March 20, 2009 – St. Croix District teachers and coaches of grades four, seven and nine will receive long-term professional development, according to Dr. Sarah Mahurt, district director for Curriculum, Assessment, and Technology (CAT). She said the professional development activities are based on the principle of continuous improvement and is planned for teachers in all content areas as part of the district focus, "student achievement is everything".
"These particular grades and the following topics were chosen based on data analysis of current student needs. Every teacher in grades 4, 7, and 9 is expected to implement the strategies being taught via these sessions. As a result, participants will learn and prepare lessons they can implement. School administrators are, of course, encouraged to participate in all sessions. Subject area coordinators will be monitoring the use of these strategies throughout the remainder of the school year," Mahurt said.
The scheduled sessions will be held from 3:30-6 p.m. on the following dates:
Grade 4
March 24 – Alfredo Andrews School
April 21- Curriculum Center
May 5 – Curriculum Center
May 19 – Curriculum Center-
June 2 – Curriculum Center
Grades 7 and 9
April 7 – Curriculum Center
April 14 – Curriculum Center
May 12 – Curriculum Center
May 26 – Curriculum Center
June 9 – Curriculum Center
Selected topics for the sessions will include: Using assessment to guide instruction; Reading and writing in the content areas; Comprehending strategies; Explicit teaching of skills and strategies; Test-taking as a genre; Effective teaching of mathematics and Teacher content knowledge in mathematics.
