 |
La Paz Middle School
From 2002 through 2005, QTEL and other WestEd Teacher Professional Development Program staff worked with La Paz Middle School in Salinas, California, to improve teacher practice and student learning. Identified as a “high priority” school, La Paz had a large population of low-income, linguistically diverse students who had been underserved by the public education system.
This effort, funded by the Stuart Foundation and the Haas Fund, used the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to involve all teachers at La Paz in the examination and enhancement of their teaching practices. The project was designed to build La Paz's capacity to support its own teachers in National Board certification and to create an effective professional learning community.
QTEL tools and approaches were used to focus on the teaching of English language learners and discipline-specific literacies across the curriculum.
An evaluation of the project found that teachers experienced increased coherence in professional development activities. The majority of teachers also reported personal growth, both as more reflective teachers and as members of an evolving community of practitioners.
|
|
|
|
|
