At KIPP DC, the intentional development, support, and care of our teachers is a critical priority. We
believe that, just like our students, all teachers can learn and grow, and that it is our responsibility to help nurture our teachers’ success. A strong adult culture, consistent coaching, and targeted professional development sessions rooted in anti-racist practices are the hallmark of these efforts.
We strive to build communities where individuals are known, valued, and recognized. Strong relationships, trust, and teamwork are fostered amongst community members.
A coach, leader, or teacher leader observes the teacher and follows up with a meeting or conversation about the observation. A coach could also conduct several short observations to gather data or trends before having a follow-up. Both coach and teacher have the Vision for Teaching Excellence in mind as the bar towards which they are working.
A meeting with the teacher’s leader and/or coach about their professional goals, teaching performance, student data, classroom management, student behavior, other school-related duties, or anything the teacher and coach think is important to the students’ and teacher’s success.
The filming and viewing of a teacher delivering a lesson or students learning in order to watch the video and analyze it in support of coaching goals.
This meeting is used to develop teachers’ content knowledge, internalize upcoming lessons, answer questions about content and delivery, model teach, practice, reflect on data, and learn from each other’s strengths. These meetings can be individual or with a team of teachers.
A meeting with a school leader, coach, or peers to review and analyze data and establish next steps.
The modeling of classroom management or lesson delivery strategies by a school leader or coach and/or “whisper coaching” as a teacher is delivering a lesson or working with a student.
The Equity Fellowship is a year-long opportunity for school and headquarters staff to come together to learn and grow in diversity, equity, and inclusion practices by participating in monthly learning sessions and training.
This is a teacher observation of a peer to learn from other’s expertise. This can involve a pre-meeting with the coach/leader to set the purpose of the peer observation, and a post-meeting to debrief.
Sessions, led by regional or school-based teams, that are aligned with the goals of the school, the current school data, or the learning needs of teachers.
Learning opportunities for individual teachers, possibly sought out on their own, based on their current growth goals. This may be access to resources like books or attendance at conferences.
Pacing calendars, unit plans, lesson plans, resources and assessments aligned to content standards provided by regional coaches.
Regional and school-based sessions that are aligned with regional goals, new initiatives, and/or school-based goals. These sessions can be delivered by regional teams or external providers.
Strategic regional or school-based development sessions used for developing teacher practice and data analysis, followed by individual wellness time for teachers.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion learning is a key component of our staff’s experience and the work we do for our students and families. Staff regularly engage throughout the year in professional development and learning on diversity, equity, and inclusion topics through designated Development and Wellness days, summer professional development, and other opportunities throughout the year to ensure we continue to promote anti-racist and anti-bias practices across our organization.
Teams of teachers, facilitated by a regional team member or teacher leader, meeting in order to grow their skill set in a particular area.
Teachers coming together with other teacher leaders to work in a specific area of development and/or contribute their skills and insights to the larger KIPP DC Community.
Capital Teaching Residents and Special Education Fellows pursuing their state licensure through intensive professional development and training programs.
Extra professional development sessions and learning communities provided to new teachers to meet their needs.
KIPP DC supports mental health practitioners and related service providers to maintain their licensure. Annually, we allocate funds to pay for approved external continuing education credits (CEUs) for roles on the student support team that require licensure. In addition, we provide in-house professional development opportunities for individuals to earn CEUs and grow professionally. Past examples of in-house CEU workshops include Learning Styles and Intervention Strategies for Children with Autism, Tier 1 Mental Health: Mental Health for All and Diving Deep into Social Emotional Learning Curriculum, and Making the Connection Between Play Therapy and Treatment Goals in the School Setting.
