As this school year winds down, the DoDDS-Pacific/DESS-Guam Director’s Office is already busy planning and preparing for the start of SY 2005-06. During the week of May 23-27, 2005 , concurrent training took place in the Japan , Korea , and Okinawa districts to orient new Curriculum Implementation Facilitators (CIF) to their role for the next school year. This training included a “train the trainers” module for new and returning CIFs on professional development modules they will use with their staff when school begins in August.
CIFs are an integral component of our goal to broaden and enhance the base of school leadership in implementing standards-based instruction. Each school, depending on its size, has at least one CIF who can provide support to new teachers, collaborate with school improvement teams, and work closely with their administrators to assist teachers in helping students meet challenging academic standards.
Each year, training is provided ed to the CIFs to prepare them for their focus for the school year. In DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam we have made strides in implementing the use of the DoDEA content standards in Social Studies, English Language Arts, Math, and Science. During the May 23-27 training week, CIFs developed knowledge and skills in Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning. This training focused on helping teachers use the following best practices:
- Unpacking the Standards: Understand the importance of providing a clear and understandable vision of learning targets (standards) for students and develop skills in communicating these standards to students;
- Assessment for Student Learning: Examine and use strategies for assessment for and of learning to include the keys to quality assessments, descriptive feed back and student involvement;
- Learning Experiences: Connect learning experiences to research based best practices to ensure student learning; and,
- Teacher Goal Setting: Assess their teaching in terms of ensuring high student achievement.
During the teacher work days in August, CIFs will provide one day of training to their respective faculties in each of these modules. The goal is to ensure a consistent approach in our schools towards instruction and assessment.
I am excited about the continued use of the CIFs in our schools. They provide yet another avenue for school based staff development and provide teachers with opportunities to take leadership roles in their schools. I offer my sincere appreciation for the hard work and many contributions the CIFs have made and continue to make for our teachers and students.
Nancy
C. Bresell
Director, DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam
