Customized Professional Development

Capacity Building

District Options

School districts can partner with QTEL for teacher professional development that is implemented across the district or in a subset of schools, over a period of one to three years. QTEL professional development certification is also an option for district staff.

Districtwide In New York City, the Department of Education works with QTEL to support districtwide implementation. In an initial three-year period, teachers and district professional developers apprenticed QTEL practices and approaches. Subsequently, the New York City Department of Education continues to support QTEL professional development through offerings provided by QTEL staff and QTEL-certified district staff.

School Intensive In Austin, Texas, the school district is working with QTEL on a three-year plan to provide schoolwide professional development in two of the district's high schools. The full faculties of both schools participate in on-site professional development and QTEL professional learning communities. Sustained classroom coaching is being provided to selected teachers in each academic department.

Vertical Teams Feeder schools represent another district option, that of �vertical teams� of teachers from a set of feeder schools. Staff members from feeder elementary and middle schools, along with the receiving high school, participate in linked, grade-level-appropriate QTEL professional development. The vertical team approach builds a coherent instructional experience for a district's teachers and English language learners.

School Options

QTEL also works with individual schools. Such site-based professional development typically involves the full faculty in an intensive one- to three-year program. In addition to whole school training, classroom coaching of individual teachers is available.

Professional Development Certification

Districts and schools that undertake a three-year QTEL implementation have the option of designating local staff to train specifically to become QTEL professional developers, certified to sustain and expand local QTEL implementation. more»

Core Content

Building the Base

All QTEL support begins with a five-day institute that links theory and practice, helping participants "build the base" of understanding for successfully carrying out academically and linguistically rigorous work with students who are learning English as a second language. This foundational institute will help participants

develop knowledge of three levels of pedagogical support: macro-level curricular planning over time, meso-level academic and linguistic procedures used in particular activities, and micro-level collaborative processes for moment-to-moment interactions;
increase understanding of and skills in using six types of scaffolding: modeling, bridging, schema building, contextualization, text re-presentation, and metacognitive development; and
increase understanding of scaffolding disciplinary discourse by analyzing classroom exemplars in secondary language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science courses.

Disciplinary Literacy

The second stage of QTEL professional development involves working with teachers in five disciplinary groups: mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and beginning level ESL. The work is intended to

deepen understanding of substantive disciplinary concepts that need amplification for English language learners and identify generative disciplinary concepts that contribute to students' increasingly autonomous learning;
heighten awareness of the specific discourse used by each disciplinary community for expressing ideas and processes; and
refine pedagogical subject matter knowledge to effectively teach specific students — whether English language learners or native English speakers — at varying levels of academic and linguistic accomplishment.

Strengthening Change at the School Site

In a three-year QTEL sequence, the third year is an opportunity for teachers and administrators to consolidate their learning and focus on the school as the unit of change. During this year, with QTEL support, teachers and administrators

analyze how quality teaching is being offered to English language learners and other students at their site, identifying strengths to be capitalized on and roadblocks that need to be removed; and
implement and study ways of enhancing the education quality at the site.

Ongoing Implementation Support and Coaching

Throughout all QTEL implementation sequences, QTEL staff meet regularly with district and/or site leaders. In addition, QTEL staff members support site-based professional learning communities (PLCs) and provide classroom coaching. Coaching is available in all academic subject areas.

Professional Development Capacity Building

Districts and schools that undertake a three-year QTEL implementation have the option of building internal professional development capacity to sustain and promote QTEL implementation. more»