Frequently Asked Questions About Hall School's Literacy Collaborative

What is the Literacy Collaborative?

The Literacy Collaborative is a classroom-based comprehensive program designed to increase literacy achievement for all students.  Through long-term professional development, coupled with careful implementation standards within each school, the LC provides systemic support to classroom teachers as they either take on new and/or refine their current research-based approaches.

The goal of this comprehensive effort is to significantly raise literacy achievement.  The language and literacy framework used to guide instruction, provides an organized combination of experiences, each of which contributes uniquely to children's literacy development.  At Hall School the Collaborative is being implemented in many intermediate grades.

Can any school be a Literacy Collaborative?

No. A limited number of schools have been accepted nationally and a few of these are in Maine. Two other Portland elementary schools are part of the Collaborative.

What is included in the Literacy Collaborative?

The Literacy Collaborative includes:

•The latest research and theory regarding how children learn.  Teachers systematically observe students and use their knowledge to inform instruction and classroom practice.

•An Instructional Framework in which students learn literacy skills during reading and writing experiences that include language and word study, reading workshop, and writing workshop.

•Flexible Groupings.  Teachers work with both heterogeneous and homogeneous groups of students depending on the teacher's instructional purpose.  When it is appropriate, for example, during reading aloud or writing workshop, teachers work with the entire class.  At other times they meet with small groups or individual students.

•Home School Connections.  Grade 3-5 students extend their literacy learning at home through independent reading and writing.

•An ongoing university partnership––during the first two years, Hall's link was with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In year three Hall is joining the University of Maine.

•Hall School Literacy Team for grades 3-5.

•School based professional development.

What aspects of the Collaborative initially interested the Hall School staff?

Originally the Hall Staff decided to explore the Collaborative because of:

•the Literacy Collaborative's national recognition as a cutting edge literacy approach.

• the Literacy Collaborative data, which revealed a strong pattern of increasing test results across multiple measures, including, standardized tests.

• the organization of the framework, which included many of the best teaching practice techniques already in use by Hall teachers.

•Hall has been focused as an entire staff on literacy for the past several years. The Literacy Collaborative seems a natural next step.
 

Is the Literacy Collaborative a traditional Literacy/Language Arts program?

No. It is a progressive approach utilizing up-to-date research on teaching and learning. 

Is the Literacy Collaborative framework most effective for high achieving students?

While the framework is successful with high achieving students, research supports success with a wide range of learners. 

 
Is there a home/school connection related to the Literacy Collaborative?

Yes.  There is a continuing connection shared during student/parent/teacher conferences and an annual literacy night.

How is the Literacy Collaborative organized within Hall School?

The LC is organized around a number of interrelated elements:

•Classroom teachers in the LC use a comprehensive framework for literacy development that includes a wide range of reading and writing contexts.

*Professional development is available at Hall and offered through a combination of class sessions, individual assistance, and coaching.

•A school leadership team guides the process.

•Literacy Coordinator, Bonnie Pulsifer, facilitates the professional development course, provides in-class assistance, and teaches children in a classroom.

•Classroom teachers new to the framework initially receive intensive training.

•After the initial training, classroom teachers participate in a variety of ongoing professional development opportunities.

•The book room houses a leveled collection of books organized according to a gradient of difficulty.

What is involved for Classroom Teachers in Literacy Collaborative?

•Implement the language and literacy framework.

•Regularly collect assessment data on student progress.

•Participate in an initial course that involves forty hours of classes, usually held outside the school day and scheduled over one year.

•Continue to participate in ongoing professional development and other study opportunities after the course has been completed.

•Discuss with Literacy Coordinator and their colleagues about their teaching on a continuing basis.

•Videotape and analyze their teaching as they become more familiar with the approach.

• Engage in ongoing individual learning as the need and opportunity arise.

How is the university involved?

The university provides extensive staff development beginning with the Literacy Coordinator and followed by Literacy Teams at both the school and university sites.  Becoming a Literacy Collaborative school is a long-term process and a continued partnership is essential. 
During the first two foundation years, Lesley University guided Hall's literacy work. The University of Maine is now assuming that role.

Who developed the “Literacy Collaborative Framework?”

A Professor in the School of Education at Lesley University, Dr. Irene Fountas. She is a nationally acclaimed literacy expert who worked with Hall Staff during the first two years of the Literacy Collaborative.  Her responsibilities include directing research-based literacy projects.  Dr. Fountas has co-authored numerous books with Dr. Gay Pinnell.  Their publications are used daily by classroom teachers across the country and also right here at Hall School.   

What do Hall teachers who are involved with the Collaborative say about their involvement?

"Fits all grade levels"                  
   
"Reading workshop is so productive" 

"There is a flow through format rather than broken up into units" 

"Kids like books more" 

"Students are always making connections not just during a lesson" 

"The lessons are short, so the students are reading more and there is more time for reading" 

"It was really a refining of my teaching practice"

"A genuine success for my students because it is so tailored to each child"

"My students are reading more critically across the curriculum"

"I started out so worried about the schedule––I relaxed and now we just work at our own individual pace" 

"As colleagues we all share some of the pieces of the puzzle" 

"Direct instruction is more purposeful" 

"The journal letters seem to pull it all together " 

"The conferences and sharing time all provide focus and learning for students"

"Students are working on expressing their thinking verbally, as well as, in their journal" 

"Now I am not just finding out if my students can give me back what is in the book but if they understand the craft of reading"

Why is there a Literacy Team guiding this work at Hall School?

A Literacy Team is one of the essential components of a Literacy Collaborative. Hall's Literacy Team provides ongoing leadership and support for the implementation. 
 
It takes many dedicated people working together within the school to ensure that literacy acquisition is successful for every child.  A single teacher or "program" cannot accomplish this task alone.  The importance of teachers working together as a team with a common knowledge base and whose goal is to support the literacy learning of ALL the children at Hall School is the essential element.

What is the purpose of the team?

Some of the purposes are to:

•Ensure that accountability for student learning is a collaborative effort.

•Monitor the literacy progress of students.

•Analyze school data to determine changes that need to be made in curriculum, instruction, and practice.

Who is on the Literacy team?

The team is composed of Hall's Literacy Coordinator, Hall teachers and building principals.

Who facilitates Hall's Literacy team?

Bonnie Pulsifer, Hall's Literacy Coordinator, facilitates the Literacy Collaborative and can be contacted at Hall for additional information.