Catherine A. Rosemary

Accountability by Design in Literacy Professional Development

High-quality professional development is essential in supporting accomplished teaching. But how is the efficacy of professional development evaluated? The authors present several methods for conducting a critical analysis of professional development. Using a large-scale professional development initiative as the focal point, they first explain six widely cited principles of high-quality professional development and show evidence of them in the initiative#146s design and structure. Second, they report findings from pre- and postsurveys of participants over three years, which showed statistically significant positive differences in teacher understanding of literacy concepts. Third, the authors present a vignette to illustrate how one coaching tool used in the project supports teachers in making instructional shifts based on student learning. The authors suggest that those who offer professional development for teachers should evaluate their programs through accepted principles of design. They conclude with additional questions related to meaningful, robust accountability systems for professional development.

Making Instructional Decisions Based on Data: What, How, and Why

A carefully coordinated literacy assessment and instruction framework implemented school-wide can support school teams in making sense of various types of data for instructional planning. Instruction that is data based and goal driven sets the stage for continuous reading and writing improvement.

Developing literacy concepts in young children: An instructional framework to guide early literacy teaching

Abstract With more children spending the greater part of their waking hours in preschool settings today than they did years ago, teachers play an even more critical role in providing daily literacy experiences that many children of earlier generations received at home. The article focuses on the critical role that preschool teachers play in supporting childrens early literacy development and presents an instructional framework to help guide early literacy teaching. The framework is based on Vygotskys learning theory, which emphasizes the nature and importance of social interactions in instruction, particularly between adult and child. We present activity‐embedded assessments that preschool teachers can use to observe and document childrens emerging literacy concepts and skills, and describe key teaching actions that scaffold learning of new concepts. In closing, we offer five principles to guide preschool teachers in planning and implementing appropriate activities to promote young childrens literacy development. Sample documentation forms are included in the appendices.