A teacher from Hope described the institute’s usefulness:
“It has a clear purpose, and goes hand-in-hand with teaching and learning. I could come back to my school and confidently share it with the staff.”
At this stage, the school also began its relationship with its SSA partner, the Michigan Coalition of Essential Schools. The school team and the SSA partner began a series of workshops involving the entire staff and school and community on internal and external review, including focusing on goals, reviewing student work, observing classrooms, developing a collective perspective, and framing questions for reflection.
At the end of the schoolwide training workshops, Hope posted its goals all over the school. Teachers began to review their practices in the classroom through the lens offered by these goals. Some immediate steps that staff took to make their school a more nurturing environment were, “speaking less harshly to students” and “finding a way to guide kids without discouraging them.” To focus on the school’s literacy goal, teachers helped students improve their writing and speaking skills by creating a “walking museum” to celebrate Black History Month.
The school’s preparation for review fostered collaboration among the staff as they broke into teams and began preparing a school profile, compiling student work, and coordinating arrangements for the external team’s visit. It also sharpened the staff’s sense of where their school was relative to the goals. The preparatory activities for external review greatly enhanced the momentum of self-assessment at Hope.
