Old County Road School Teachers To Train With The Teaching Studio

Old County Road School in Smithfield has been selected as one of five schools in Rhode Island to be part of an initiative to improve reading achievement with three years of free teacher trainining and materials at The Teaching Studio.

The Teaching Studio, the professional development consulting group of The Learning Community charter school, will work with up to 170 educators who reach more than 3,000 Rhode Island public school students.

These schools will receive training and materials over three years to advance student achievement in reading, including:

• Grade-level professional development sessions to support implementation of units of study
• ·Units of study in reading that are aligned to new national Common Core standards
• Quarterly consultant support in analyzing reading assessment data· Training for reading specialists on reading safety net support services
• An on-line resource center of units, lesson plans, teacher tools, video clips and discussion forums
• Support from a master scheduler to help align the school day to maximize instructional time
• $20,000 to each school in materials to support the work 

In addition, representatives from three other schools will have access to professional development and training materials to support an aligned, district-wide strategy in both communities: Anna McCabe, Raymond LaPerche, and William Windsor Elementary Schools. In its first year this work will engage up to 150 teachers and 23 reading specialists across 11 schools in grades K-5.

Partner schools were invited to apply for the initiative through an invitation issued to public schools throughout the state in the Spring of 2012. Training and facilitated planning sessions will begin in February 2013.

Robert O’Brien, Superintendent of the Smithfield Public Schools, said, “We applied for this grant because we were excited to get support in strengthening our reading workshop while aligning to the Common Core standards."

"This opportunity to collaborate with other schools and teachers will benefit the students in Smithfield. This award is a great acknowledgement of the incredible teachers working hard in our classrooms every day. We can’t wait to begin,” O'Brien said.

 The program is supported by an $1.8 million investment from the Rhode Island Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation. Schools have made an initial three year commitment to the initiative, but the project may have a longer time frame.