Latin School of Chicago

22 "We care about what students think, we value what they feel in their classrooms, and we respond to their feedback," said Greer. "e grant helps us do that." Additionally, there is also an ongoing project in the middle school to analyze standardized test scores to detect patterns in instruction and learning across grade levels and subject areas. e results of this quantitative work will drive the kind of professional development that the school offers teachers and will inform the curricular changes teachers make to best serve their students. Among initiatives that the grant is funding are a new early literacy program, teacher training for the rollout of Singapore Math in the lower school and the use of nationally normed student assessments in global language courses. In the initial phase of the grant, faculty, administrators also have been working together to provide teachers with a clear set of expectations and goals for excellence. To that end, they are developing a definition of what excellent teaching means at Latin and a list of skills and knowledge with which the school wants every student to graduate. Another key to teacher growth and development is feedback and mentoring. In response to faculty focus groups conducted last year, the teacher evaluation and observation processes are being refined and enhanced. is fall, Latin became one of a select group of schools throughout the country to use Folio, professional growth and development software that will make the evaluation process more transparent, provide a system to set strategic and thoughtful goals for each teacher, and track follow-through. e school also unveiled a more formalized mentoring program to support first- and second-year teachers at Latin. "is grant is providing Latin with an opportunity to be the gold standard for teacher development and growth among independent schools," said Greer. e potential impact is far-reaching, starting with the school's ability to hire and retain the best teachers in the country. In the end, however, it is all about the student experience. "By supporting our teachers, we are empowering them to respond to student needs and interests by developing curriculum and a set of teaching practices that make students passionate and engaged learners." Embracing Singapore Math In Carrie Smey's class, the second graders are studying double-digit addition and subtraction in math. eir white boards are out and place value chips are at hand as they work to solve a problem that Smey has written on the board. ey have had no previous instruction about the math topic and are asked to consider if they have any strategies that can help them find the answer. is exercise is called an anchor task and is the way every class using the Singapore Math program begins. e idea is to give students a chance to explore the topic on their own before they receive guidance. e task is followed by other lesson components designed to help students master the concept – teacher instruction, group discussion, working with a partner, journaling so that students can explain their thinking and, finally, independent practice. Concrete and visual tools allow all students to access the math. is clearly articulated approach to math instruction is what is making Latin's second grade teachers so excited about the adoption of Singapore Math in their grade. "It is amazing to see the depth of knowledge that the kids develop by using different strategies that make sense to them," said teacher Annie Johnson. e second grade team has been the first to adopt Singapore Math as the school's new math curriculum. Next fall the first and third grades will make the shift, and the year after that, the fourth grade will also be using it. (ere is no official kindergarten in Singapore.) e middle school will come on board when the current second graders enter fifth grade. A division wide change in curriculum is no small task, but to lower school math lab teacher Daley Chan, research, site visits and preparation have shown that Singapore Math can best serve the needs of students and faculty. "According to our ERB (Education Records Bureau) math scores, our students are doing well in relation to peer institutions, but we wanted to move them even further," said Chan, who co-chaired the lower school math curriculum review committee with lower school math enrichment teacher Karen Sweeney. Teachers were initially intrigued by the curriculum's proven success. Singapore, which after independence was essentially a developing country with a fledgling educational system, re-wrote its math curriculum in the 1980s and shot to the top on international math tests. For example, on the 2011 Trends in International Math and We care about what students think, we value what they feel in their classrooms, and we respond to their feedback. The grant helps us do that." – Kirk Greer, Latin's upper school History Department chair and administrator of the Teacher Excellence Grant

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