Teacher residency program named finalist for Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charleston County School District’s (CCSD) Summer Teacher
Residency program is one of three finalists for the 2018 Dick and Tunky Riley
WhatWorksSC™ Award. The annual award, presented by the Riley Institute and
South Carolina Future Minds, celebrates promising education initiatives for
improving the lives of students across South Carolina.

The District’s Summer Teacher Residency is a program designed to recruit and
retain highly effective teachers in high-needs schools.

“Summer Residency gives both master and emerging educators an opportunity to
build relationships that last beyond the summer, gain instructional knowledge, and
reflect on best teaching practices in a positive and supportive environment,” said
Kirsten Williman a Master Teacher at Chicora Elementary School.

A committee of corporate leaders and education experts selected finalists from
more than 100 entries in the Riley Institute’s WhatWorksSC Clearinghouse – a
repository of resources that includes policy papers written by state leaders, case
studies, and initiatives that explore and exemplify key strategies for improving
South Carolina’s public schools.

As a finalist, CCSD’s Summer Residency will receive a small cash award and will be
recognized at the WhatWorksSC celebration luncheon on Tuesday, October 30,
2018 at 12:30 p.m. at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

The winner of the award will be announced at the celebration by former Governor
of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Dick Riley. The award
is named for Secretary Riley and his late wife, Ann “Tunky” Riley, a dedicated
teacher and passionate advocate for quality public education.

CCSD implemented Summer Residency in June 2017 to provide targeted and
enhanced professional learning for novice teachers,  promote teacher leadership
for master practitioners, andcontinue student learning through the summer.
This learning lab paired experienced teachers from schools throughout the
district with teachers who were about to start or recently started teaching in high-needs
schools.

“The real crux of the residency program is that we are focusing on teachers and
teacher leaders as a means to promote professional growth,” explained Kevin
Eakes, who helped lead the program in its first two years of existence and is now
at the College of Charleston’s School of Education, Health, & Human Performance.
“The master teachers collaborated with novice teachers to find creative ways to
make learning come alive for the students and still teach the same skills all
students have to learn.

“A key benefit of the program is that of course emerging educators grow, but it
provides an opportunity for master teachers to hone their craft.”

Each morning, teaching teams co-taught with a focus on culturally responsive
instructional practices and innovative learning approaches that include adaptive
and personalized digital content. In the afternoon, students participated in
enrichment activities through CCSD’s EPIC Program in partnership with Charleston
Promise Neighborhood, allowing teacher teams to plan and reflect on the day’s
outcomes. These teachers collaboratively developed and implemented a summer
learning program for K-5 students at high-poverty schools.

Seventy-five students from Sanders-Clyde Elementary School participated in the
first year; this past summer, a combined 120 students from Chicora Elementary
School and Mary Ford Elementary School were involved in the program.

CCSD’s Office of Nutrition Services also partnered to provide their Seamless
Summer Feeding Program to the students, offering breakfast, lunch and two snacks every day.

Betty McKenzie, a master teacher at Carolina Park Elementary, said that in her
more than 25 years in education, programs meeting the needs of children, novice
teachers, and mentor teachers have not really existed.

“Previous programs have focused on the needs of children and not
teachers. Teacher residency addresses student and teacher needs. Teacher
residency provides children with quality instruction in a small group setting with
two teachers. All adults involved in the program are motivated to be involved with
the children. Novice teachers have the opportunity to put practice and practical
knowledge to work,” she said.

McKenzie added that novice teachers have access to a wide variety of mentor
teachers with different skill sets to share. The variety of skills every teacher brings
to the program builds up not just novice teachers, but mentors as well. Teachers
from across the district work together to build a shared sense of purpose and understanding in our diverse county.“

At the end of summer residency, I left with a renewed hope for the younger
generation of teachers due to their enthusiasm, skills, love of children and their
desire to learn,” explained McKenzie. “The small class size allowed for effective,
targeted instruction for children. I can honestly say that I consider the teacher
residency program to be the best professional learning experience of my career.”

As part of the program, teachers worked to promote a culturally responsive
instructional practice that encouraged student agency, provide opportunities for
professional learning for teachers to support recruitment and retention, to build
capacity to differentiate learning across the district for educators and students, and
to accelerate student achievement.

“I have never seen first-year teachers at Chicora be as successful and confident as
those who participated in the Residency Program over the summer,” said Elizabeth
Blackman, a master teacher at Chicora Elementary School.

The program was highly effective in increasing student achievement; it gave
novice teachers the tools, strategies, and habits of mind for challenges in high
needs schools; and provided leadership and mentoring opportunities for our
district’s highly effective master teachers.

Eakes said that the days consisted of co-teaching and then intimate deep dives
into the successes, challenges and many creative question and answer sessions.
“I am delighted to honor and celebrate the effectiveness of these passionate
individuals and their programs,” stated Secretary Riley. “The finalists this year
show that there are dedicated individuals working every day to improve the lives of
students in South Carolina.”

“The teacher residency is an incredible opportunity because it connects novice teachers with a network of highly experienced, qualified, and happy to share master teachers,” explained Caroline Taylor, an emerging educator at Mary Ford Elementary School. “This has been an invaluable resource and experience for me
and the most useful professional development I have ever experienced.”

The following CCSD Master Teachers have participated in the Summer
Teacher Residency program:
Kate O’Leary
Shannon McAllister
Christina Caputo
Kristen Williman
Meagan Corrigan
Miriam Hood-Riley
Brittany Hahn
Samantha Blake
Delores Moultrie