Grove Valley Elementary (Edmond, OK). As the lowest in General Fund funding of any school district in Oklahoma, Grove Valley must be very creative and purposeful when it comes to professional development. Each week, the faculty meets for Late Start Wednesday – a district-designated one-hour time slot. During this time, teachers participate in Professional Learning Communities and review student data, develop common assessments, share feedback about What I Need (W.I.N.) time, and discuss Instructional Round presentations. The principal conducts “Virtual Instructional Rounds” through classroom walkthroughs and videotapes examples of best instructional practices. Other Instructional Rounds include one team of teachers observing other teachers in the building for approximately twenty minutes. The Grove Valley Instructional Framework guides the identification of best pedagogical practices in the classrooms. Teachers are videoing effective practices they observe while on Instructional Rounds and sharing during Late Start PLC’s. Also, during this time, teachers provide short presentations delivering information on Marzano’s 41 elements of most effective teaching strategies.

In addition, the school has two Swivls, which is a robotic platform used for recording presentations or class lectures. Teachers connect these to their iPads and use a Swivl app to video themselves teaching. These videos can be used for self-reflection and growth. Teachers share their videos during Late Starts to create dialogue about strategies that are working well with their students.

The result of the building embedded professional development has been powerful and positive. Teacher evaluations continue to improve across the building. Since implementation, teachers have become more collaborative, and the school credits the rise of our student test scores to this. Teacher retention has also improved.