Questar III BOCES was selected by the Education Alliance at Brown University to participate in a special, multi-year professional development program.
Questar III was one of only seven schools in the country selected to participate in the Collaboratory for Adolescent Literacy Leaders (CALL), a grant-funded program that develops literacy leadership in high school teams.
The goal of the program is to help content-area teachers (math, science, social studies and English language arts) integrate research-based literacy strategies into the subjects they teach and improve the achievement of their students.
Developing literacy leadership teams
A team from Questar III’s Sackett Educational Center in Schodack was selected to participate in the Brown University training.
The team includes Mary Bean (ELA), Joal Bova (social studies), Chris Carioto (math) and Chris Miller (science). Literacy Specialist Carmella Prusko will serve as the team leader along with Principal Kimberly Rockenstyre.
The Collaboratory will introduce the Questar III team to the Adolescent Literacy Support Framework, a resource developed by The Education Alliance that draws from research in cognitive psychology, linguistics, education, ELA, second language acquisition, and reading.
The program will consist of online and face–to–face:
- Training and workshops with literacy experts and seasoned practitioners in how to integrate literacy instruction into high school courses;
- collaboration among same–subject teachers and teachers across academic departments;
- support for the development of a Literacy Leadership Team at each participating school that is comprised of content–area teachers from different academic departments, the literacy specialist, and principal; and,
- training in leadership and coaching practices that supports extending literacy training to the whole faculty.
Promoting student achievement
Questar III Director of Special Education Robin Sobol looks forward to the partnership, which begins this month with webinars.
“I’m excited. This is not a traditional professional development course or workshop, but rather an ongoing conversation to support job-embedded professional development. We look forward to implementing research-based practices and supporting resources not only at Sackett, but across the organization,” said Sobol.
When the Collaboratory concludes, Bean, Bova, Carioto, Miller and Prusko will train a second team of literacy leaders—a requirement that pleased Sobol.
“As a BOCES, we are unique in that we have a limited number of students in each of our buildings. With the implementation of the Common Core Standards, we are committed to a team approach in helping our special education students achieve,” said Sobol.
Thanks to a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the CALL professional development program is being provided at no cost to Questar III. Questar III is responsible for expenses related to off-site trainings in Providence, RI and substitute coverage during these trainings.
Since 1975, The Education Alliance, a department at Brown University, has helped the education community improve America’s schools. The Alliance provides applied research, technical assistance, and informational resources to connect research and practice, build knowledge and skills, and meet critical needs in the field.
For more information on this program, please visit www.alliance.brown.edu/collaboratory.
