Get Ahead Writing’s Professional Development Models

Elements of Professional Development	Classroom-embedded “Sub-less” Model	Traditional Two-day Model	Training of Trainers for School Sites	District Professional Development
Elements of Professional Development	One grade level team participates	One grade level team attends	One school’s team of trainers attends	One district’s team of trainers attends
Theory	One hour whole staff meeting or grade level meeting § Standards § Four Components § Instructional Sequence § Differentiation of Instruction § Establishing Scoring Guide (included in the teachers’ writing books) § Classroom Integration (prompts included in the teachers’ writing books)	Training- Day 1 § Standards § Four Components § Instructional Sequence § Differentiation of Instruction § Establishing Scoring Guide § Classroom Integration	Training of Trainers Professional Development A two-day workshop for primary trainers and a two-day workshop for upper grade trainers	One hour meeting for all district personnel, administrators, and teachers (can be repeated or done at school sites) § Standards § Four Components § Instructional Sequence § Differentiation of Instruction Training of Trainers Professional Development A two-day workshop for primary trainers and a two-day workshop for upper grade trainers (each school in the district must have at least one primary trainer and one upper grade trainer)
Demonstration of practice	Demonstration- Day 1 In-class direct instruction demonstrations of the writing application standard (maximum of three teachers) § A demonstration guide is presented to each teacher so that he may easily follow what is happening in the instruction. § The classroom teacher may ask questions during the demonstration. Demonstration- Day 2 A repeat of Day 1 if there are more than three teachers in a grade level	Training- Day 1 In-class direct instruction demonstration of the writing application standard	One training per writing application standard Trainers in Training attend writing application professional development trainings to watch the Trainer of Record (staff developer) facilitate a session.	Selected trainers attend all trainings at the pilot/model school (for every 8 trainers in the district, there is one pilot/model school).
Practice	Coaching- Day 3 Coaching (teacher delivers instruction and the trainer is there to watch and provide support)	Coaching- Day 2 Coaching (teacher delivers instruction and the trainer is there to watch and provide support)	TBD by Trainer of Record Trainers in Training begin to take over elements of a training session while the Trainer of Record is there to provide support.	TBD by Trainer of Record Trainers in Training begin trainings at their school. A schedule will be created by Get Ahead Writing. The Trainer of Record (Get Ahead Writing personnel) attends.
Feedback	Feedback- Day 3 Debrief with teachers at the end of the day or on-line during the “Virtual Reflection” session (time to be established with teachers and coach)	Feedback- Day 2 Debrief with teachers at the end of the day or with a roving substitute	TBD by Trainer of Record Trainers in Training receive feedback from the Trainer of Record all throughout the day.	TBD by Trainer of Record Trainers in Training receive feedback from the Trainer of Record all throughout the day.
Coaching within the workplace	On-going Trainer returns to each teacher to provide continuous, individualized coaching	On-going Trainer returns to each teacher to provide continuous, individualized coaching	On-going The Trainer of Record is also available to speak with during the day by phone by email.	On-going The Trainer of Record is also available to speak with during the day by phone and by email.
Benefits of each model	The Classroom-embedded “Sub-less” Model is effective because it allows teachers to spend the maximum amount of time in their own classrooms. They have access to theory during the one-hour program overview meeting, they see an in-class demonstration, and they receive coaching. The feedback time is done virtually, and the scoring guide and prompts are accessible with the Writing Prompts Books for Teachers.	The Traditional Two-day Model is effective because it allows teachers time to get the theory, see an in-class demonstration, debrief with the demonstrator, collaboratively establish a scoring guide/rubric, and plan for classroom integration and the coaching day.	The Training of Trainers Model is best suited for schools which would like to have their own team of Get Ahead Writing trainers. This model is effective because it allows teachers to be trained at the pacing and format discretion of the school (the Two-Day Traditional model or the Classroom-embedded “Sub-less” model).	The District-wide Professional Development Model is customized by Get Ahead Writing to specifically meet the unique needs and expectations of the district. This model is effective because it allows for a consistency of instruction, expectations, and quality of training for all participating schools.
Requirements to Implement	Schools must purchase a Writing Prompts Book for Teachers for each teacher.	None	Any school using the Training of Trainers model must purchase a site license or spend the same amount on services.	Any district using the District-wide Implementation model must purchase a site license for each school.