New Haven, CT

Essentials of Effective Instruction at Amistad Academy Middle School /

mistad Academy Middle School, Principal: Matt Taylor founded in 1999, serves School schedule: 7:30am5:00pm students from some of Early release: 7:30am1:00pm (Fri.) New Havens poorest Additional time compared to neighborhoods, who frequently enter the surrounding district: 180 min/day school achieving well Student Population below grade level. Yet Grades served: 58 each year, Amistad students consistently Number of students: 295 outperform students from Qualify for free/reduced lunch: 77% both the surrounding Students Scoring At or Above Proficient district schools and the state on the Connecticut on the Connecticut Mastery Test in 2010 Mastery Test in English (difference compared to surrounding language arts and math. district) Based on Amistads ELA: 78% (+14%) success, school leaders Math: 93% (+22%) created Achievement First (AF), a network of 19 charter schools in Connecticut and New York that have replicated the Amistad model. Early in the schools development, leaders at Amistad Academy realized that building a cadre of excellent teachers was paramount to meeting their goals of closing the achievement gap and preparing the schools mostly low-income student body for success in college and beyond. To this end, leaders honed in on the instructional practices they believed were essential components of effective instruction. This list of

Amistad Academy Middle School

key practices has been expanded and refined and is now referred to across the AF network as the Essentials of Effective Instruction. The Essentials encompass 24 elements, organized into 10 categories, and define what high-quality instruction should look like at AF schools. Along with the Essentials, a system of instructional coaching was created to support teacher development. Each teacher is assigned an instructional coach. The coaching team is made up of the schools academic deans, the principal, and a few master teachers, all of whom teach at least one class. One of Achievement Firsts values is that everyone, including the principal, has a foot in the classroom, says Matt Taylor, the school leader at Amistad Academy. Each teacher is observed by their coach every week, using the Essentials to guide the observation. The coach then meets with the teacher during his/ her planning period to exchange feedback, and the pair work collaboratively to determine what element of the Essentials needs improvement and the specific strategies that will be used to strengthen instruction in this area. Once a plan has been created, the coach observes the teacher in the classroom and the coach and teacher meet again to debrief and assess the teachers mastery of the strategies. As the teacher makes progress the plan is further modified to focus on a different element of the 10 Essentials. The coaching program that we have makes people feel extremely satisfied with their work, explains School Leader Taylor. They feel like theyre growing because of the level of coaching theyre getting. To ensure coaching is highly effective it is supported at both the network and school level. Achievement First provides two to three days of training for coaches each year. During the training coaches learn how to use the Essentials to guide their observations and provide feedback. At the school level, the principal acts as the coach of coaches. The principal participates in co-observations with coaches and meets with them regularly to discuss the progress teachers are making and how their coaching can be improved. According to Taylor, the principal of Amistad Academy, This rigorous system and the clear expectations we have regarding the practices we want to see in each classroom has really contributed to our students academic success.

Achievement First: Essentials of Effective Instruction

1. Great AIMS 2. Exit Ticket/Assessment of Student Mastery of the AIMS 3. Most Effective and Efficient Strategies to Teach the AIMS 4. Modeling/Guided Practice (I/We or We) 5. Sustained, Successful, Independent Practice (You) 6. Classroom Culture 7. Student Engagement 8. Academic Rigor 9. Cumulative Review 10. Differentiation
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