Sharing a Vision for Success
At Choices High School, we prioritize strengthening our instructional culture by fostering collaboration, consistency, and a sense of community among staff and students. Our efforts begin with Monday meetings, which start with circle time, where one teacher selects a meaningful topic for the team to discuss. This practice builds trust and shared purpose among staff, setting the tone for the week.
Professional development is another cornerstone of our culture, with sessions led by staff members who share their expertise to improve instructional practices and address shared challenges. Collaboration extends to managing discipline issues and refining our curriculum, ensuring our approaches are unified and effective. Together, we consistently evaluate and enhance our PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) processes, crafting meaningful incentives that promote student engagement and reinforce positive behaviors.
We cultivate student culture through midday homeroom sessions, where the BARK principles (Be prepared, Act responsibly, Respect self and others, Keep learning) are central. Homerooms use circle discussions to build connections and foster belonging, with topics emphasizing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and PBIS initiatives.
Our principal actively supports and values staff input, creating a collaborative environment focused on helping students graduate. These combined efforts foster a robust instructional culture, uniting staff and students in a shared vision of success.
—Stefany Palomba, teacher, Canton City School District, Canton, Ohio
Giving the Gift of Time
Imagine working in a district where teachers feel trusted, collaboration thrives, and student success soars. That's the vision behind our BV Collaborative Learning Communities (CLCs). In the fall of 2022, we launched a three-year initiative to strengthen our instructional culture by giving our educators what they most wanted: time.
By repurposing district in-services, our CLCs offer a flexible framework for staff development that is relevant and responsive to teachers' needs. Educators are organized into small groups and empowered to set their own team goals based on best practices in teaching and learning. With team-driven agendas and minimal documentation, the collaborations remain productive and focused on improving student outcomes.
Principals play a key role by meeting with team leaders to review agendas, provide feedback, and offer resources and support. The district also holds an annual CLC Teacher Leadership Summit to inspire and further develop our teacher leaders.
This initiative has increased collaboration, improved the professional work environment, and led to targeted staff development. A recent staff survey rated the district 3.51 out of 4 in supporting highly effective educators. Energized by this success, we are renewing our commitment to CLCs, further empowering teachers to connect, learn, and grow together.
—Sherri Nelson, director of instruction, Brandon Valley School District, Brandon, South Dakota
Fostering Continuous Improvement
This school year, we introduced both a student advisory board and a parent advisory board. These groups provide students and families with opportunities to collaborate with us in planning and decision-making through surveys and discussions. This initiative has not only strengthened our instructional planning but also deepened relationships across our school community.
We also empower teachers by sending them to professional development sessions and having them share their learnings with colleagues. This often leads to the creation of professional learning communities (PLCs), which have increased staff engagement and addressed practical challenges. To support this, we built intentional PD days into our calendar, which has been a welcomed change.
Despite being a virtual school, we’ve implemented informal peer observations. Teachers frequently share that these experiences are highly valuable, as they foster professional growth, reduce isolation, and build trust. Additionally, we hold monthly data meetings where staff collaboratively analyze data to align instruction and enhance student outcomes.
Together, these practices have significantly strengthened our school’s instructional culture, fostering collaboration and continuous improvement. I am excited to share our journey and look forward to learning what other virtual educators are doing to build their instructional culture.
—Jamey Hill, virtual elementary coordinator, My Virtual Academy, Clinton Township, Detroit, Michigan
Strengthening Collective Teacher Efficacy
At Oakwood Middle School, we have strengthened our instructional culture by implementing vertical professional learning communities (PLCs) within content areas. We focus on providing high quality instruction by supporting teachers and providing on-going professional development. Within PLCs, we emphasize instructional practices that positively impact teaching and learning, and data analysis to make informed decisions that will lead to increased student growth and achievement. Our teachers have daily sessions where they collaborate to share best practices, observe each other in action, and determine their impact on learning. This practice has allowed us to foster collaboration among teachers with a student-centered focus, align our instructional practices, reflect on the rigor and relevance of student learning, and build a culture of collective teacher efficacy. As a result, we are seeing active engagement in the classroom, improved teacher-student relationships, open communication, and student ownership of learning.
—Chicola Whitfield, deputy principal, Plain Local School District, Canton, Ohio
Recognizing Teachers as Leaders
Our small and mighty district has enhanced our vibrant instructional culture in the last ten years by honoring our teachers’ voices and tapping into their leadership and talents. Together, we have created a robust model that engages staff at all levels. To move the instructional needle, our PD committee and new staff induction team keep our fingers on the pulse of our staff’s needs, inviting all to learn and lead from where they are, strengthening collective teacher efficacy. When we invest in the real needs of our teachers, we invest in the real students in our classrooms.
To do this, we create flexible learning sessions in real time. Our outstanding PD committee plans relevant conference days after surveying staff, drilling down, and carefully vetting any outsider presenters. We further tailor needs by strengthening building input via subcommittee meetings.
We provide teaching opportunities to all staff through our stellar New Staff Induction Program: sessions that include second and third-year teacher presenters, mentor panels, and teacher-led workshops. We also offer 1 credit inservice courses for salary advancement taught mostly by teachers in our IT LEARNS After School program.
We believe that teachers are leaders: This belief is the foundation of our collaborative instructional culture.
—Elizabeth Roemer, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, Island Trees School District Levittown, New York
