LOWER SCHOOL
Striving for Excellence Together Collective Teacher Efficacy at CPA Lower School
The 2021-22 school year at CPA Lower School held moments of transformation for students , faculty , staff , and families . Fullscale community events returned to campus enhancing student learning — the Passing of the Scrolls for new kindergartners and graduating seniors , the Third Grade Living History Museum , Fifth Grade Nature ’ s Classroom , Second Grade ’ s Annual Flowering of the Cross at Easter , Kindergarten Penguin Day , and experiential learning at Reformation Day to name a few .
This academic year also saw exciting progress as the lower school grew in its capacity as a Professional Learning Community . Lower school instructors worked towards the goal of creating and analyzing results from common formative assessments in each grade level and subject area . Common formative assessments are team-designed , intentional measures used to monitor student mastery level of essential learning targets . For the first year ever , teachers participated in vertically-aligned instructional rounds to observe instruction and common formative assessments led by fellow teachers . Instructional rounds are a new endeavor with the goal of deepening collective teacher efficacy in both instruction and assessment .
The administrative team is led by Head of Lower School Chris Harris and includes assistant heads Amy Webster ( academics ) and Ann Pack ( student life ). This team worked with Instructional Coach Andrea Malloy to pilot intentional , structured peer observation with teachers at each grade level . Modeled after the concept of a medical round , teachers opened their classrooms to colleagues touring through observing everything from classroom management and student support to applied worldview and learning extension .
This particular method of instructional rounding is informed by research coming from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and centers around evidence-based observation , i . e ., “ What do you see and hear happening in the learning space ?”
“ We are excited about growing as educators , striving for excellence in every area of student learning in the lower school . Piloting this program has taken considerable focus and also required a good deal of transparency and trust among faculty as they open up their spaces for peer observation . Rather than this being evaluative , we are reinforcing a culture of collaboration and collective efficacy . Teachers are most effective in a teachable mindset ,” says LS Instructional Coach Andrea Malloy .
Malloy sets up groups of teachers vertically aligned ( K-5 ) from all grades , as each grade provides building blocks throughout a student ’ s journey in lower school . First grade teachers observe math concepts taught in kindergarten . Second grade teachers observe reading comprehension taught in first grade . The channel of vertical observation flows both up and
22 PURPLE & GOLD FALL 2022