It’s natural to wonder, “is this experience going to be worth my time and money?” Especially math professional development. You might be leery of a math consultant who claims to help teachers working with students who struggle.
… What result is she really seeing?
You’re in the right place!
This post is a deep dive into one of my clients, Colorado Department of Education Facility Schools.
Meet CDE Facility Schools
In 2020 directors from CDE reached out to me asking for help supporting their math teachers with professional development. They had seen me present at the “Courage to Risk Conference” in January and walked out saying, “We have to get her!”
If you’re unfamiliar with “Facility Schools” they are schools that are also residential facilities, day treatment facilities, and hospitals.
According to the CDE website, facility schools serve 6,000 students per year and cover 80 school districts across Colorado.
Unique Challenges
Transient student population
Students start school at all times of the year
Majority of students on IEPs
Teachers have multiple grade levels within each class period, making differentiation not just ideal, but essential
Teachers are widespread across the entire state of Colorado
Scope of Work
Various asynchronous and synchronous virtual professional development sessions throughout the school year (eventually this turned into unlimited access to my course, Math Engagement Academy)
Presentations at their Kaleidoscope conference for staff only
Virtual “office hours” for teachers to ask questions
Results
To date, all of my work has been virtual for Facility Schools and not mandatory. Schools, districts, and organizations hire me for various scopes of work - some include mandatory attendance of my workshops as well as instructional coaching and some are more passive, like this, making support optional. When support is optional, I do not collect numerical student achievement data. So the results I have to share are anecdotal.
Administrator review
Watch the 1 minute administrator’s video to hear what she thinks of our collaboration…
Teacher reviews
Below are quotes from Facility Schools math teachers from their feedback surveys after our workshops together…
Next steps
Could your whole department or district use this kind of support? Contact me today and let’s come up with a customized plan for your unique needs.
Want a copy of my Math Achievement Framework for Administrators?
Click here to download my C.A.R.E.S. Math Achievement Framework so you can assess if we're on the same page about mathematics instruction and get an activity to use immediately with your staff!