Action Plan for Educational Change in Reading

Please view the following Action Plan for a sample school year plan which involves educators deepening their understanding and collaborating with their colleagues with their comprehensive literacy programs. Educators will engage in new learning through the collaborative inquiry process and share their learning journeys at the end of the school year.  Date: September 2018 - June 2019 School Year
Goal: Educators will engage in their own collaborative inquiry exploring an area of the comprehensive literacy program (e.g., modelled reading, shared reading, independent reading, guided reading) that they are going to commit to deep learning in this area and improve their instructional program. Educators will identify their learning area of need at the beginning of the school year and choose to collaborate with educators with similar learning goals.
Action Steps	Timing
With the assistance of an instructional coach, administrators engage their staff in a discussion surrounding comprehensive literacy. Staff look at a definition of the term and discuss amongst their table groups. Comprehensive literacy instruction is at its core responsive teaching and assessment. It means we are always teaching for understanding, continuously checking for understanding and adjusting instruction as needed. It is grounded in the principles of the gradual release of responsibility developed by Pearson and Gallagher (1983). These principles include modelling, guided, shared practice and transfer of learning to independent work. Staff will be told they will have the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and they can choose an area of comprehensive literacy that they would like to delve deeper this school year. To support their decision making, staff will break off and use the Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading and the EduGAINS websites to explore the areas of Modelled Reading, Guided Reading, Shared Reading and Independent Reading.  Staff will be directed to the learning modules section of the EduGAINS website to explore independently or with a group: http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/literacy/classroomlearningK_6/Reading.html.	September 2018: Professional Development Day
Staff will be introduced to the Collaborative Inquiry Model. Administrators will share their own journey with the collaborative inquiry model as an example.  By the end of the staff meeting, staff will commit to a learning area of need in regards to comprehensive literacy.	October 2018: Staff Meeting
Depending on the area of need that the staff chose, release times will be given to educators and grouped into the comprehensive literacy focus that was selected.  An instructional coach, reading specialist, administrators and educators will attend sessions on the following areas… GUIDED - One session -explore learning with colleagues in a collaborative environment -explore new information surrounding this topic	November 2018:  Release time for Educators
Modelled - One session -explore learning with colleagues in a collaborative environment -explore new information surrounding this topic
Shared Reading - One session -explore learning with colleagues in a collaborative environment -explore new information surrounding this topic
Independent - One session -explore learning with colleagues in a collaborative environment -explore new information surrounding this topic
Staff are given an opportunity to start filling out their Collaborative Inquiry Template and focus on the PLAN stage. They can choose to collaborate with educators who have the same learning need or choose to work independently. Educators are asked to identify their learning space so that administrators can pop by and support the learning process.	December 2018: Staff Meeting
Staff are given an opportunity to start filling out their Collaborative Inquiry Template and focus on the ACT stage. They can choose to collaborate with educators who have the same learning need or choose to work independently. Educators can support one another by asking questions and sharing their action plan with educators that have a similar focus (e.g., guided reading). Educators are creating an action plan with their learning need and committing to taking a risk and implementing something new in their classrooms. Administrators are visiting each team or individual and asking questions to support the learning journey.	January 2019: Staff Meeting (25mins)
Instructional coach and Reading specialist are invited back to facilitate learning in the four areas of the comprehensive literacy program. Professional resources are being shared for educators to view and explore.  Modelled Reading: Professional Resources Brailsford, A. & Stead, T. (2007). Literacy place for the early years Brailsford, A. & Stead, T. (2007). Moving up with literacy place: Grades 4-6 Program and Planning Guide.  Gear, A. (2006). Reading power: Teaching students to think while they read.  Laminack, L. (2009). Unwrapping the read aloud: Making every read aloud intentional and instructional. Shared Reading: Professional Resources daCruz-Payne, C. (2005). Shared reading for today’s classroom: Lessons and strategies for explicit instruction in comprehension, fluency, word study and genre Daunis, S. & Iams, M. (2007). Text savvy: Using a shared reading framework to build comprehension, grades 3-6. Guided Reading: Professional Resources Fountas, I. C. & Pinnell, G. S. (2016). Guided reading, second edition: Responsive teaching across the grades. Richardson, J. (2009). The next step in guided reading: Focused assessments and targeted lessons for helping every student become a better reader. Serravallo, J. (2010). Teaching reading in small groups: Differentiated instruction for building strategic independent readers. Independent Reading: Professional Resources Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers.	February 2019: Professional Development Day
Follow up from learning with the professional resources chosen by the educators. Educators can gather in their team of educators that have the same learning focus. They have an opportunity to share the professional resource they have decided to explore and share any insights with the team. Educators are then given time to add content to their Collaborative Inquiry and start writing down observations in the OBSERVE stage of the CI.	March 2019: Staff Meeting (25mins)
Educators are asked to bring student work and data to the table as they meet with administrators, instructional coaches, reading specialist and fellow educators to continue working on the collaborative inquiry process. Educators have the opportunity to share how their new learning has had an impact on student learning and what evidence they have to support the learning. Educators will also share instructional practices and some issues they are having. Working as a team, educators will work together to solve some of the issues of practice. Educators will be given the time to continue to update the CI template and think about the REFLECT section of the CI if they have not done so already. Educators will reflect on the following questions and record their answers on their CI template. What reading data was collected that reflects changes in student learning/engagement? Based on the data/evidence collected, to what extent has the student need been met?  What professional learning in literacy has helped the most? What more needs to be learned?	April 2019: Professional Development Day
Educators were asked in advance to share their learning journeys at the May Staff Meeting. Groups of Educators that represent all areas of the comprehensive literacy program share their Collaborative Inquiry cycle that they engaged in this school year. They share their successes and challenges and the outcomes of working through the cycle. As well, they highlight what new practices worked well and what did not. They will share how this new learning had an impact on their classroom literacy program moving forward. Educators will hear from all the different areas of focus and hopefully this will spark new ideas for their own program and continue to learn from one another.	May 2019: Staff Meeting
Celebration of learning:  To wrap up the school year, the administrators share the successes of the collaborative inquiries that took place within the school. They congratulate the staff on their hard work and commitment to professional growth and student learning. Educators feel appreciated and that their hard work and commitment to professional growth was recognized. Educators are welcome to ask one another questions about their journey and start to think about their continued commitment to new learning areas for September. Educators give feedback on the collaborative inquiry process and provide suggestions for next school year through an EXIT card.	June 2019: Staff Meeting