directly providing coaching support to implementing teachers and/or to develop literacy coaches at the local level, including:

On-site coaching for full faculties, departments, and individual teachers
Distance coaching, applying various technologies
Comprehensive coaching development training sessions, designed to certify literacy coaches (based on the IRA standards for Secondary Literacy Coaches)
Content-specific coaching training
Classroom observation tools
School walk-through tools
Coaching planning tools and resources

Leadership Development and Support

This model component focuses on developing a distributed leadership model in participating schools, including:

The Adolescent Literacy School Performance Guide, to formatively assess and plan to meet ongoing school program needs
Administrative Leadership professional development series
Teacher Leadership Team professional development series
Various administrative and teacher leadership planning and self-assessment tools

CTL Support

As schools implement the comprehensive ALM model, applying customized components, CTL provides specific support to meet individual school needs, including the following:

Co-construction of customized school programs
Training for full faculties
Training for administrators and leadership teams
Training and certifying local-level middle and high school literacy coaches
Coaching teachers and local-level coaches, at a level that is consistent with ongoing school needs
Providing project leadership for planning, evidence gathering, and trouble-shooting
Gathering and providing formative and summative evidence of implementation
Advising implementing schools concerning any required evidence of impact

Testing of Our Adolescent Literacy Model

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model is currently the subject of Gold-Standard research by the US Department of Education through one of eight Striving Readers grants nationwide. In addition, CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model has been successfully implemented in 37 middle and high schools and six colleges in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina to promote student learning and foster higher levels of achievement.

The ability to comprehend challenging concepts and vocabulary depends on a solid literacy foundation. A strength of the model is that it gives students the literacy skills they need to master challenging content in virtually all subjects (mathematics, science, social studies, language arts and applied arts). Previously, under a federal grant from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, CTL was able to show:

Improved reading skills for students in grades 6 and 9.
Improved grades in mathematics and science
Significant improvement in teacher and student self efficacy.
Significant gain in efficiencies in teacher practice, such as less need to re-teach and better classroom performance by students.

Many of the early research findings noted above have continued to be evident in Kentucky’s Striving Readers project, including:

Increase in teacher use of literacy strategies to support content learning.
Significant and ongoing growth in teacher self-efficacy.
Noticeable gains in student reading performance.

(For a more detailed report on results to date, see CTL Adolescent Literacy Model Results: An Analysis of Three Studies, conducted for CTL by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, May 2010)

Strengths of the Model

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model has a variety of unique strengths:

It is compatible with a variety of targeted interventions used with struggling students.
It is appropriate for use with English Language Learners (ELL). Research into effective ELL programs demonstrates that cross-content literacy models recommended for use with struggling and proficient learners are equally effective with ELL students, particularly when teachers approach literacy instruction as an “accelerated language” experience.
Literacy integration strategies are based on solid adolescent literacy research in the sub-domains (vocabulary development, reading comprehension, writing-to-learn, academic dialogue, and writing to use what we know).
The model includes intensive professional development for teachers where they learn a process for explicit instruction, instructional modeling, and gradual release of strategies to student use
Schools participate in ongoing job-embedded literacy coaching, on-site and via distance learning technologies.
The model provides an additional learning strand for the development of local literacy coaches, housed in middle and high schools, effectively building school capacity for independent implementation.
CTL provides training and coaching support for both administrative and distributed leadership structures in schools, ensuring commitment on the part of leaders and staff.

For More Information, contact
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL Launches New Blog: Co-Creating Solutions

2009-11-05T08:32:42Z

"YOU are ultimately what this online venue is about."

October 9, 2009

CTL is pleased to announce the launch of its new blog: Co-Creating Solutions. The blog is designed to encourage and support professional conversation about teaching and learning, and will provide an online platform for current and timely discussions on a variety of subjects and topics.

"We're excited to apply technology in the form of a blog, to contribute to the broader field of education as well as establish opportunities for ongoing conversations with colleagues" says Dr. Deborah Walker, CTL President and CEO.

Connect!

CTL staff bloggers include members of the organization's educational programs and management staff. All have a tremendous amount of practical experience in classrooms in school districts and on university campuses, small and large. From time to time, guest bloggers may also be invited to provide broader perspectives on a given topic.

Participate!

The posts these bloggers contribute is just a small part of the conversation. YOU are ultimately what this online venue is about. Respond to posts; weigh in and offer your own thoughts, perspectives, opinions and ideas for others to read, think about, and respond to. All a part of building a professional community dedicated to the ongoing work of improving teaching and learning.

Your Choice!

CTL's blog is organized with RSS feeds so that readers can subscribe to either the entire blog, or to posts by certain CTL staff members. For example, if you are interested in following posts about certain topics, or from certain bloggers, you can subscribe to individual posts and receive notification via your RSS feed reader.

Take a look at CTL's new blog: Co-Creating Solutions

Connect With CTL!

In addition to our new blog, we have other RSS feeds that will automatically send you information about CTL employment opportunities and breaking news. We also manage social networks related to projects or focus areas that you may find of interest.

Visit our Stay Connected page for more information.

ASCD Publishes CTL

2009-08-10T10:46:55Z

August 10, 2009

ASCD Express recently published two articles by CTL staff members Deborah Walker and Catherine Rubin. Following are excerpts with links to both articles located on the ASCD website.

Founded in 1943, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner.

Fostering Creativity in Chinese and American Students

Deborah Walker, Ed.D.
CTL Chief Executive Officer

Last fall I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the 2008 Chinese Top High Schools International Education Forum in Beijing, which brought together principals from 400 high schools throughout China. My topic was on how to foster student creativity, critical thinking, leadership, and moral development. While I thought this was a tall order, my Chinese colleagues assured me that educators in their country believed they could learn a lot from the United States about how to transform their education system to produce more innovative thinkers.

I knew that Chinese educators did a very good job of teaching advanced mathematics and science to their high school students, and that they granted college degrees in these two fields along with engineering to a staggering number of students. But what I found out during the conference from talking to principals, listening to speeches by government officials, and visiting a high-performing high school is that the Chinese are not content with the foundational education they provide their secondary students. Instead, they want to develop students’ ability to think creatively, to invent new products and solutions, and to become leaders rather than followers. Read More...

The Curious Classroom: Answers About Questions

Catherine Rubin
CTL Educational Programs Consultant
Visual Arts Specialist

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it seems to be the key to keeping learners engaged and intellectually agile in the classroom. In the "curious classroom," carefully crafted questions, generated by both teachers and students, enhance student learning. My own curiosity has made me aware of the critical role of questions in the classroom.

Some years ago, I was working with a group of 6th grade teachers looking at student work. A science teacher in the group shared an end-of-unit test from the class's study of the laws of motion. On the front side of the test was a multiple-choice section, and on the back were several open-ended questions. We noticed in particular that one student who received an A on the test had aced the multiple-choice questions but given minimal responses to the open-ended questions. It was clear that while this student apparently had excellent recall of the facts, she lacked understanding of the underlying concepts, which greatly concerned the science teacher. This led to a discussion of the possibility that rote memorization can stifle real learning, while intentional questioning can help students reflect; connect to content; and experience deep, transferable learning. Read More...

CTL Coordinates Literacy for Learning and Life Conference in Lexington

2009-07-15T10:49:36Z

July 15, 2009

The Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC), kicked off its fourth year of work under a federal Striving Readers grant with a literacy conference for almost 700 Kentucky teachers and school and district administrators on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 in Lexington Kentucky.

Literacy for Learning and Life featured individual presentations by 24 literacy coaches and 15 teachers working in 21 Kentucky middle and high schools, as well as a keynote address by Dr. Sara B. Kajder (photo at right), assistant professor of English education at Virginia Tech University, and former assistant professor of literacy education at the University of Louisville. A former middle and high school English teacher, Kajder received the first National Technology Fellowship in English/Language Arts, and is a nationally-known consultant, speaker and author.

The KCLC Striving Readers grant is one of only eight such multi-year grants awarded nationwide by the United States Department of Education, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools. The goal is to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. The consortium includes CTL (Collaborative for Teaching and Learning), a Louisville-based non-profit provider of professional and leadership development for educators, Danville Independent Schools as fiscal agent for the grant, the University of Louisville, and the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development at the University of Kentucky, which serves as evaluator for the project. The Kentucky Department of Education is a supporting partner, helping to build connections between this project and related work statewide.

CTL coordinated the June 17th conference, and designs and leads all professional development for the Striving Readers project. In partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, CTL staff also train the literacy coaches, each of whom will be eligible to receive a Master’s degree in secondary literacy and leadership from U of L upon completion of 100 hours of training annually over the course of the project.

The June 17th conference provided opportunities for teachers, administrators and policy-makers to learn firsthand about the classroom strategies being implemented under the Kentucky Striving Readers grant. Challenges, successes, and implications for continuing work in the critical area of adolescent literacy were explored.

For more information, contact
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL Coordinates 2009 Institute for a College-Going Culture

2009-05-11T11:53:48Z

May 11, 2009

On March 4, 2009, more than 300 educators from across Kentucky gathered in Louisville for the second annual GEAR UP Alliance Institute for a College-Going Culture: Transition and the GEAR UP Student. The conference featured 16 different concurrent sessions for administrators, teachers, counselors and others on increasing academic rigor, and enhancing attitudes, beliefs and culture to help at-risk students prepare for college.

CTL organized and coordinated the Institute in consultation with the GEAR UP Alliance, which includes GEAR UP Kentucky, its seven regions based at Western Kentucky University, Hazard Community and Technical College, Morehead State University, Murray State University, the University of Louisville, Fayette County Public Schools, and the Northern Kentucky Council of Partners, and three independent GEAR UP partnerships at the Western Kentucky Educational Cooperative, the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative, and Berea College.

GEAR UP Kentucky, based in Frankfort under the auspices of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, is a United States Department of Education-funded initiative that works with partnerships of schools, colleges, businesses, community, and non-profit organizations to provide interventions and services that prepare underserved middle and high school students to attend college.

At the March Institute, Helen Mountjoy, Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Education and Workforce Development, brought greetings from Governor Steve Beshear and information about state education priorities and plans for the future, including increased statewide emphasis on college attendance for all students.

The keynote address was delivered by Ranjit Sidhu, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at ACT, Inc. Sidhu discussed ACT’s College Readiness standards and the importance of reaching out to underserved students and promoting achievement to ensure postsecondary success.

Concurrent sessions, designed to provide attendees with opportunities for interaction and reflection, were offered on topics including rigorous mathematics and science content and instructional practice, fostering academic achievement for all students, creating positive classroom culture and teacher-student relationships, the Individual Learning Plan from a student perspective, curriculum alignment with ACT College Readiness Standards, Kentucky Virtual Schools, and strategies to address students' social and emotional development such as e-mentoring. Presenters were from the Kentucky Department of Education, GEAR UP Kentucky, school districts and public and private universities from within and outside of Kentucky, and CTL.

The Institute concluded with opportunity sessions during which attendees met with their colleagues by GEAR UP region and partnership to reflect on information gathered throughout the day, and to begin planning for implementation of new strategies to prepare students for postsecondary education.

Presentations, materials and other information distributed on March 4 can be accessed through the Institute's website.

For more information, contact:
Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

Kentucky’s work in adolescent literacy cited in new IES report

2009-05-08T09:04:35Z

Five States' Efforts to Improve Adolescent Literacy

April 7, 2009

Kentucky’s work in adolescent literacy is cited in a recent report released by the Regional Educational Labs Northeast and Islands. This report, titled Five States' Efforts to Improve Adolescent Literacy (April 2009) and funded by the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), describes efforts by Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, to improve adolescent literacy.

Highlighting common challenges and lessons, the report examines how each state has made progress with five strategies to support their adolescent literacy policies and procedures. These strategies include:

The engagement of key stakeholders to make adolescent literacy a priority;
Setting rigorous state literacy goals and standards;
Aligning resources to support adolescent literacy goals;
Building educator capacity to support adolescent literacy goals; and
Using data to measure progress, make decisions, and provide oversight.

Both the full report and a summary can be found here. (NOTE: Information about Kentucky's Striving Readers project, and CTL's role in this project, can be found on pages 9, 10 and 11 of the full report.)

Also see other articles about Kentucky's Striving Readers project:

Federal Striving Readers Adolescent Literacy Work Helps Kentucky Teachers Address Student Skills

2009-03-25T10:19:57Z

Photo at top: Teachers in Kentucky's Striving Readers project gather in Louisville in December 2008 to hear about program results and to discuss plans for further implementation.

March 24, 2009

CTL, a major partner in a $17+ million, multi-year Striving Readers grant from the United States Department of Education, reports progress at the close of the third of four years of professional training for more than 800 Kentucky teachers, school administrators and literacy coaches learning how to boost student literacy in all subject areas. The goal is to guide schools toward independent implementation of the school-wide adolescent literacy model over time.

The adolescent literacy model at the heart of the work is based on CTL’s prior work in content literacy, including research sponsored by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and takes a school-wide approach to teaching literacy, based on the developmental needs of adolescents. Progress at the end of Year 3 includes the following:

Implementation of the school-wide adolescent literacy model in project schools continues to increase.
Project school teachers’ perception of their own success is measurably higher than that at comparable non-project schools.
Leadership team development and systematic planning continues to expand at all project schools.
Project school literacy coaches are reaching the end of their required coursework at U of L to prepare them for independent implementation of literacy coaching and student intervention beyond the life of the federal grant.

This summer, all Kentucky Striving Readers schools will participate in a series of trainings, beginning with a one-day statewide Adolescent Literacy Conference, to be held in Lexington in June. At this conference school literacy coaches, CTL mentor coaches, and teachers will present and participate in learning sessions designed to share lessons learned through grant implementation, and to enhance one another’s learning. In addition, school coaches will collaborate with CTL mentors to design customized training for all teachers at their own schools.

One of only eight such grants awarded nationwide, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools, the Striving Readers initiative is enabling the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC) to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. KCLC also includes Danville Independent Schools as fiscal agent for the grant, and both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. The Kentucky Department of Education is a supporting partner, helping to build connections between this project and other work statewide.

KCLC includes six Kentucky school districts in addition to Danville that are also partners in the Striving Readers grant: Eminence Independent, and Bullitt, Pike, Washington, Jessamine and Rowan County Schools. Twenty-one middle and high schools are participating in KCLC activities. Each is implementing two programs: A previously tested school-wide initiative to boost literacy in all subject areas for all students, and a research-based intervention for struggling sixth and ninth grade readers.

CTL has developed and is leading all professional development for the consortium, and mentoring of participating teachers throughout the course of the project. In addition, in partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, CTL staff is training literacy coaches to work with teachers to implement the CTL-developed Collaborative Model for Content Literacy in each of the 21 KCLC Striving Readers schools. Under the grant, coaches who complete 100 hours of training annually will be eligible to receive a Master’s degree in secondary literacy and leadership from U of L.

For more information, contact
Amy Awbrey
V: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

2009-03-16T08:19:29Z

Can CTL assist schools with implementing improvements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?

Absolutely.

CTL has many years of practical, on-the-ground experience with the design and implementation of proven and innovative preK-16 education improvement efforts. CTL successfully provided training and support for comprehensive school improvement models in more than 450 schools in Kentucky and nationally. These schools showed increased performance overall and in literacy development as compared with other Title I schools. CTL also works with higher education initiatives to see improved results with adult learners as well as assisting middle and high schools develop college-going cultures for at-risk students.

CTL has designed an innovative new approach to adolescent literacy now being tested by the US Department of Education. CTL’s Adolescent Literacy model, described in more detail below, has been successfully replicated in middle and high schools and on college campuses in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and North Carolina to promote student learning and foster higher levels of achievement. Under a prior federal grant from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, CTL was able to show not only improved reading skills for students in grades 6 and 9, but also improved mathematics performance, since the ability to comprehend challenging concepts and vocabulary depends upon a solid literacy foundation. A strength of the model is that it gives students the literacy skills they need to master challenging content in mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and visual and performing arts courses.

For More Information

For more detailed information, see CTL Adolescent Literacy Model Program Description. For additional information about how the model has been implemented in various projects, see the linked articles at the bottom of this page.

Contact CTL

To discuss posiible ways CTL can assist your school or district through its Adolescent Literacy Model or other forms of consulting assistance, contact us or email us at info@ctlonline.org.

An Overview of CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model has been implemented in 37 middle and high schools and six colleges, and is currently being tested through a US Department of Education Striving Readers research project. It is a cross-disciplinary literacy approach where teachers in all disciplines provide direct instruction on specific literacy strategies, and integrate those strategies into ongoing content instruction for all students. The model's goals are:

To equip teachers with the skills to provide quality explicit literacy strategy instruction for students, and to successfully integrate those strategies into ongoing content instruction
To improve the literacy performance of adolescent learners and provide them with better access to and support in ongoing content learning

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model focuses on application of strategies within five core sub-domains of adolescent literacy. The model strands are consistent with current research-based recommendations for adolescent literacy and provide a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction across all disciplines: reading comprehension; vocabulary development; academic dialogue; and writing to learn, and to demonstrate learning.

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model has a variety of unique strengths:

It is appropriate for use with English Language Learners (ELL). Research into effective ELL programs demonstrates that cross-content literacy models recommended for use with struggling and proficient learners are equally effective with ELL students, particularly when teachers approach literacy instruction as an “accelerated language” experience
Strands and strategies are based on solid adolescent literacy research The model includes intensive professional development for teachers where they learn a process for explicit instruction, instructional modeling, and gradual release of strategies to student use
Schools participate in ongoing job-embedded literacy coaching, on-site and via distance learning technologies
The model provides an additional learning strand for the development of local literacy coaches, housed in middle and high schools, effectively building school capacity for independent implementation
CTL provides training and coaching support for both administrative and distributed leadership structures in schools, ensuring commitment on the part of leaders and staff

The information above describes CTL’s general approach to program implementation in schools. We provide customized professional development, co-constructed with client schools. Interested schools and districts can expect to work with CTL prior to implementation to gather and examine data, identify priority areas within the broad model framework, and engage in the design of professional development specifically designed to meet unique needs.

Also see the following for more information on CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model:

Content literacy in higher education

CTL leads two-year Kentucky content literacy initiative

CTL receives Lumina Foundation grant extension to expand its Kentucky community college literacy work

Rejuvenating the Classroom: The Community College Content Literacy Program has some serious fans

Mr. Smith goes to China

2009-06-23T12:40:44Z

Photo: Leon Smith, principal of Washington County High School, makes a presentation on the role of the American principal, during the 2008 China Top High School International Education Forum in Beijing. CTL co-sponsored the conference and invited Mr. Smith to attend.

January 15, 2009

Jimmie Earls
The Springfield Sun, Springfield KY
(Reprinted here with permission, The Springfield Sun)

Comparing Washington County to Beijing, China may be tough to comprehend, but when it comes to education, each country has something to learn from each other. That’s what Washington County High School Principal Leon Smith recently discovered during a trip to China sponsored by the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning (CTL) based in Louisville.

Smith, along with CTL President and COO Dr. Deborah Walker and President and CEO Emeritus Dr. Linda F. Hargan, visited Beijing in December to take part in the 2008 China Top High School International Education Forum Dec. 14 and 15. The forum, attended by principals from over 400 high schools in China, focused on the attributes and characteristics of effective instructional leadership.

Smith gave a 30-minute presentation at the forum focusing on WCHS’s Striving Readers grant, a federally-funded program aimed at improving the reading skills of middle-school and high school-aged students who are reading below grade level.

“Our school’s doing an outstanding job in the implementation of our Striving Readers grant,” said Smith. “That’s a strong compliment to our staff. CTL’s been really impressed with us as a high school in what we are doing with this grant.”

Smith went on to say that CTL is trying to establish a partnership with China.

“China has a strong component with working out of the workbook and learning from that regard. What they really want to implement is creative strategy in the classroom. CTL has a lot of models China can go by. I was asked to go and speak as a principal based on the work we have done.”

Smith's main duty during the trip was to speak on his role and responsibilities as an American high school principal. Smith was very impressed with the reception the Chinese gave the group from Kentucky, especially when they visited one of the top high schools on the edge of Beijing.

“They treated us royally,” Smith added. “They treated us respectfully. They have no discipline problems and they study very hard.”

High school students in Beijing attend school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The school Smith visited had approximately 1,900 students, 100 of which must live in a dorm because they live too far from school and transportation is not provided. On top of that, there are no extracurricular activities for the students.

Smith said, “I asked what type of activities they had for the students on campus at night and they said there were none, no activities. The students study until bedtime every night.”

That dedication to learning from the students was impressive to Smith, who sees how China is becoming a global competitor, producing more scientists, physicists, and mathematicians than the United States, and how China is becoming more aggressive in its education system.

“As a country, China is exciting to visit,” Smith said. “But if you look down the road, what are the implications for our country? It’s scary for our young people if they’re going to have to compete with China in the next 10 or 15 years.”

The Chinese are also looking to change the role of the principal in their schools. Chinese principals have little or no interaction with the students; it’s more of a managerial position with a company.

“Some schools in China have 5-6,000 students,” said Smith. “They don’t have a board, they’re basically the headmaster of the whole school. They don’t have to deal with parents or community issues. In the U.S., we’re basically instructional leaders. We still have to deal with the business side, plus deal with community, parents, public relations and leadership in other categories. It’s more complex than what they do in China.”

Smith had a very pleasant experience and enjoyed being treated like a rock star. In fact, following Smith’s speech at the forum, there was a break for tea. But Smith never got to take a break because everyone wanted to have his or her picture taken with him.

Of course, Smith couldn’t travel to China without taking in some of the local sights such as the Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube where Michael Phelps won eight gold medals during the 2008 summer Olympic games.

“It was a great honor,” said Smith. “I’m very appreciative to CTL for giving the opportunity to go.”

Smith will have a chance to return the favor when a delegation from China visits Washington County in the next month.

“We are going to have some Chinese visitors here at the end of February,” added Smith. “They will be visiting four schools in Kentucky and bringing along educators from China. We’re going to be one of the host schools.”

The Chinese delegation will have a chance to observe classrooms in Washington County and see some of the teaching strategies the high school is using. It will be a chance to build a relationship with the Chinese to learn from each other.

For more information about the conference, contact:
Deborah Walker
(502) 895-9500 x328

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades

2010-02-01T10:14:05Z

February 1, 2010

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades provides an overview and video examples of exemplary middle school practice, including:

60 minutes of video footage of real schools and classrooms
Lesson plans to accompany the video examples
Interviews from experts, students, teachers and community leaders
Other valuable resources for educators

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades is a multimedia CD-ROM designed to enhance the professional development of middle grades educators. The tool provides opportunities for users to:

Explore the unique needs of the young adolescent
Develop awareness of national middle school reform movements
Examine the characteristics of high-performing middle schools
Investigate exemplars of standards-based integrated instruction
Identify components that support instructional change

Special CD Price: $19.95 (Save 50%)

Transforming Practice: The Middle Grades originally sells for $39.95 but is reduced to $19.95 (plus $5 S&H). To order a copy, email Angela Jump or Contact Us. School purchase orders or checks are welcome.

Selected Videos from the CD

I - Caught in the Middle

Defining Young Adolescents: Student Quotes

(Video length: 0:48 minutes) How do students view adolescents? An awareness and understanding of young adolescents' feelings during this vulnerable time in their lives is essential to the decision-making processes that occur daily within the school's learning community. Let's hear what they have to say.

Developmental Needs: Positive Social Interaction with Adults and Peers

(Video length: 1:08 minutes) Young adolescents identify with their peer groups' values and desperately want to belong. They require opportunities to form positive peer relationships. And although they may never admit it, they need caring relationships with adults who like and respect them and can serve as role models and advisors.

Developmental Needs: Structure and Clear Limits

(Video length: 1:26 minutes) Clear expectations are crucial to ensure self-critical young people. Explicit boundaries help define the areas in which they may legitimately seek freedom to explore. In their search for independence and autonomy, young adolescents often feel immune to risks and dangers, so they require structure and guidance in setting clear limits that involve them in the process of responsible decision making. In this video local police officers discuss the support they provide to the school and its students.

Developmental Needs: Physical Activity

(Video length: 1:15 minutes) Young adolescents experience very rapid and uneven physical development. They have tremendous energy and require a great deal of physical activity and time for having fun as well as for relaxation.

Developmental Needs: Creative Expression

(Video length: 1:58 minutes) Young adolescents need opportunities to express who they are on the inside. In this video former CTL music specialist Mary Anne Lock provides students the opportunity to create and perform melodies demonstrating their understanding of mathematical transformations.

Developmental Needs: Competence and Achievement

(Video length: 1:50 minutes) Young adolescents need to discover what they're good at doing. They require many varied opportunities to be successful and have their accomplishments recognized by others. In this video Ms. Nalley's middle school students demonstrate what they have learned for younger children.

Developmental Needs: Meaningful Participation in Families, Schools and Communities

(Video length: 1:33 minutes) Young adolescents are curious about the world around them, so they require exposure to situations where they can use their skills to solve real-life problems. In this video seventh grade science students engage in various sampling techniques and statistical analysis to determine the water quality of a local stream.

Developmental Needs: Opportunities for Self Definition

(Video length: 1:59 minutes) Young adolescents require time to reflect upon new reactions they receive from others and to construct a consistent self-image from the many mirrors in which they view themselves. In this video students reflect upon their new learning and personal experiences from a recent unit of study.

II - Characteristics of Effective Middle Schools

Academic Excellence: Administrator Perspective

(Video length: 2:21 minutes) In this video middle school principal Michelle Pedigo discusses components of academic excellence evident in her school, including challenging curriculum, student-centered teaching and learning, arts infusion, continuous assessment, and more.

Academic Excellence: Teacher Perspective

(Video length: 0:43 minutes) In this video teachers share their views regarding instructional issues that support the development of academically challenging programs within their schools. They discuss the importance of teacher expectations, instructional strategies that address different learning styles and intelligences, and the impact of flexible scheduling on classroom practice.

Academic Excellence: Student Perspective

(Video length: 0:42 minutes) What do students believe about academic excellence? Most students have opinions about what they learn, how they learn, and the relevance of that learning to their world. It is essential that students’ perspectives be taken into consideration as educators design instructional experiences to meet the needs of young adolescents.

Developmental Responsiveness: Administrator Perspective

(Video length: 1:05 minutes) In this video middle school principal Mark Wallace describes the positive school climate within his school. He talks about alliances developed between school, parents, and community and how these alliances support the learning experiences of their students.

Developmental Responsiveness: Teacher Perspective

(Video length: 1:01 minutes) Middle school teachers Kathy Lowe and Peggy Nims discuss their school’s “Clubhouse” program; designed to address the unique academic and development needs of students.

Developmental Responsiveness: Student Perspective

(Video length: 0:46 minutes) Middle school students sense if adults in their school genuinely care about them and value their opinions. In this video several students share their thoughts regarding the concern and interest shown toward them in their school.

Social Equity: Administrator Perspective

(Video length: 1:25 minutes) Middle school principal Cynthia Lawson and teacher Jill Sutton discuss their school’s commitment to helping all students achieve at high levels.

Social Equity: Teacher Perspective

(Video length: 1:00 minutes) Middle school philosophy advocates that an interdisciplinary team of teachers share a common group of students; allowing for shared team planning time to discuss instructional and curricular issues. This time is also valuable for communicating student concerns and collaborating with colleagues to design interventions that address particular student needs.

Social Equity: Student Perspective

(Video length: 0:30 minutes) Fairness is often a concern with young adolescents as they seek support from their peers and the adults within the school. Students hold in high regards teachers who challenge them academically, and provide them with diverse learning experiences.

III - Standards-Based Integrated Learning

Interdisciplinary Connection: Science/Mathematics

Interdisciplinary Connection: Mathematics/Music

Interdisciplinary Connection: Mathematics/Visual Arts

Integrated Learning: Real World Explorations

Integrated Learning: Student Engagement

IV - Support for Change

Support for Change: Administration

Support for Change: Classroom Environment

Support for Change: Collaboration to Meet Student Needs

Support for Change: Interdisciplinary Teaming

Content literacy in higher education

2009-02-20T11:44:10Z

At left, Dr. William Loftus, professor of psychology at Big Sandy Community and Technical College (Prestonsburg Kentucky) talks about how his teaching has changed as a result of his participation in CTL's Content Literacy project.

Kentucky Community and Technical College participants reflect on their involvement in CTL's Content Literacy project

December 18, 2008

“It would be my desire to see CTL take its Content Literacy Model into every possible higher education institution. I believe it would change the mentality of every teacher, just as it has mine.”

--Rachel Sexton, Hazard Community and Technical College

Background

CTL is completing a two-year project to implement its original Content Literacy Model in higher education on four community college campuses in Kentucky. The candid comments of participants in the work reflect not only enthusiasm for this unique approach to postsecondary instruction, but an abiding belief that it can be a transformative process for teachers as well as for students.

CTL’s Content Literacy Model in higher education is designed to help college level educators embed core literacy strategies into coursework across academic disciplines. Many incoming community college students struggle to comprehend and demonstrate knowledge of written content in an academic setting, regardless of the subject they study. CTL’s work focuses on building critical learning skills and behaviors, including strategies for understanding unfamiliar vocabulary, reading for information, note taking, writing for specific purposes, and engaging in discussion about rigorous content.

Through this project, CTL has provided coaching and support for faculty on four Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) campuses to implement teaching strategies that support critical thinking and higher level learning for students, enhancing their ability to master content through reading and writing.

CTL’s partners in the project include KCTCS, which provided funding and communications support, and the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation, which provided primary funding. The project is being evaluated by the University of Cincinnati.

For More Information

For additional information about CTL’s Content Literacy Model in Higher Education project, see our Current Work page and our News page. The project has been written about by the Louisville Courier-Journal and the national e-publication Inside Higher Ed (Washington DC). You can also contact Amy Awbrey, CTL's VP for Program Design and Implementation.

Reflections

Following are sample reflections from community college teachers who participated in the program.

William Loftus, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Phi Theta Kappa Advisor
Big Sandy Community and Technical College
Prestonsburg, Kentucky

The outcome of this experience has renewed many facets of my professional practice, and has reminded me of the need to stay flexible and creative, especially with the waves of new millennial students that I am meeting and trying to lead to knowledge, and application of that knowledge in their world. The CTL frameworks of content literacy have also changed some of my basic teaching and learning orientations, and for that I am grateful. So, again, thank you CTL for a wonderful journey.

Donna Elkins, PhD.
Associate Professor of Communication
Jefferson Community and Technical College
Louisville, Kentucky

“CTL’s Content Literacy training added a spark to material that had become dry and mundane to me, giving me a new perspective, new strategies and a renewed enthusiasm for teaching.”

The greatest benefit of participating in the Content Literacy training provided by CTL was having a chance to talk with colleagues from across disciplines about teaching. More valuable even than learning specific strategies for improving classroom instruction was the opportunity to talk about teaching – the challenges, the opportunities, the outcomes, the students we care so much about. It was refreshing to know that there are others in a variety of disciplines who experience teaching in the same way.

In addition to that benefit were the specific strategies that we learned about through discussion and practice. Having a chance to actually practice the techniques and time to reflect on how I might use them in my classrooms was also valuable. To date, I have tried several of the specific strategies in my Intro to Interpersonal Communication class and plan to expand them into American Government and Basic Public Speaking when I teach those classes next semester. Specific strategies such as the Anticipation Guide, Café Conversation and the Double Entry Journal have encouraged student participation and discussion which is so important in a communication course.

The one-on-one assistance I received from the CTL coach was also valuable. I had time to discuss with her how to practice some of these same strategies in the on-line version of the course I teach. It is always a challenge to teach interactively on-line and so important for the basic goal of the interpersonal communication course. The practical advice and ideas I received from the coach have helped me to make changes in the course to foster more interaction.

I have been teaching the same courses for over ten years at the college level. CTL’s Content Literacy training added a spark to material that had become dry and mundane to me, giving me a new perspective, new strategies and a renewed enthusiasm for teaching.

Rachel Sexton
Cosmetology Instructor
Hazard Community and Technical College
Hazard, Kentucky

“This is a great approach to ‘leaving no student behind’ therefore giving the students an incentive to stay in school.”

The content literacy project that was offered to Hazard Community and Technical College has been by far the most educational and beneficial professional development program that I have ever been involved in. It has changed my entire outlook on “the learning atmosphere” in the classroom. I have learned to develop better strategies and working materials that actually support student learning.

The most important factor to me as an instructor is that my students develop the ability to learn, retain and communicate information that has been transferred to them in class. The content literacy program has trained me to implement diverse learning strategies during class that strengthen the students’ ability to learn. These strategies provoke the student’s to think on a higher level than they are used to.

I have found evaluation of student work to be much easier by using these strategies. They allow me to quickly detect the level of understanding for each student in the subject matter that I am teaching. Once I have determined who has full understanding of the content and who needs extra attention, I can then strategize my approach to getting the students caught up that are struggling the most with the content. This is a great approach to “leaving no student behind” therefore giving the students an incentive to stay in school.

A great challenge that I have in my 1.75 hour lecture class is keeping the attention of each student and knowing that they are retaining what is being taught. By implementing the content literacy strategies during lecture time, not only breaks up the class with extra activities which stirs the students, but also adds excitement to the classroom. Many of the strategies allow the students to be very creative at the same time displaying what they have comprehended from the lecture time.

CLT has impressed me with its experienced trainers and the knowledge that they bring to faculty. It would be my desire to see CTL take the Content Literacy Model into every possible higher education institution. I believe it would change the mentality of every teacher just as it has mine.

Hamid Attarzadeh
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Jefferson Community and Technical College
Louisville, Kentucky

“By incorporating the new Content Literacy teaching strategies, now my students come to class on time, prepared with their double entry journals filled with their reading assignments, questions and facts.”

For many years I taught calculus courses at the University of Louisville. My students came to class at least 20 minutes early, prepared for class having done most of their homework assignment, ready to ask questions and to be challenged. Then I received notice that I had to move to the Jefferson Community and Technical College downtown campus and teach a Developmental Mathematics courses with students not prepared for college.

The start time for my course was 7:45 AM. Students would arrive as late as 8:30. As I began my mini-lecture it was typical to see students with no pen or pencil and no textbook or notebook. Their attention would quickly be drawn elsewhere and about 10 minutes from the end of class, they would prepare to leave. They asked no questions and were not at all familiar with problems they were to have reviewed as homework.

I quickly discovered that I was confronting a group of students that are not ready for college, under-prepared, not goal-oriented, not responsible, disinterested, with no fear of failing. For the past several years I have been looking for ways to engage my students in the classroom; ways to encourage them and make them responsible for their education. I had just limited success in my search.

Then recently, I became involved in the Content Literacy project through CTL. The project provided me with a set of new tools and strategies to:

Encourage my students to read and analyze the reading material
Come to class prepared and be ready to engage in the classrooms activity
Be ready to ask questions and be asked questions by the teacher and by other students in the group
Engage to create a learning community in the first week of school and schedule time to work with other group members outside of the class period in the math lab or the computer lab.
To become a goal-oriented person and become a better student and to explore what the future might hold.
To be eager to attend other school related workshops and utilize school available resources.

By incorporating the new Content Literacy teaching strategies, now my students come to class on time, prepared with their double entry journals filled with their reading assignments, questions and facts. They come ready to engage in classroom activities.

I have seen an increase in my students’ sense of personal responsibility and worth and accountability to the group. Students who come to class unprepared are now challenged by their peers. This kind of conversation usually helps unfocused students begin to do good work at the beginning of the semester and helps them to be successful at the end.

So, I am pleased to say without hesitation, I found the new techniques and strategies in CTL’s Content Literacy project a help in raising our students’ success rate in the developmental mathematics courses at JCTC.

CTL logo and website receive awards

2008-12-18T09:13:52Z

December 18, 2008

CTL's new logo (see top left) and website were recognized by the Louisville Graphic Design Association at its 2008 annual show in Louisville on December 11. The Association received more than 300 entries in various categories.

CTL's logo won a Gold Award, the show's highest honor, under the category of Logo and Identity, and the website won a Silver Award under the Interactive category. Judges for the show were Arem Duplessis, art director for the New York Times Magazine, Oscar Fernandez, UC School of Design, Cincinnati, and Chris Eichenseer, Someoddpilot Design, Chicago.

"We are very honored to have both of these critical elementts in CTL's new brand recognized by a professional design association" said Dennis Horn, CTL's VP for Communications. "We set out to represent CTL's energy, creativity and enthusiasm for the work of improving education for all learners through an invigorated design and brand concept. These recognitions are an affirmation of CTL's new look and feel."

Also see CTL launches new brand; new logo recognized in graphic design competition.

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v: 502.895.9500 x329

CTL will co-sponsor the 2008 China Top High School International Education Forum

2008-12-09T05:52:05Z

December 1, 2008

CTL will co-sponsor the 2008 China Top High School International Education Forum in Beijing, China, December 14 and 15. Principals of China's 400 top performing high schools are expected to attend. The forum is sponsored by the Foundation College of the China Scholarship Council of China's Sichuan University, and co-sponsored by CTL, The Educational Mechanism Sub-Commission of the Chinese Society of Education, and the US-China Culture Exchange Foundation, a Lexington Kentucky-based organization that promotes and facilitates academic exchange opportunities between American and Chinese scholars.

The forum will focus on the attributes and characteristics of effective instructional leadership. CTL Founder and CEO Dr. Linda Hargan and CTL President and COO Dr. Deborah Walker will attend. Dr. Walker will make a formal presentation to attendees. Mr. Leon Smith, principal of Washington County (Kentucky) High School, will also attend and make a presentation. Washington County is one of 21 rural Kentucky schools participating in a United States Department of Education Striving Readers adolescent literacy grant for which CTL is providing all professional development on its adolescent literacy model.

CTL was selected to co-host the Beijing forum because of its work in the area of improved educational leadership on the secondary level, and its extensive experience working with educators and school leaders in the United States and abroad.

Following the forum, Chinese administrators will visit schools in the U.S., including Washington County High School, which has demonstrated high-level implementation in the Striving Readers project. Visiting administrators will observe teacher practice and discuss approaches to ongoing teacher learning and instructional improvement.

Here's a link to the Forum's website: http://english.topschoolcn.org/

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL launches new brand; new logo recognized in graphic design competition

2008-12-16T06:22:37Z

November 10, 2008

CTL has introduced a new brand concept as the non-profit positions itself as a local, national and international provider of customized professional development for educators in grades Kindergarten through 16.

A new logo with the tagline, “The Business of Learning,” was introduced this summer. A completely re-vamped web site, which features the branding slogan, “Co-Creating Solutions to Reach and Teach All Learners,” launched in September.

“Our new brand distinguishes CTL as a consulting firm specializing in customized professional development,” explains CTL President and COO Dr. Deborah Walker. “Our work is never canned or off the shelf, but rather is the result of a collaborative process of working with clients to identify their needs, existing strengths, areas for improvement and optimal ways to work together given their goals and unique context.”

CTL’s new brand is the result of a process of research and planning to identify the organization’s core strengths and primary audiences. “We based the new brand concept on input gathered from current and past clients, and from CTL staff and others,” notes Dennis Horn, Vice President of Communications for CTL. “When we asked clients for their thoughts about CTL’s strengths, they used adjectives like dedicated, experienced and knowledgeable, creative, dynamic and cutting-edge to describe our work.”

The new logo, a colorful and dynamic "weave" and slogan communicate CTL’s creative, collaborative approach to teaching and learning. Designed by Allegra Print and Imaging of Louisville, the new logo will be recognized by the Louisville Graphic Design Association at its annual show in December. CTL’s new web site was designed by Louisville-based Mission Data, and is now featured by the firm in its web design portfolio.

CTL is also expanding its capacity to market and deliver professional development by means of distance learning technologies through a new partnership with the Indianapolis-based Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration that will enable the organization to disseminate its work nationally and internationally.

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v: 502.895.9500 x329

CTL leads two-year mathematics and science partnership

2008-11-10T07:47:11Z

November 10, 2008

CTL is the recipient of a two-year Kentucky Department of Education Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant aimed at improving the performance of teachers, administrators and students in the areas of mathematics and science. The non-profit firm is partnering with members of the mathematics and science departments at Morehead State University to provide training and coaching for teachers of grades three through 12 in rural Knott County, Kentucky during the 2008-9 and 2009-10 school years.

The project, funded through United States Department of Education grants to the states, is designed to deepen teacher content knowledge in mathematics and science as it applies to the standards set by the Kentucky Program of Studies, strengthen mathematics and science instruction, establish an effective professional learning community among mathematics and science teachers, and develop leadership among district leaders and school principals to support the improvement of teaching and learning.

“The partnerships we are forming through this grant will help our district ensure that student learning occurs in rich and meaningful ways,” notes Karen Sandlin, District Mathematics Coach in the Knott County Schools.

Working with Knott County teachers and administrators and with Morehead State mathematics and science faculty, CTL is developing customized training and on-site coaching that aligns university, school and state curricula, and targets gaps in mathematics and science teacher knowledge. The project also includes a leadership development component that will prepare district administrators, instructional coaches and principals to support ongoing improvement in instruction in these core subjects.

In addition to improving mathematics and science instruction in Knott County classrooms, the project will ultimately provide guidelines for a professional development model that the Kentucky Department of Education will be able to apply to improve learning statewide, and will enable Morehead State to strengthen its teacher preparation and recruitment in these essential content areas. “The Mathematics Science Partnership grant allows CTL and Morehead State to support teachers in grades three to 12 to deepen their content knowledge and its application in the classroom,” says CTL President and COO Dr. Deborah Walker. “We are excited to be working with Knott County Schools on increasing learning opportunities for students, and appreciate the commitment of school and district leaders, as well as the teaching faculty, to ongoing professional growth.”

Project activities will include formal teacher training sessions, small group teacher tutorials, and classroom coaching. CTL is also providing instructional tools and resources, student assessment tools, and distance support for teachers to enable continuous professional learning and monitoring of implementation. Ongoing evaluation of the project is being conducted by independent research scientist Dr. Brent Garrett.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL leads planning for statewide institute: Creating a College-Going Culture in Kentucky Middle and High Schools

2008-11-10T07:47:16Z

November 10, 2008

CTL will once again lead planning with GEAR UP Kentucky and the GEAR UP Alliance for an annual statewide institute for educators on creating a college-going culture for middle and high school students. The GEAR UP Institute, planned for March 4, 2009 in Louisville, will coincide with the Kentucky Teaching and Learning Conference (KTLC), the largest professional development-based conference in the state, sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education. CTL planned and coordinated the 2008 GEAR UP Institute at KTLC, which was attended by more than 400 educators from throughout Kentucky.

GEAR UP, an acronym for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, is a national program that provides funding to states and local partnerships for programs that help prepare all students for postsecondary education. GEAR UP Kentucky works under the auspices of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education with host institutions Northern Kentucky, Murray State, Morehead State, and Western Kentucky Universities, the University of Louisville, Hazard Community and Technical College, and the Fayette County Schools. The organization is also part of the Kentucky GEAR UP Alliance that includes Green River Educational Cooperative GEAR UP, Western Kentucky Educational Cooperative GEAR UP and SOAR, Berea College GEAR UP, South Central GEAR UP, and the Kentucky Department of Education.

CTL, a non-profit firm known for its professional development work in literacy, mathematics and science, educational leadership, and learning in and through the arts, has worked since 2003 with GEAR UP Kentucky to develop the capacity of more than 100 participating schools to create a college-going culture and improve the rigor of classroom instruction. CTL has developed regional and statewide professional development opportunities for school leadership teams for teachers and for GEAR UP staff; worked with schools to assess alignment with state curriculum standards and the ACT College Readiness Standards; embedded GEAR UP goals and priorities within state-mandated school improvement plans; and helped classroom teachers to differentiate instruction so that all students achieve and are on track for college.

Since 2006, CTL has also provided professional development, tools and school improvement processes to help GEAR UP middle and high school sites ensure a successful transition for students moving from middle to high school.

This year’s GEAR UP Institute will focus on transitions from middle to high school, and from high school to college, with emphasis on increasing student achievement through academic rigor, and the attitudes, behaviors and culture necessary to prepare students of all backgrounds and ability levels to attend college. The Institute will consider such issues as the needs of high school freshmen, assessment, and parent engagement in the college preparation process.

In addition to planning and coordinating the March 4 Institute, CTL is developing a comprehensive guide to the tools and resources available to schools to promote student achievement and a college-going culture. CTL may also provide customized, on-site professional development support for up to 20 GEAR UP middle and high schools throughout Kentucky, helping them to ensure that students make a successful transition to high school and are on track for college. CTL’s assistance will include planning support, connecting resources to address specific needs, and gathering evidence of increased effectiveness in addressing transition issues.

“The work of the GEAR UP Alliance represents a collaborative effort to ensure that students in GEAR UP schools have access to rigorous instruction, and are supported in their efforts to achieve in high school and prepare for postsecondary education,” notes CTL President and COO Dr. Deborah Walker. “CTL is pleased not only to coordinate planning for the second annual Institute, but also to share its knowledge and experience in improving classroom practice and school culture.”

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL leads two-year Kentucky content literacy initiative

2008-11-11T10:21:09Z

November 10, 2008

CTL is the recipient of a two-year Kentucky Content Literacy Initiative grant from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), aimed at improving adolescent literacy instruction across all content areas. CTL’s grant is one of two awarded statewide by KDE, with the goal to develop a replicable model for boosting adolescent literacy in all Kentucky schools, a priority of the State Board of Education.

CTL is partnering with the Western Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) and Murray State University to provide literacy development training, coaching and support for teachers in grades six through 12 in the Paducah Independent Schools. The project is based on CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model, which combines six key components of literacy development to shape teaching strategies in all subject area classrooms.

CTL will provide direct training to teachers, and with Murray State, will also develop the capacity of WKEC staff to train and coach during and beyond the period of the grant, which includes the 2008-9 and 2009-10 school years.

The project is designed to build leadership in literacy development among school administrators, immerse teachers of all subjects in practical strategies to develop literacy skills among their students, and develop a regional system that will support the ongoing improvement of all instruction for adolescents. “Teachers and administrators will be well prepared and supported in their efforts to increase student achievement,” notes Vickie Maley, Paducah Independent Schools Assistant Superintendent. “Teachers will learn to employ the latest research and teaching strategies to further students’ higher level thinking skills across the curriculum. School and district leaders will learn the latest techniques for monitoring and supporting staff as we all work toward increasing student achievement.”

Project activities will include formal training sessions, on-site teacher coaching, and distance learning conducted by CTL. In addition, CTL will collaborate with Murray State to enhance teacher recruitment in the area of literacy, and to include literacy development in pre-service teacher education. “We are pleased to be working in partnership with MSU and WKEC to support the literacy efforts of Paducah Independent,” says Amy Awbrey, CTL Vice President for Program Design and Implementation. “Not only will their schools and students benefit greatly, but this project will also build local and regional capacity to support adolescent literacy work in western Kentucky in the future.”

Ongoing evaluation of the project is being conducted by independent research scientist Dr. Brent Garrett.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL evaluates new Kentucky elementary school arts accountability model

2008-11-04T06:48:46Z

August 4, 2008

For many schools, the idea of building a comprehensive arts education program is somewhat daunting. Many do not have the staff expertise needed to lead this development, and where to begin is, in itself, a challenge. CTL evaluation project director Dennis Horn says the project, which concluded June 30, 2008, "was a real eye-opener for educators in many schools that had no idea what they were doing right, or what they were not doing at all in the arts." For the first time ever, Kentucky elementary schools now have a clearly delineated document showing all the critical components of a comprehensive, standards-based elementary arts program.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) hired CTL to conduct a pilot evaluation of a prototype assessment model to enable elementary schools to determine the effectiveness of their standards-based arts programs. The model uses a standards and indicators tool and a protocol designed to engage multiple school personnel in project oversight. KDE's goal is to develop Kentucky's first ever model delineating the critical elements of a comprehensive elementary arts program based on the Kentucky Program of Studies and Core Content for Assessment.

Twenty Kentucky schools agreed to pilot the new model during the 2007-2008 school year, and to participate in an evaluation process designed to gather input and provide feedback on possible improvements. To substantiate their progress, each school developed an evidence file for each of four standards included in the tool--curriculum, instruction, assessment, and organizational effectiveness.

CTL's evaluation of the pilot included on-site school visits, key staff interviews, review of the school evidence files, and analysis of an online survey by each school. The final report has been presented to the State Board of Education, and recommendations will inform revision of the model for use in all elementary schools, as well as development of a planned middle and high school model. A similar KDE pilot of the middle and high school model is anticipated.

Following are representative quotes from some of the pilot schools::

“This requires a level of examination that we had really not done before. Determining appropriate examples of supporting evidence was difficult at times. Also, realizing that we didn't have specific evidence to back us up really opened our eyes.”

“We accomplished some things in the arts (such as a site-based policy delineating the minimum requirements for arts education) that most likely would not have happened without this process.”

“The tool provided a measuring stick: What does each level of performance look like?”

“This gets us back to what the arts are really all about—creating and performing.”

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v: 502.895.9500 x329

DVD Teaching the Writer: What Students Need now accessible online at no charge

2009-06-23T12:42:25Z

July 18, 2008

Now anyone with an Internet connection can access a copy of Teaching the Writer: What Students Need, a wonderful instructional tool for teaching writing in grades K-12, free of charge!

Until now, the DVD has only been available through CTL or the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) in disc form. That's been changed. The KDE has included the entire DVD, transcripts and the Viewing Guide on its website in a clear and very user-friendly format.

New DVD shows "write" ways for every teacher to teach writing

2009-06-23T12:42:41Z

April 16, 2008

Matthew Tungate
Kentucky Teacher

Click on the link below to read an article (pdf) about the DVD "Teaching the Writer: What Students Need" published in the April 2008 edition of Kentucky Teacher (Kentucky Department of Education).

New DVD shows ‘write’ ways for every teacher to teach writing

The entire DVD, transcripts and Viewing Guide can be accessed for free via the KDE's website.

KDE and CTL launch new state writing resource: Teaching the Writer: What Students Need

2009-06-23T12:43:00Z

November 6, 2007

CTL is launching a new writing resource data DVD with Writing Cluster Leaders throughout Kentucky. CTL, which manages the CATS Writing Portfolio, developed the DVD, called Teaching the Writer: What Students Need, on behalf of the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to help teachers approach writing by asking their students to see themselves as lifelong writers. Teaching the Writer encourages teachers to view writing as natural to learning, not as an isolated event or only as it relates to CATS writing portfolio requirements.

Elizabeth Dick, formerly CTL’s CATS Writing Portfolio Consultant, led the design and development of the DVD in cooperation with the KDE, and says that Teaching the Writer is a resource which raises the important question, “Are we actually teaching writers or merely focusing on perfecting pieces?” She advises, “Schools and districts seeking frank answers about what to do to improve students’ writing performance need to use this DVD to initiate serious discussion about current instructional practice across the curriculum, K-12, and next steps to consider. “

Linda Leugers, CTL’s CATS Writing Portfolio Consultant, is leading the DVD orientation sessions statewide, and is happy to provide information on the project to school district personnel. The data DVD will be in all Kentucky public schools by November 9, and may be duplicated freely. Kentucky teachers and others who would like to receive the DVD should contact their school Writing Cluster Leader or District Assessment Coordinator to request a copy.

The entire DVD, transcripts and Viewing Guide can be accessed for free via the KDE's website.

CTL receives Lumina Foundation grant extension to expand its Kentucky community college literacy work

2008-11-17T08:46:10Z

August 24, 2007

CTL has received an extension of a grant from the Lumina Foundation of Indianapolis to expand its work with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to boost the literacy skills of community college students. Lumina is a private, independent foundation, dedicated to expanding access and success in education beyond high school.

An initial grant from Lumina in 2006 supported CTL’s work with faculty members from four KCTCS community colleges—Jefferson, Hazard and Big Sandy Community and Technical Colleges, and Madisonville Community College—to help them embed core literacy strategies into coursework across academic disciplines. Amy Awbrey, CTL Project Director, notes that many incoming community college students struggle to comprehend and demonstrate knowledge of written content in an academic setting. Through the Lumina grant, CTL has trained KCTCS faculty to implement teaching strategies that support critical thinking and higher level learning for these students, and has provided coaching and support for faculty.

Under the initial grant, faculty participants also worked with CTL to design a direct course for community college students focused on building effective literacy-based critical learning skills and behaviors. That course, which includes strategies for understanding unfamiliar vocabulary, reading for information, note taking, writing for specific purposes, and engaging in discussion about rigorous content, is being piloted at Jefferson and Hazard Community and Technical Colleges during the Fall 2007 semester.

The response to work under the initial grant revealed the strong promise of CTL’s approach. Participating faculty noted that CTL’s training significantly changed their approach to teaching, and reported increased comprehension and engagement among students as a result, in courses as diverse as art history and nursing.

The grant extension will enable CTL to expand training and coaching to additional faculty at Jefferson and Hazard Community and Technical Colleges beginning in January 2008. In addition, CTL will train a leadership team made up of faculty from both schools to develop strategies that support the ongoing professional development of their colleagues.

As part of the new work, the Evaluation Services Center at the University of Cincinnati will conduct an independent evaluation of the project in fall 2008.

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL returns to Tanzania

2008-08-29T07:51:40Z

April 10, 2007

CTL has returned to Tanzania for a second time to work with faculty and building leaders at the School of St. Jude. Staff members Amy Awbrey and Freda Klotter have developed and are facilitating customized school-wide professional development for the School of St. Jude in Tanzania, East Africa, which has been in operation since 2001 and serves more than 500 of the country’s poorest children in grades one through six. The school plans to add an additional grade each year, and to construct new facilities as needed until it graduates its first high school class.

Amy and Freda work both on-site at the school and through distance technologies. They take a two-pronged approach with administrators and teachers to facilitate the development of organizational standards and processes that support continuous improvement through distributed leadership and accountability, and to enable teachers to support improved classroom instruction integrating African and western practices. This work is supported by the Helen and Gordon Smith Foundation.

Following is an excerpted from Amy’s blog about her work in with the School of St. Jude:

“Today was my first day back at St Jude since December. I spent the day talking with teachers and observing in classrooms, looking for evidence of progress in teaching techniques. The evidence was everywhere I looked - Rooms full of student work, word walls, and informational materials - Small group hands-on work going on in almost every classroom I visited - Highly engaging instruction and strong positive interaction between teachers and pupils. I can honestly say I saw more progress than I had ever expected. Work still to do, but so great to see teachers accepting the challenge so readily…”

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL provides leadership training and teacher coaching for GEAR UP Kentucky

2008-08-29T07:51:45Z

June 1, 2007

CTL will provide leadership training and teacher coaching for GEAR UP Kentucky, part of a national initiative administered in Kentucky by the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) to prepare underserved students for college.

CTL has worked with GEAR UP Kentucky since 2003, partnering with GEAR UP Kentucky staff to provide professional development and technical assistance to nearly 80 middle and high schools statewide, enabling them to create the conditions necessary to prepare more students for postsecondary education. CTL has designed and led institutes throughout Kentucky, giving schools a common language and deeper understanding of how GEAR UP works to build on existing school improvement efforts. Through on-site observations and professional development sessions, CTL has also helped teachers assess alignment with ACT College Readiness Standards, making it possible for schools to ensure that their students are on track for college.

CTL’s current work with GEAR UP Kentucky includes leadership and team-building training for teachers and school administrators in GEAR UP regions, emphasizing achievement, equity and high expectations; coaching in the use of standardized test data to develop effective school improvement plans; development of teaching strategies to meet learning goals for all students; site-based assistance with teaching techniques, including use of the arts, to engage all learners and deepen instruction in core subjects; and coaching to ensure rigorous instruction and boost student readiness in math.

GEAR UP Kentucky work at CTL is directed by Dr. Deborah Walker, President and COO, and involves CTL’s staff of expert teacher coaches. Walker notes, “GEAR UP has a clear mission of increasing the number of students prepared for college. It reflects Kentucky’s goals of increasing student learning and college going for all. We regard the work as significant because of its mission, and because our organization can have a significant impact on the foundation of college preparation: school culture and classroom practice.”

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

Rejuvenating the Classroom: The Community College Content Literacy Program has some serious fans

2008-08-29T07:51:49Z

May 21, 2007

Andy Guess
Inside Higher Ed

Click on the following link to view the article in the May 21, 2007 edition of Inside Higher Ed.

Rejuvenating the Classroom: The Community College Content Literacy Program Has Some Serious Fans.

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL consults AEI on new and expanded arts education program offerings

2008-08-29T07:51:53Z

April 13, 2007

Several months ago, Lourdes Karas, executive director of the Appalachian Education Initiative (AEI) in Morgantown West Virginia, approached CTL about assisting her organization with planning for new and expanded arts education initiatives to serve schools throughout the state. Lou has known of CTL and its work since she served as education director for the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where she saw first hand CTL’s coaching designs and use of the arts to assist teachers with reaching and teaching all students.

The mission of AEI is to strengthen the role of arts education in the public schools by promoting the essential role of arts education to a child’s personal development, academic performance and workforce preparation. AEI accomplishes its mission by providing arts education advocacy and research services and by facilitating and expanding arts education programming to benefit children in underserved areas of West Virginia and, ultimately, throughout Central Appalachia. (Source: www.appalachianeducationinitiative.org/)

CTL and AEI are currently collaborating on plans to look at programs AEI might design or expand over the next three years. Early discussions have explored a new West Virginia study on the status of arts education in its public schools; the development of a parent advocacy toolkit to give parents an understanding of the value of arts in education and ways to approach school leaders and teachers about including the arts in the daily curriculum; training for teaching artists to support their work in school settings; and the design of a new arts education “framework” for school self-assessments of their current arts education programs, enabling them to target professional development and the use of external arts resources to increase program effectiveness.

AEI also serves as the state’s Alliance for Arts Education, an affiliate program of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. In this capacity, AEI can serve as a critical bridging agency for the state's arts education professional associations, individual teaching artists, parents and the community.

CTL is very pleased to be in on the ground floor of this new and exciting program design for AEI.

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v. 502.895.9500 x329

Community College's New View

2009-01-06T10:48:54Z

May 7, 2007

Nancy C. Rodriguez
The Courier-Journal, Louisville KY
(Reprinted here with permission—The Courier-Journal)

It used to be that students were guaranteed two things would happen if they enrolled in a course taught by fine arts professor Amy Stewart.

She'd walk into the classroom, and she'd lecture.

"I always thought, 'You either learn to get into it, or you don't and you take another class,' " said Stewart, who has taught art history, appreciation and administration at Jefferson Community and Technical College for seven years.

But community colleges in Kentucky and around the nation know that too many of their students aren't "getting it," because they lack the reading, writing and critical-thinking skills they need to succeed, officials say.

It's a big reason why community colleges struggle with low retention rates, and it's prompting educators to rethink how they teach students.

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System has a 56 percent retention rate compared to an average of 78 percent at the state's four-year public universities.

"The data really does shed light on the fact that we need to be doing things differently," said Jan Muto, assistant to the chancellor for teaching and learning at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

To that end, KCTCS started an initiative last year that targets college instructors like Stewart and teaches them how to simultaneously improve their students' thinking and literacy skills, while also covering the course material.

Instructors are trained to use a combination of strategies -- from group activities involving writing and drawing to note-taking tips that help students focus on main ideas.

The initial feedback looks promising, with college instructors reporting increased attendance, higher exam scores and more engaged students.

State officials say they will expand the initiative to more instructors at Jefferson Community and Technical College and Hazard Community and Technical College next year.

The two campuses were the first to start the training last year, with about 17 instructors taking part. A second group from Big Sandy Community and Technical College and Madisonville Community College were trained last summer.

This fall, KCTCS will offer a pilot course at Jefferson and Hazard for students interested in developing their critical-thinking skills. The course will eventually be offered systemwide. More than 84,000 students attend KCTCS; the number includes students working on associate's degrees as well as those in certificate and professional development programs.

Stewart said the training has radically changed her teaching style, showing her how to combine lecturing and slides with group activities and discussion. It also provided ongoing coaching that helped her implement what she learned.

As she used what she learned, Stewart noticed her students becoming more engaged and performing better on tests. The students also increased their ability to handle complex material.

"For me it has given me much more of an overview of where the students are," she said. "I just get to know them in ways I didn't before … and I think they are more engaged in their education."

And her students say they like the nontraditional approach.

"It gives you a reason to actually read the book and to actually care what you're reading because you have to write it down," said Ryan Smith, 23, who is working on earning an associate's degree at the college before transferring to a four-year university.

Daniele Drexler, 21, who also is working on associate's degree, said the techniques Stewart uses made her courses more fun.

"It's easier than just sitting and looking at slides all day. She's able to encompass writing techniques and she handed out a lot of handouts on more information than the book," said Drexler.

The techniques and training are provided by the Louisville-based Collaborative for Teaching and Learning. It's paid for with a $237,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based private foundation dedicated to expanding access and success in education beyond high school.

Amy Awbrey, program design and research coordinator with the collaborative, said students come to the community colleges "unprepared for any kind of independent learning, and really accustomed to being spoon-fed information."

"They come struggling with how to answer critical questions or to think critically in the classroom, and without the independent study, independent research and independent learning skills they need to have," she said.

The problem is complicated by the fact that while community college instructors are qualified in their subject areas, they often do not have the training that is common for elementary and secondary teachers.

Stewart, for example has a doctorate in art and theater history. She had a bachelor's degree in education, but she earned it back in the 1970s before the focus was on engaging students and finding ways for all students to learn.

Pat Herald, a nursing instructor at Hazard Community and Technical College, said she and her colleagues would often talk about how lecturing was failing to reach students.

"We couldn't figure out how to do other things. We didn't have the training to do other things," Herald said.

Now her students do more writing, talking and problem solving in groups, which helps them retain information, be more creative and score better on tests and projects, she said.

"They're really taking a lot of responsibility for their own learning, and they're doing very, very well," Herald said. "It really has revolutionized my teaching."

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

CTL included in national policy brief on arts education

2008-08-29T10:07:07Z

March 21, 2007

Before any program can advance toward improvement, it is critical to know first where it stands. This was the motivation behind a 2005 survey conducted by CTL and funded by the Kentucky Arts Council to determine the status of arts education programs in Kentucky’s 176 county and independent school districts.

The survey was the first of its kind in Kentucky and one of a growing number of similar status studies carried out in states nationwide. The aim of such surveys is to inform planning for arts education program improvements in schools and districts. To view a pdf copy of the Kentucky survey report, see Status of Arts Education in Kentucky Public Schools.

As a result of its work on the Kentucky survey, CTL was invited by the Washington, DC-based Arts Education Partnership (AEP) to participate in a 2007 seminar in Chicago to produce a research and policy brief showcasing five states that have done comprehensive studies on the status of arts education in their schools. The brief, called From Anecdote to Evidence: Assessing the Status and Condition of Arts Education at the State Level, was recently released and can be downloaded (pdf) free of charge from the AEP website.

An excerpt from the publication’s Introduction states that “This research and policy brief draws on the experiences in five states, each of which has been the subject of a comprehensive arts education survey in recent years. The states are Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington. Distilled from the 'lessons learned,' the brief provides 20 principles designed to inform and guide new and continuing arts education data collection and survey research at the state level. A primary audience is those who may be involved in advancing such efforts in their own states.”

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v: 502.895.9500 x329

CTL invited to participate in international education conference in Beijing

2008-08-29T07:52:04Z

March 6, 2007

CTL has been invited to present papers on its work in adolescent literacy professional development and a new approach to teacher preparation at the 2007 China-US International Conference on Educational Leadership and Literacy at the University of Beijing, July 22 through August 13, 2007.

The papers are: Integrating Literacy to Support Adolescent Learners and Developing a Standards- and Performance-Based Approach to Teacher Preparation. Both, along with the on-site presentations, will be translated into Mandarin.

The conference will include professional meetings and networking, as well as travel to educational, cultural and historical sites in Beijing and other cities.

“This is a marvelous opportunity for a small organization such as CTL to not only have our work presented internationally, but to learn about the educational systems and culture of this amazing country as well as meeting and learning from others in the US and other countries,” said Dr. Linda Hargan, CTL Founder and CEO who will present the papers in Beijing and attend all conference events.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Linda Hargan
v: 502.895.9500 x333

Schools Try New Approach to Boost Student Literacy

2008-08-29T07:52:10Z

December 26, 2006

Nancy C. Rodriguez
The Courier-Journal, Louisville KY
(Reprinted here with permission, The Courier-Journal)

Teacher Malisa Russell faced her class of Bernheim Middle School seventh-graders and began calling out short phrases.

"Paint a picture," the Bullitt County teacher said. Several students raised their hands, and one offered the correct answer: "Explain."

Russell moved on to another clue: "Read between the lines." "Infer," a student called out.

It's not unusual to use word games to build students' vocabulary and literacy skills. Except Russell is a math teacher, instructing her students on concepts such as percent of change, equivalent ratio and proportion.

Starting this year at Bernheim though, improving student literacy is everyone's job.

"I felt like I always left the reading and writing to the reading and writing teachers," said Matt Murphy, who teaches computer applications. "But now all of us have that responsibility."

Bernheim is not alone.

Twenty-one middle and high schools around the state are trying the new approach as part of a five-year, federally funded program aimed at boosting literacy among middle and high school students -- two groups that have traditionally been overlooked in favor of targeting literacy in lower grades.

As a result, nationally and in Kentucky, reading scores at the middle and high school levels have lagged behind elementary grades. The slide in Kentucky begins in middle school, and by high school shows an almost 10-point gap, with almost 60 percent of high school students scoring below proficiency on state reading exams.

"A lot of people think that by the time students get to middle school or to high school they should have the basic skills they need to have," said Amy Awbrey, a project director at The Collaborative for Teaching and Learning, a Louisville-based nonprofit that created the literacy model being used by the schools. "Of course, we know they don't."

National concern

The program in Kentucky -- called the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium -- is funded through a $17 million Striving Readers grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Danville Independent Schools in Boyle County is the recipient of the grant, but the consortium also includes six others school districts, The Collaborative for Teaching and Learning, the University of Louisville, the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development at the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Education.

For Bernheim Middle School, the grant has been a "great opportunity," said Principal Julie Buckner.

The 473-student school has struggled on state student achievement tests in several areas, including in writing, math and Social Studies. But Buckner hopes the grant will help the school reduce its numbers of struggling readers and raise test scores.

"The teachers have embraced it, and are trying to implement a lot of what they've learned," she said.

The Bush administration launched the $24.8 million Striving Readers program last year after mounting national concerns about poor reading skills among middle and high school students.

As many as 6 million middle and high school students cant read at acceptable levels, according to estimates from the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based education policy research and advocacy group.

And it's not just an issue for low-performing students. A report released last spring that looked at the reading skills of college-bound students who took the ACT exam found that only 51 percent were prepared for college-level reading.
Educators say older students struggle for many reasons, and it is difficult to pin down a single cause.

Factors include the rising number of students learning English, as well as poor teaching methods, chaotic home lives, low expectations for some students, cultural bias and the fact that older students simply don't read enough.

Eight Striving Readers grants were given out last spring by the government.

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
(502) 895-9500 x318

Hard work pays off for CTL with new local and national contracts

2008-08-29T07:52:15Z

April 12, 2006

Photo inset: Dr. Deborah Walker, CTL President and COO (left) and Dr. Linda Hargan, CTL Founder and CEO.

Hard work at the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning over the past several years has resulted in the form of significant new local and national contracts. The categories of new work include professional development, educational program design and evaluation, leadership development, management of the Kentucky Writing Portfolio, and more.

As a first step in reorganization to meet present and anticipated future needs, the CTL Board of Directors voted to change top executive functions to encompass two positions effective April 1, 2006. Dr. Linda Hargan will remain as Founder and Chief Executive Officer and will be responsible for overall organizational direction and budget, acting as a liaison with existing and new partner organizations, representing CTL to local, state and federal audiences, and working directly on selected projects. Dr. Deborah Walker will assume the duties of President and Chief Operating, responsible for day-to-day operations, conceptual direction for new and existing projects, supervision and evaluation of CTL professional staff, development and capacity building for leadership programs, and direct work on select projects. This division of responsibilities will ensure that CTL is able to continue it mission of improving learning for all and maintain its high quality of customized service throughout Kentucky and nationally.

Following is a list of some of the exciting new and continuing projects at CTL.

CTL is a major partner in a $17 million five-year federal Striving Readers grant. One of only eight such grants awarded nationwide, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools, the funds will enable the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners.
CTL will manage Kentucky’s Writing Portfolio under the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) as a subcontractor to Measured Progress, Inc., the New Hampshire testing firm awarded the CATS contract by the Kentucky Department of Education.
CTL was recently named the principal provider of training for GEAR UP Kentucky, a program of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, part of the national GEAR UP program designed to promote awareness and preparation for postsecondary education among underserved student populations.
CTL is a partner in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL)-Appalachia, a $26 million, five-year federally-funded consortium that will conduct research to support improvement in student outcomes, help close achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students, and achieve other key goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
CTL is a partner in a $2.1 million three-year federal Teacher Quality grant to the University of Memphis, College of Education to implement its groundbreaking Reinventing Teacher Education initiative.
CTL is working with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to develop and implement instructional strategies to boost the literacy skills of community college students, with work funded by a grant from the Lumina Foundation of Indianapolis.
CTL is designing a new evaluation component for the Kentucky Peer Advisor Network (KPAN), a program of Arts Kentucky and the Kentucky Arts Council that provides free, targeted consultation to arts and cultural organizations throughout the state, with work funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
CTL is continuing the development of its new Arts and Literacy Project, designed to integrate the teaching of literacy through the arts, and learning in the arts through literacy development.

CTL a partner in $17+ million federal Striving Readers grant

2009-01-22T05:36:57Z

April 12, 2006

CTL is a major partner in an initial $17 million, five-year Striving Readers grant through the United States Department of Education. One of only eight such grants awarded nationwide, and the only one to focus on a consortium of rural schools, the funds will enable the Kentucky Content Literacy Consortium (KCLC) to increase student achievement by improving the literacy skills of middle and high school students, including English language learners. KCLC also includes Danville Independent Schools as the fiscal agent for the grant, and both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky.

KCLC includes six Kentucky school districts in addition to Danville that are also partners in the Striving Readers grant: Eminence Independent, and Bullitt, Pike, Washington, Jessamine and Rowan County Schools. Twenty-three middle and high schools will participate in KCLC activities over the next five years. Each will implement two programs: A proven school-wide initiative to boost literacy in all subject areas for all students, and a research-based intervention for struggling sixth and ninth grade readers.

CTL will facilitate all professional development for the consortium, a key component of the project. In partnership with the University of Louisville College of Education and Human Development, CTL staff will train literacy coaches to work with teachers to implement CTL's Adolescent Literacy Model in each of the 23 KCLC Striving Readers schools. The model is based on CTL’s prior work in content literacy, including research sponsored by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and takes a school-wide approach to teaching literacy, based on the developmental needs of adolescents.

Under the grant, coaches who complete 100 hours of training annually will be eligible to receive a Master’s degree in secondary literacy and leadership from U of L. Starting in June and each summer for the next five years, CTL staff will also work with all 1000 teachers in the 21 KCLC schools through a series of five-day intensive Content Literacy Institutes.

“The collaborative nature of the model emphasizes work among teachers across disciplines who work with common groups of students,” says CTL Coordinator of Program Design and Research Amy Awbrey. “This ensures that teachers will use common methods over time, so they can build new habits of literate learning behaviors with students who would otherwise struggle to apply these skills as they learn.”

In each KCLC school, the literacy coaches will also provide intervention for struggling readers through the Learning Strategies Curriculum, a targeted intensive program developed at the University of Kansas for sixth and ninth grade students who are reading at least two years below grade level. The University of Kentucky Collaborative Center for Literacy Development will provide ongoing evaluation of all aspects of KCLC Striving Readers work.

For more information, contact:
Amy Awbrey
v: 502.895.9500 x318

Kentucky Department of Education to pilot CTL's new closing the achievement gap model

2008-11-04T07:26:10Z

August 16, 2005

CTL has entered into a partnership agreement with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to make “Closing the Gap,” a professional development resource, available to KDE staff to use in seven low performing schools over a one-year period. This agreement enables key KDE staff to pilot a resource they can adapt to fit the needs of each school in helping them to address achievement gap issues. The need to close performance gaps among student populations remains a critical national need, especially given the targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation which says that schools must ensure that all students learn.

In Kentucky, performance gaps exist in nearly every school in the state, even those schools that typically score high on the statewide CATS assessment. In response to the need for effective tools to aid schools in addressing performance gaps among their student populations, CTL designed a teacher- and administrator-friendly tool for helping educators address head-on their perceptions of young learners from varied backgrounds. The tool provides scenarios and accompanying training materials for educators to use to address barriers to understanding cultural and social differences among students and the ways these students learn.

KDE personnel included in the pilot include highly skilled educators and GAP coordinators from across the state. These educators attended a two-day training session on the tool conducted by CTL, and began implementing its use in May 2005.

The pilot will continue through March 2006, and will inform improvements in the tool for use in the future.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL to conduct first ever statewide survey on the status of arts education in Kentucky public schools

2009-05-12T14:28:48Z

July 1, 2005

Before any program can advance toward improvement, it is critical to know first where it stands. This is the motivation behind a survey to be designed and conducted by CTL, and funded by the Kentucky Arts Council (KAC), to determine the status of arts education programs in Kentucky’s 176 county and independent school districts.

The survey will be the first of its kind in Kentucky and one of a growing number of similar status studies carried out in states nationwide. The aim of such surveys is to inform planning for arts education program improvements in schools and districts. According to Gerri Combs, executive director of KAC, the survey will “establish a set of baseline data from which will be able to design future arts education programs and partnership efforts aimed at seeing the arts become integral to education in the commonwealth. We need to get an accurate picture of what’s going on in arts instruction in our schools.”

According to the KAC, “It is sometimes difficult to ascertain exactly how to build programs and outreach efforts that are most effective in addressing the needs of schools, teachers and students. One missing element is a clear picture of exactly what is happening in arts education across the commonwealth--how much arts instruction students are currently receiving, who is providing that instruction, how outside resources are utilized, what differences exist between large and small districts, etc.” (July/August, 2005 Blue Moon Newsletter: KAC)

In his May 24 email to district superintendents announcing the survey, Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit wrote, “As we move forward on the path of improved schools for all children in the commonwealth, we continue to note a challenge in the area of Arts and Humanities in most of our districts across the state. Student knowledge and skills in the arts continue to lag behind other subjects as evidenced by the CATS assessment results.”

According to Dennis Horn, CTL project director for the survey, “It is clear that schools need assistance with teaching the arts: The CATS test scores alone continue to show this. There are ways that arts and cultural organizations can assist schools, and we hope that this study will shed light on how and where state- and local-level organizations might target their expertise to help schools ensure high levels of learning in the arts for all students.” CTL will submit its final report to the KAC by August 31, 2005.

Partner agencies in the project, include the Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Alliance for Arts Education, Arts Kentucky, the Kentucky Center and Kentucky Educational Television. The partners will use the survey results to see where gaps in services or resources exist in order to build programs and outreach efforts designed to help schools improve or enhance their arts education programs and boost student learning. It is hoped that this survey will be conducted every five years in order to identify trends and adjust their programs and services.

(To view a pdf copy of the Kentucky survey report, see Status of Arts Education in Kentucky Public Schools.)

For more information, contact:
Dennis Horn
v: 502.895.9500 x329

Phi Delta Kappa International to publish CTL's Teaching for Results: Strategies for Improving Student Results

2008-08-29T10:05:47Z

January 24, 2005

In late February 2005, Phi Delta Kappa International will release the new book written by CTL senior vice president Dr. Deborah Walker, Teaching for Results: Improving Student Performance, which offers teachers useful strategies to meet the achievement goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate.

Under NCLB, teachers are charged with enabling all students to become proficient. They will be able to use this book to build on traditional classroom practice, which reaches the most motivated and able students, and also to move toward more inclusive instruction that meets the needs of diverse learners, including those targeted by NCLB: students of color, poverty, learning disability, and those whose first language is not English.

Using a teacher-friendly format, Teaching for Results provides guidance before, during, and after lessons built on the strategies highlighted in the book. It offers examples of assessments, rubrics, and sample student work. The strategies address areas of persistent student underperformance, including learning vocabulary and concepts, generating questions and answers, and learning through in-class projects. Also included are suggestions for application across content areas.

Finally, the book concludes with a section on homework, recommending independent home learning activities that can deepen and extend classroom learning from the earliest grades through high school. Teaching for Results incorporates a wide range of research findings, and uses straightforward language and examples to help teachers meet their goals for student achievement.

The 76-page publication, which will sell for $17.95 plus shipping and handling through both CTL and PDK ($15.95 for Phi Delta Kappa members, available at that price only through PDK), was reviewed by respected educators nationwide. Following are some of their comments:

"This book provides an important tool for advancing the learning of all students in their classrooms. I can envision teams of teachers using this for team learning or book studies and having a profound effect on the performance of their students."

--Dr. Stephanie Hirsh Deputy Executive Director National Staff Development Council

"It has been widely rumored that NCLB requires us to sacrifice good practice for simplistic recipes with quick fixes. Walker challenges and puts to rest such assertions by contending that we can bridge the achievement gap by building a bridge between professional and best professional practice. Teaching for Results is a must-read for today’s educators, parents, and policymakers."

--Dr. Linda Lambert Professor Emeritus California State University, Hayward

"This work represents a relevant, timely, and much-needed resource for teachers and principals. Thank you, CTL, for your continued work."

--Dr. Lois Adams-Rodgers Deputy Executive Director Council of Chief State School Officers

For more information, contact:
Deborah Walker
v: 502.895.9500 x328

CTL receives contract to develop training modules for IBM's Reinventing Education Change Toolkit website

2008-11-17T08:45:59Z

August 24, 2004

CTL has been awarded a contract by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in Washington, D.C. to develop a series of training modules for educators on use of the IBM Change Toolkit web site, part of IBM’s Reinventing Education initiative designed to improve learning by changing the ways in which schools function. The web site is based on the work of Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and is accessible to educators at no cost.

The training modules will help educators connect with the IBM web site, and quickly use the information and tools there to facilitate productive change in their schools and districts.

“Educators do not lack for materials, tools or professional literature about the change process. In fact, there is almost too much available for educators to choose from, especially given the pace of their work and the external demands for making and documenting changes in practice to meet district, state and federal requirements” says Linda Hargan, CTL president and CEO. “While we believe IBM’s Change Toolkit is an excellent resource for educators, issues of time and ease of access are paramount for educators everywhere.”

“CTL is very pleased to have been selected for this project, and to have received a vote of confidence from a respected organization like the Council of Chief State School Officers,” said Hargan. CTL bringto this work extensive experience and in-depth knowledge about designing training, tools and assessments for educators that prompt deep learning and assimilation of new information.CTL will bring to this task extensive experience and in-depth knowledge in designing training, tools and assessments for educators that prompt assimilation of new information, deep learning and reflection.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Linda Hargan
v: 502.895.9500 x333

i3 Adolescent Literacy Validation Study Proposal

2010-05-21T14:59:49Z

Program Description

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model is a comprehensive literacy program. Through professional development, on-site and distance coaching, and process, strategy and tool implementation, the model supports middle and high schools in addressing literacy program and instructional needs at all levels of implementation. The model includes direct training, strategies, and support for instructional improvement, provision of on-site literacy coaches and support for ongoing job-embedded coaching for teachers, and development of a systematic approach to administrative and distributed leadership.

Through 10 years of development and testing, over 80 schools in multiple states have participated in program implementation, resulting in increased teacher self-efficacy, student motivation, and improved reading performance. Model implementation and support is a multi-faceted and multi-year approach (usually 3-4 years), and is customized, based on specific data available about participating schools, to support individual school program and performance needs.

Purpose for School Participation: to develop a school-wide programmatic approach to adolescent literacy, including foundational literacy instruction, cross-disciplinary literacy integration, professional development and literacy coaching for teachers, and leadership development:

Model Components

Foundational Literacy Instruction: professional development and coaching to assist English/Language Arts in providing effective direct instruction for literary and informational reading and writing skills development.
Literacy Integration: professional development and coaching for content area teachers to integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening strategies into instruction, in service of enhanced content performance
Literacy Intervention: coaching for literacy intervention instructors, within the context of existing school interventions.
Literacy Coaching: provision of site-based literacy coaches and training for those coaches to support foundational instruction, literacy integration, and leadership development.
Literacy Leadership: instructional leadership training and coaching for school administrators, and development of cross-disciplinary literacy leadership teams to build capacity and sustainability of school-wide literacy program implementation.

Program Implementation

Teacher Professional Development: All teachers in the school community participate in a variety of onsite and distance training and coaching activities. Training includes:

A five-day Teacher institute, designed to
- build understanding of adolescent literacy needs and instructional approaches
- learn instructional strategies for reading writing speaking and listening to support student skills development and access to content learning
- engage teachers in teams and departments to plan for systematic and common approaches to literacy strategy implementation
- develop the adult learning community to support ongoing teacher implementation and instructional improvement
Discipline-specific training sessions, onsite and via distance, conducted by discipline specialists, and designed to support translation of global literacy strategies into the context of each specific discipline
Annual two-day follow-up training sessions, customized to meet individual school needs, to address instructional needs and program implementation issues
Visits to clinical site schools, where peers are successfully implementing the model
Participation in CTL’s Content Literacy Network for implementing schools

Participating teachers also are engaged in ongoing coaching during each school year, including:

Team and/or department coaching sessions, where coaches and teachers
- Plan for instructional implementation
- Learn new strategies to support student learning
- Examine evidence of practice and student performance to refine instructional strategies
- Learn how to implement literacy technologies to engage students and enhance learning
Individual coaching support, including
- Co-planning and co-teaching
- Model teaching
- Instructional observation and feedback
- Resource identification and development

Literacy Coaching Implementation: With grant funding support, each participating school is provided with an on-site Literacy Coach, who works full-time in the school to coach, mentor, and support teacher implementation and leadership development. Literacy coaches are hired by schools, within CTL’s required criteria for effective coaching attributes. Coaches are trained, mentored and supported by CTL’s Literacy Program Specialists to engage participating teachers in ongoing job-embedded professional development. The Literacy Coach training and mentoring program includes:

Development of foundational literacy understanding
Development of integrated literacy understanding
Provision of coaching planning, implementation, and evidence-gathering tools and processes
Development of leadership understanding and program implementation strategies
Visits to clinical site schools where literacy coaches trained by CTL are implementing coaching at high levels
Participation in CTL’s Literacy Coaching Network

Literacy Leadership Development: All participating schools are provided with two distinct leadership program supports; administrative leadership training/mentoring, and literacy leadership team development support.

Administrative leadership training includes:

Four to five days of formal leadership training each year, with required job-embedded leadership strategy implementation
Participation in CTL’s Literacy Leadership Network
Integrated leadership training with on-site literacy coaches to build team leadership approaches and provide support for complementary role development

Literacy Leadership Team training and support includes:

Development of team structures
Development of team strategies
Coaching and mentoring of the leadership team to enhance distributed peer leadership processes
Visits to clinical site schools where administrators trained and supported by CTL are implementing at high levels

Support for School Implementation

Through grant funds, CTL provides a variety of supports for school participation and implementation, including:

Training and materials for each component of the program
CTL Mentor Coaches for each participating school, who guide and provide feedback on school implementation
Tools and protocols for implementation and data gathering to inform improvement
Professional development credit and/or stipends for teacher participation in training
Salary for on-site Literacy Coaches
Funds for provision of technologies as determined appropriate to enhance program implementation

Research Requirements

The research model will apply control/experimental school approach, with experimental middle and high schools receiving all treatment (services and resources), and control middle and high schools receiving no treatment. There is no experimental design applied inside participating schools. All teachers in experimental schools will receive training and support.

Because participation is ensured through grant funding, all schools are required to provide data and participate in data gathering activities throughout program implementation, including:

Experimental Schools

Teacher surveys (pre and post each year)
Student surveys (pre and post each year)
Administrator surveys (pre and post each year)
Literacy Coach surveys (pre and post each year)
Student performance assessment (pre and post each year)
Randomly selected classroom observations of practice
Observation of coaching practices
Observation of administrative leadership practices
Observation of leadership team practices
Interviews as deemed necessary
Additional data collection and documentation activities deemed necessary as program implementation progresses

Control Schools

Teacher surveys (pre and post each year)
Student surveys (pre and post each year)
Administrator surveys (pre and post each year)
Student performance assessment (pre and post each year)
Randomly selected classroom observations of practice
Observation of administrative leadership practices

Schools that apply and are randomly selected into the control school group will be asked to allow data collection in their buildings, from principals, teachers and students. In return, those control schools will benefit in the following ways:

Delivery of the model in year 5
Discretionary funds they can use to support resource or program needs in their buildings
Return of data on student performance that is gathered for research purposes
First standing on the list of interested schools to be selected by CTL for participation in future projects

School Commitments

CTL’s Adolescent Literacy Model implementation demonstrates high impact in schools that fully implement the program. However, it is important to note that a quality program, when poorly implemented will not produce desired results. Therefore, participating schools are required to make a strong commitment to their participation in the program, including:

85% commitment from faculty for informed participation in all components of the model
Full participation of faculty, coaches, and administrators in all aspects of training and coaching
Commitment of two designated professional development days per year
Multi-year participation in all program activities
Adherence to CTL criteria for identification and hiring of on-site Literacy Coaches
Full cooperation in all data gathering activities required through grant funding