NMI teachers take part in Pacific CHILD study

The Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific, administered by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, is conducting a study focusing on literacy development for English language learners in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii.

The program, called Pacific Communities with High-performance In Literacy Development (Pacific CHILD) is a rigorous regional research study of a principles-based professional development program.

The program includes annual institutes conducted for participating project teachers. The purpose of the annual institutes is to introduce teachers to various research-based strategies for effectively teaching and learning reading comprehension, which teachers will use throughout the two-year research study. The institute is designed so that topics introduced in the first year are revisited and extended in the second year in order to consolidate learning. The CNMI is in its second year of participation in the study.

On June 9–20, 2008, 13 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers from Dandan Elementary School, Koblerville Elementary School, Kagman Elementary School, and William S. Reyes Elementary School participated in the Pacific CHILD annual institute 2. In its second year, the annual institute focused on deepening teachers’ knowledge and skills in teaching reading comprehension for all students—especially English language learners—and improving student achievement in reading. REL-P Program Specialists Susan Hanson, Evelyn Ooka, and Josi Jones-Lizama conducted this second Pacific CHILD annual institute in the CNMI.

The first week of the institute began with a brief overview of the Pacific CHILD study. The program specialists then delved into deepening the teachers’ knowledge, which included techniques for teaching vocabulary, comprehension strategies, and pedagogy. Participants learned about research supporting effective teaching and learning in reading comprehension, observed demonstrations, and had the opportunity to practice the techniques.

During the second week, the program specialists focused on classroom lesson demonstrations with 45 fifth-grade students, 15 in each class. According to research about how teachers learn, opportunities for teachers to discuss instructional strategies and techniques together assist their ability to plan and implement lessons more effectively. Therefore, following the demonstrations, the specialists and teachers would debrief to share their thoughts on the lesson. Participating teachers also taught with specific reading components and focused instructional formats each day, after lesson demonstrations by the program specialists. These lessons were observed by the program specialists, who would then hold debriefs with the teachers. Teachers spent the afternoons of the institute working in collaborative groups called Cooperative Lesson Planning groups, where program specialists provided more information, activities, and guidance for teachers as they prepared their lessons for the following day. Each CLP group had four to five members, one or two from each of the above mentioned schools. Additionally, the teachers were able to meet in their peer groups to share insights from their CLP group.

The intense two-week annual institute ended with an award ceremony, honoring each fifth-grade student and teacher with a certificate of participation. As one teacher commented, “It’s the best professional development I’ve ever attended in my years as a teacher for the public school system.” [B][I](PREL)[/I][/B]