Professional Development That Sticks: COMPASS, Windward’s Model, and Lessons from the “Mississippi Miracle”

Host Dr. Alison Leveque introduces the READ podcast and a conversation about effective professional development (PD), The Windward School’s PD structures, the “Mississippi Miracle,” and current PD trends. Betsy MacDermott-Duffy shares the COMPASS framework for research-based PD: tying learning to content, making it ongoing, modeling with metacognition, active participation, advice/feedback through coaching, shared collaboration, and self-reflection, emphasizing student outcomes and fragile transfer without sustained support. Colleen McGlynn describes Windward’s layered PD system, including assistant teacher training, weekly Friday PD, and monthly content meetings guided by teacher needs, coordinator coaching, and research trends, with time to practice and follow up. Dana Carr-Ford and Kinjal Nicholls discuss Mississippi’s fourth-grade reading gains, attributing success to structured literacy, preservice reform, universal screening, strong accountability including a third-grade gate, and sustained training, then highlight growing focus on writing, executive function, AI limits for struggling readers, and emerging “math wars.”

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:38 Meet Betsy MacDermott-Duffy

01:26 Why PD Often Fails

02:29 COMPASS Content Focus

04:50 Ongoing Follow Up

07:26 Modeling In Action

09:32 Practice And Participation

10:34 Feedback And Coaching

11:49 Collaboration And Reflection

16:34 Top PD Researchers

19:05 Windward PD Workshops Plug

19:18 Meet Colleen McGlynn At Windward

20:23 How Windward Plans PD

25:01 Measuring Impact And Iterating

28:35 Advice For Busy Teachers

30:39 Five Strategies Takeaway

31:28 Mississippi Miracle Explained

34:06 Marathon Mindset and PD

35:10 Accountability and Third Grade Gate

37:25 Structured Literacy Framework

38:35 Applying Lessons to New York

41:53 Writing Instruction Returns

44:42 Executive Function Skills

46:04 AI Limits in Learning Support

48:00 Math Wars and Explicit Teaching

49:39 PD Takeaways and Call to Action

51:47 Closing Summary and Courses

Produced by The Windward Institute, a division of The Windward School (NY).

www.thewindwardschool.org/wi

Transcript

READ Podcast Episode 72 
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[00:00:00] Alison: Welcome to READ, the Research, Education, and Advocacy podcast. READ connects you with researchers, educators, and thought leaders on topics in education and child development. READ is produced by the Windward Institute, a division of The Windward School. I'm today's host, Dr. Alison Leveque. I've been a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, a peer coach, staff developer, and now I'm the assistant director of the Windward Institute.

Today, we are diving into research on professional development, professional development within The Windward School, what has been coined the Mississippi Miracle, and explore recent professional development trends. Join me in welcoming Betsy McDermott Duffy. Thank you, Betsy, for joining me today. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

[00:00:46] Betsy: I will, but first I wanna thank you for inviting me. I'm thrilled to be here and to be talking on this topic. I spent most of my career as a classroom teacher and a teacher coach before becoming a director of curriculum and [00:01:00] instruction in public school. Then I made the transition to Windward. I was the director of language arts and instruction for almost 20 years before moving to the WI.

I'm thrilled to be part of this team now. 

[00:01:14] Alison: We're so grateful you're part of our team, and you have so much experience in so many different school systems, so many different, working with different teachers. It's amazing that we have your expertise here too. Thanks. So I know I brought you on to start to talk to us a little bit about professional development.

I don't know about you, but I remember so many professional developments where it felt more like a lecture, where we left with just papers and didn't have any idea of what to do the next day. Can you tell us a little bit about what the research says about good professional development? 

[00:01:49] Betsy: I will, and I share your experience.

I have a lot of those binders in my room that sit there, and once in a while flip through them and wonder why they're still on my [00:02:00] shelf. But I actually have a certification in staff development- From my graduate program, and during that time, I developed an acronym so I could remember all the research-based components of good professional development, and I called it COMPASS.

[00:02:21] Alison: Oh. 

[00:02:22] Betsy: So- 

[00:02:22] Alison: That seems like a fitting name- 

[00:02:23] Betsy: Yes ... a fitting acronym for it ...'Cause a compass always points you in the right direction, right? 

[00:02:27] Alison: Exactly. 

[00:02:28] Betsy: Yes. And you start off every professional development with the non-negotiable. 

[00:02:34] Alison: What's the non-negotiable in this case? 

[00:02:36] Betsy: Well, the non-negotiable in professional development is your objective, your aim.

Just like in a lesson, it's going to be student outcomes. Absolutely. So that's the non-negotiable, and the components of professional development according to COMPASS are, I'll give you briefly- Great ... what the, the acronym stands for. So we have C. [00:03:00] It has to be related to content, otherwise it becomes meaningless to the teachers sitting in front of you.

There's a lot of evidence from Laura Desimone and Lynch and Hill about the fact that tying professional development to content is one of the strongest predictors of success. 

[00:03:25] Alison: I mean, it makes sense. If, if you're interested in it, if you wanna learn more about it, and if it is directly connected to what you're doing on the day-to-day, it seems like it, there would be many more takeaways for teachers.

[00:03:38] Betsy: I know. So much more than just general pedagogical information. 

[00:03:43] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:03:43] Betsy: Though once in a while, like at the writing course- Yeah ... let's say, where you're doing an overview of effective writing strategies from K to 12, even in that course, I make sure that the [00:04:00] examples and the demonstrations are, you know, directed towards the teachers of content that are sitting in this, that room.

We have examples in math, science, social studies, even phys ed- Yeah ... art I try to include, so I really capture everybody. It's kind of like training as a doctor, learning about the entire physiology of the human body. Sometimes you have to give those courses. 

[00:04:29] Alison: I love that analogy. 

[00:04:30] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:04:30] Alison: It's so true. 

[00:04:31] Betsy: On the big ideas, but I try to connect it to content whenever I can, and when it can be, a PD can be connected to a grade level or a specific content area for a group of teachers.

It just makes it so much more meaningful. 

[00:04:47] Alison: That makes sense. 

[00:04:48] Betsy: Yeah, all the research supports it. 

[00:04:50] Alison: What's O? 

[00:04:51] Betsy: O is ongoing and sustainable So if it's not ongoing and sustainable, you can count it as [00:05:00] a one-off. You know, a silver bullet, let's fix this. That's not going to work. Mm. You really need to plan, as part of the design of your PD, plan how you're going to follow up.

[00:05:16] Alison: How- And what could follow-up be? What do you mean by that? 

[00:05:19] Betsy: Oh, it, it doesn't have to be, you know, so time-consuming because teachers value their time. There's never enough time in the day. Yeah. The schedules are packed full. So what you could do is short check-ins with the people who attended the staff development.

You can help form teams. Yeah. Grade level teams, content area teams, who can meet and talk and discuss, you know, the strategies and how to deliver the content that they've learned in a particular PD. 

[00:05:55] Alison: I will say, I think in my expertise going into schools as [00:06:00] well and working with teachers, if you have boots on the ground and folks who are excited, invested, and wanna continue to learn and carry the work forward, you're going to have so much more momentum, and it will It will connect much more with what they're doing, and it will be more ongoing.

So, uh, like you said, I don't think it has to always be the experts who are continuing. I think if that can be the case, that's powerful. But if not, if you have a collaboration of teachers and leaders within your school who are interested in the work and wanna keep working on it, you can continue to move a needle forward that way as well.

[00:06:44] Betsy: We even met with this, uh, team of teachers, Allison, if you remember, and we did a fun lunch and learn. Yes, 

[00:06:51] Alison: yes. 

[00:06:51] Betsy: We just checked in with the teachers once a month, so they did have access to the experts that gave the PD. Yeah. [00:07:00] But in the interim, they had teacher leaders and coaches where they met weekly- Yeah

to discuss how it, how it was going. 

[00:07:10] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:07:10] Betsy: You know, how were the classroom lessons planned and implemented? What did they learn from the lessons? And then we had a professional discussion, and it was a lot of fun. I loved the name Lunch and Learn. 

[00:07:22] Alison: I love it, too. 

[00:07:23] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:07:23] Alison: Who doesn't wanna learn during lunch?

[00:07:25] Betsy: Exactly. So in COMPASS, we have M. 

[00:07:28] Alison: Yes. What's 

[00:07:29] Betsy: M? Which is model and metacognition. It's so important during a professional development that you make sure you model the strategy. You're not just talking at the teachers, giving theory. They wanna know what it looks like. 

[00:07:45] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:07:45] Betsy: So once you model it for teachers, and that could take a lo- I like to do it multiple ways.

I like to model it myself, and then I like to show a video of a teacher actually implementing [00:08:00] the strategy or the concept in the classroom with real students and how it goes. And I always point out that we should be looking for certain things in the video. 

[00:08:14] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:08:14] Betsy: Like, look out for wait time and, um- 

[00:08:18] Alison: All those good practices

[00:08:18] Betsy: content- 

[00:08:19] Alison: Yes ... 

[00:08:19] Betsy: uh, correctness, um, questioning Participation, even participation. 

[00:08:28] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:08:28] Betsy: So I give the students in my PD something to look for. 

[00:08:34] Alison: Mm-hmm. I think it's helpful for them to see it in action, and then be able to take from that how they can change, adapt it, and think about it in the realm of their own classrooms.

[00:08:47] Betsy: Yeah, and this is heavily supported by the research. Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, I love saying her name, Darling-Hammond. I like that name. But, and [00:09:00] Joyce and Showers did a lot of research to show that this kind of loop with modeling and metacognition and feedback and, you know, that continuous staff development, not just the one on- Yeah

workshop, is the way you sustain implementation- Yes ... and, um, success. Yes. You have success and which of course translates into student outcomes, better student outcomes. 

[00:09:30] Alison: Everything we have to come back to. 

[00:09:31] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:09:31] Alison: Every time. 

[00:09:32] Betsy: Yep. Okay, what's P? So I guess you could probably anticipate that P is participation.

Ah. Active participation, hands-on. So you have given the teachers the theory for the staff development. You have modeled what it looks like. Given active participation means that now they're going to try it. They're going to actually [00:10:00] plan a lesson. They're actually going to, um, practice with the new skill that you've taught.

They're going to, you know, almost form a chain into the classroom of thinking about how they're going to use this with their own students. Yeah. And why is that important? Well, that's important because that's the way we learn. 

[00:10:23] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:10:23] Betsy: Students just don't learn by doing. Adults, learning theory applies to adults also.

Adults learn by doing also. 

[00:10:33] Alison: Absolutely. 

[00:10:33] Betsy: So. 

[00:10:34] Alison: Okay, what's A? 

[00:10:36] Betsy: A is advice. 

[00:10:38] Alison: Oh. 

[00:10:38] Betsy: Advice and feedback. 

[00:10:40] Alison: Yes. 

[00:10:40] Betsy: And coaching, and that could look like a peer model also. Peer coaching is very effective, and there's a lot of evidence for that. In practice, that would look like someone being paired with a coach and them give- giving them feedback on lessons.

It can also, in a [00:11:00] professional development, it might be that expert- 

[00:11:04] Alison: Yes ... 

[00:11:04] Betsy: that's providing the pr- professional development. They're walking around while the teachers are practicing this strategy or skill, and they're giving them active feedback. You have an expert available. Take advantage of that. Um, and you want, it's non-judgmental.

[00:11:23] Alison: Yes. 

[00:11:24] Betsy: You know, improvement evolves. So you want it to be not evaluative. 

[00:11:31] Alison: Exactly. It's non-judgmental, but it's also you're being very direct and particular and thoughtful with- Yes ... what you're giving as your feedback- Yeah ... 'cause you want them to feel comfortable- 

[00:11:43] Betsy: Yeah ... 

[00:11:43] Alison: to be able 

[00:11:44] Betsy: to take this. I think my point is the partnership is focused on growth.

[00:11:47] Alison: Yes. Yes. I agree with that. Okay, S. 

[00:11:50] Betsy: We're coming to the end, Alison. S is shared collaboration. Now, Dr. Desimone, I think she calls this collective participation, [00:12:00] and that's after you've practiced with the new skill, you have used it in the classroom, you can come back with your colleagues and discuss how's it going.

[00:12:12] Colleen: Yeah. 

[00:12:12] Betsy: You know, and really participate in shared experiences, discussions about shared experiences with your colleagues. It's, you know- Getting together stable groups, giving them designated times 

[00:12:29] Alison: Yes. The challenge, the ever- 

[00:12:31] Betsy: Yes ... 

[00:12:32] Alison: the ever-there challenge. 

[00:12:33] Betsy: Yes. Grouping by grade, by subject whenever you can, the back to the connection to content.

Um, and it should be protected time. Yes. Administrators should value this time for their teachers. It, it gives teachers time to co-plan. 

[00:12:51] Alison: Sure does. 

[00:12:52] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:12:52] Alison: And I think back to some of the professional development, and even being in a classroom, kind of sharing that load, if [00:13:00] you can collaborate on a team- 

[00:13:02] Betsy: True

[00:13:03] Alison: and build together, and everyone add to it Your work product, number one, is going to be stronger 'cause you're going to have thought about different, everyone has different ideas and bring, bringing different things to it. But also, you're sharing that load. You're not carrying it solely yourself as one teacher.

[00:13:21] Betsy: I know. It, planning lessons, developing units, it's so labor-intensive- Yes ... that if you can do it as a group, divide and conquer- Yes ... some of the work for student achievement, it really helps. And I think teachers love working together. 

[00:13:39] Alison: Yes. 

[00:13:39] Betsy: It's fun. 

[00:13:40] Alison: Yes. 

[00:13:40] Betsy: Right? 

[00:13:40] Alison: Yes. 

[00:13:41] Betsy: So our- 

[00:13:42] Alison: Feels a little less overwhelming with- Exactly

how much you have to get done. 

[00:13:45] Betsy: Yes. So we come to the end, the last S, which is self-reflection. It's kind of towards the end of the loop. 

[00:13:53] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:13:54] Betsy: And this is that idea of continuous improvement, always being able [00:14:00] to do something, maybe tweaking it a little bit better. Again, I think it's Linda Darling-Hammond who has done a lot of research on that, and the practice plan implement and reflect and refine kinda closes that loop.

And then maybe you would wanna move to more professional development to see, where do we go from here? 

[00:14:27] Alison: Yeah. I mean, it makes it almost diagnostic in some regards, too, for- 

[00:14:31] Betsy: Yep, diagnostic teaching. 

[00:14:32] Alison: Yeah. And I think about that, too, even with, um, self-reflection or feedback for the experts in the room. You know, when we get feedback as professional development providers, it is really helpful for us to tailor, create, and adapt what we're doing to what we're seeing with teachers- Yes

in the classroom. 

[00:14:52] Betsy: And when that feedback is constructive- Yes ... we always use it. 

[00:14:57] Alison: Yes. 

[00:14:59] Betsy: So [00:15:00] I think I would end by saying compass, like remember, it always points in the right direction, which is student performance. Yep. Better student performance is our outcome that we always hope for. Um, transfer to class, we have to realize that transfer of professional development to the classroom, implementation, it's fragile.

If you don't support it, it's not going to be sustained. Yes And that coaching model, whether it's peer coaching, you know, someone in your school, you're afforded the luxury of having an expert right in your school, or one of the teachers becomes a teacher leader and they're an expert. You know, that kind of peer collaboration is so important.

Absolutely. Okay, so as a quick recap, tell me again very quickly, what does COMPASS stand for? Okay, [00:16:00] so COMPASS stands for C, tie it to content, O, ongoing, M, the modeling and metacognition that you need. Remember, your teachers need this too. They wanna see what it looks like in the classroom. So P, participation, A, that advice and feedback.

The S is shared responsibility, shared Um, collaboration. And then the final S is self-reflection. 

[00:16:34] Alison: So Betsy, can you just tell us who are your go-to researchers, or who should we be thinking about with professional development? 

[00:16:41] Betsy: Well, there's so many. I'm sure I'll not be able to name them all. But I always look to John Hattie and Robert Marzano as far as, you know, what's going to get us those really great...

What strategies are we going to teach that will produce those student outcomes? Yeah. Remember the non-negotiable. Yeah. 

[00:16:59] Alison: [00:17:00] Those meta-analyses are really helpful for us to see larger populations of how it really goes in the classroom. 

[00:17:06] Betsy: Exactly. And you've heard me mention Dr. Laura Desimone. Yep. Uh, she's done great work along with Michael Garrett.

Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond- Yes ... um, on effective PD elements. She really goes over the enti- I think she has six or seven core elements that she- Yeah ... lists that are important, that are aligned with Compass. And Heather Hill, and Katherine Lynch, I think her name is. Matthew Craft. Barbara Means does a lot of work on blended learning.

[00:17:39] Alison: Oh, that's interesting. 

[00:17:40] Betsy: Because that's part of our world today- Yes ... is blended learning. And Bruce Joyce and Showers, they have a wonderful study that shows that m- that modeling practice and feedback loop, actually, if you implement the entire loop consistently, [00:18:00] raises implementation of the strategy or concept in the classroom from something like 5% to 80 or 90%.

Wow. Which is huge. Wow. And I think I have to mention Haskins Global Literacy Hub, because Ben Powers, Ken Pugh, and of course, John J. Russell, who is the associate director there, they really bring together research to practice. Yes. So those are the, our main, the main researchers that I look to prof- for professional development.

And of course, you know my favorite researcher. Who is it? 

[00:18:41] Alison: Tim Shanahan 

[00:18:43] Betsy: I, no matter what I'm doing, I always say, "What does Tim Shanahan think?" So I use him also. 

[00:18:48] Alison: I think Betsy is his biggest fan. 

[00:18:50] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:18:52] Alison: Betsy, I love working with you, but this was- Ha ... so helpful for us to be able to think about professional development.

Thank you for [00:19:00] leading us off, and I'm looking forward to what we do next together. 

[00:19:04] Betsy: Thanks. 

[00:19:05] VO: Did you know the Windward Institute has a robust selection of professional development workshops and courses this summer? From topics in literacy, math, and artificial intelligence, check out our full list of offerings at thewindwardinstitute.org.

[00:19:18] Alison: So we just finished learning about an effective framework for professional development, and now we're gonna turn to hearing about a real school and someone who's in the classroom every day. Welcome, Colleen. 

[00:19:32] Colleen: Hi. Thanks for having me. 

[00:19:34] Alison: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

[00:19:36] Colleen: Sure. Um, so I'm the associate director of language arts at the Windward School.

Um, and I've worn many hats, um, but that's what I- that's the one I'm wearing right now. And, um, so in this role, I'm overseeing our language arts department on all three campuses, and like you said, gets- I get to go into classes all the time, get to know the teachers- Great ... get to know the students, um, which is so much [00:20:00] fun.

And, um, you know, guide our language arts program, which is very strong. We have such a strong foundation. Um, but now I also get to, um, see the, the ways that we can change the program- Yeah ... to reflect maybe the changing research or the changing world, um, and, you know, 

[00:20:19] Alison: prepare our students. There are so many things we have to constantly be thinking about, huh?

[00:20:22] Colleen: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. 

[00:20:23] Alison: Can you tell me a little bit, I know we're very privileged at Windward, but can you tell us a little bit about the structure of professional development here? 

[00:20:31] Colleen: Sure. So, um, I feel like we have multiple levels to- Mm-hmm ... our professional development, right? Something that we care very deeply about, being, um, you know, our core- one of our core values being- Yeah

growth. Um, so we have our assistant teacher training program our teachers go through when they come to Windward, um, and they receive a lot of training through the Windward Institute, but also, um, a number of different courses and workshops taught, um, by other [00:21:00] faculty members. Yeah. Um, and we also have professional development on Fridays for all of our faculty- And 

[00:21:08] Alison: it's so different, and what a privilege- 

[00:21:11] Colleen: Yeah, yeah, absolutely

as 

[00:21:12] Alison: a school that we can actually do this. 

[00:21:14] Colleen: Yeah, such a unique format. Sometimes we bring in experts in the field, um, to talk about a particular topic. Sometimes we have somebody from the Windward Institute- Yeah ... present, right? Sometimes, um, it's more of like a workshop format or, or we're looking at a book that we all read.

Um, but something to, you know, further our, our growth and development. And, um, we also have monthly, uh, curriculum meetings in the content areas, right? So, um, in language arts, um, we'll have a monthly meeting where all of the language arts teachers will gather to, um, you know, learn about a particular topic.

[00:21:50] Alison: How do you decide what you're going to be learning- Hm ... in that? Mm-hmm. And, and how do you decide in general of what the professional development's going to look like- Yeah ... for the year? 

[00:21:58] Colleen: Yeah, sure. [00:22:00] So, um, great question. It is, um, I think it's a lot about listening to the teachers- Mm-hmm ... um, being in the classroom, you know, and it's really a partnership.

So you wanna be listening to the teachers. What are areas that they are interested in learning more about? Yeah. Um, maybe what do they find challenging- Mm-hmm ... that they need a little bit more support with? Um, you know, because teachers are so busy, they don't You know, have the time to be combing through research papers- Yes

and reading the research, interpreting the research, turning it into classroom practice, right? That's, that's a lot. 

[00:22:37] Alison: You mean they're not sleeping with a research study next to their 

[00:22:42] Colleen: bed- 

[00:22:43] Alison: Like us ... a little light reading? No, no. We do like doing that- Yeah ... but we are rare. 

[00:22:46] Colleen: Yeah, so it's, you know, helpful to be able to, um, you know, maybe read the research for teachers-

condense it, put it into some teacher-friendly language. Yes. Um, and, and be [00:23:00] able to just be like, "Okay, here are the things you can start doing in your classroom tomorrow to accomplish whatever that goal is." Um, so yeah, it, it's about, I think it's about talking to the teacher, seeing what they need, seeing what they want.

Um, so very, like, connected, boots on the ground level. Yes. Um, but also speaking with the coordinators, right? Our coordinators here are a great support, like a coach for our teachers. Great. Um, they have a great depth of knowledge and experience, right? So they can often see trends that are emerging, uh, maybe across grade levels.

Um, and then I can kinda help coordinate that piece to see the trends across our campuses. You're 

[00:23:43] Alison: coordinating the coordinators. 

[00:23:44] Colleen: I am. I- that's what I like to say, that I am the coordinator of the coordinators. And also being connected then to y- the outside world- Yeah ... in literacy, and seeing what trends are emerging there, um, in, you know, podcast [00:24:00] episodes- Yep

um, books, audiobooks, journals. Um, you know, and IDA did, published a whole, um, edition about syntax. Yes. Right? Um, so just kind of like seeing where those trends are emerging and, and where the research is, is coming out, you know, about certain topics. Um, and just kinda putting that all together to think about a cohesive plan for, uh, professional development.

In a way that isn't too overwhelming. Yes. 

[00:24:29] Alison: Yes. 

[00:24:30] Colleen: And gives teachers, like, the time and space to learn about something new, um, have some time to practice with it- Mm-hmm ... and get some feedback, and then feel comfortable and confident taking that into their own classes and giving it a try. 

[00:24:45] Alison: So I love, I mean, you mentioned this, and, and you didn't get to hear Betsy, but she spoke about, as this acronym, of compass and the idea of it being ongoing.

[00:24:54] Betsy: Oh, 

[00:24:54] Alison: yeah. Mm-hmm. And feedback- Mm-hmm ... that you need to continuously be growing, learning- Yeah ... coming back to it [00:25:00] and readapting it. Um, and then I just wonder, 'cause you touched on this as well, that reflection piece, how do you know that it was supportive, effective, and how does that help you to decide what the next year is going to look like?

[00:25:16] Colleen: Hmm. So again, I think the coordinators are a large part of helping professional development, um, be successful. Mm-hmm. Um, the coordinators work to support our teachers, um, they're mentoring our new teachers as well- Yeah ... so they're having those regular mentoring meetings. Um, so we can have, like, a full faculty, uh, professional development experience, but then when teachers are meeting regularly with the coordinators, um, the coordinators can kind of, you know, remind teachers or help them talk through some of those new strategies.

Um, they go into the classes very often- Mm-hmm ... to see, um, how that's working in real life, and, um, so they're able [00:26:00] to kinda workshop that if maybe things aren't working, right? Yeah. How could we tweak this to make it more effective? Um, so I feel like it's a lot of diagnostic - Yes ... teaching, um, relative to professional development, right?

We're kinda still using that approach. Um- Well, we're 

[00:26:17] Alison: still learners. 

[00:26:18] Colleen: Exactly, right? And, and I do kind of, I still think about, when I'm planning professional devel- development, I do still think about it like I'm teaching a class. Yeah. It's just a class of teachers instead of, you know, adolescents, right? Yes.

Um, so I think one thing that's important is, of course, you know, your seven steps of instruction- Mm-hmm ... and you're going to wanna set a clear purpose, um, have something motivating 'cause you really wanna hook the teachers- Yes ... on, like, this is new and exciting and purposeful, right? Grounding it in something purposeful, the research, um, and then giving them time to practice it, but also, like you said, coming back for feedback.

Yes. Right? Like, now that you've had a chance to practice [00:27:00] it, what's going well? What's not going well, right? And that often happens for us on the, like, coordinator level, right? Makes sense. Mm-hmm. Discussion teachers with coordinators. Um, of course, you know- I love, love to chat with teachers about, you know- Yeah

what worked well, what didn't work well. Okay, what, what can we do better? Um, but I think when we come back to a topic again in, in some sort of, like, spaced practice- Yes ... um, I think that's really helpful because there's only so much you can take in the first time. 

[00:27:32] Alison: Yes. Yes. 

[00:27:33] Colleen: And then, you know, I, I love to actually have, like, a, a professional development meeting on, like, a particular topic- Mm-hmm

and then have a follow-up meeting the next month as, like, a working meeting where then the teachers can actually put that into practice and think about h- plan for their classroom. How are they gonna implement this in their classroom? Um, and then of course, you know, after that if we could have another meeting- I love [00:28:00] that

on that topic- Yes ... that would be great, right? Or try to think about it in, like, in, like, themes- Yes ... or, um, almost like a- Or even, like, grade level ... like, a text set. 

[00:28:07] Alison: Yes. 

[00:28:08] Colleen: Right? Yes. Where you have, where you're, you're thinking about the theme over the course of the year, right? And, and each, each meeting is getting a little bit deeper- Yes

a little bit more complex as you go throughout the year, right? Um, so teachers are building on that, that knowledge base themselves, right? So it's, it's really, like, applying a lot of the practices we know that we need to use for classroom instruction, but into professional development. It's very meta. 

[00:28:32] Alison: Yes.

I love that. Okay. So, uh, you know, I know that you have a lot of conversations with administrators and teachers outside of Windward as well. Mm-hmm. What is your suggestions, recommendations for them as they're thinking about professional development? 

[00:28:49] Colleen: Hmm. 

[00:28:51] Alison: What do you think works especially well at Windward?

[00:28:55] Colleen: Um, let's see. Well- Thanking the teachers- Yes ... because they're doing [00:29:00] so much all the time. Yes. And, um, and you know, teachers are very busy people. They're, they're coaching, they have clubs, right? There's so much outside of the workday- Yes ... that teachers, you know, pour all their heart into, right? Educators go into this field for the kids.

They're so devoted. Um, so it can be hard then when they go to a professional development and they're like, they hear, "Okay, and do this." Yes. "And do this." Yes. "And do this." And they're like, "How? When?" Yes. "I, I don't have the time to, like, learn this new thing," right? So I think really giving them the time and space to learn it, to practice it before you're expecting any teachers to implement it- Yes

I think is really helpful. Um, and then if there's something you could take off their plate while they're learning something new, um, that's always appreciated. Yeah, yeah. Right? Um, because, you know, we don't, we don't [00:30:00] want it just to be, like, dumping more on the pile of- Yeah ... this is what you need to teach.

[00:30:04] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:30:05] Colleen: Um, it's just overwhelming. 

[00:30:07] Alison: And I think some of what you said, too, in this idea of, of it not being this giant topic- Mm-hmm ... that you're talking about, that you're building- 

[00:30:15] Colleen: Mm-hmm ... 

[00:30:15] Alison: so that it is achievable. I mean, we scaffold and break apart tasks for kids. Yeah. We need to think about it in that way with professional development as well.

[00:30:23] Colleen: Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:30:25] Alison: So what, what can be done in a session? Yeah. You know, and what are they gonna have enough practice and be able to actually apply? 

[00:30:30] Colleen: Yeah, absolutely. I like to, you know, even when you're, even when you're offering strategies, right? Like, y- you don't wanna offer, like, 40 strategies. Yes, yes. Right?

Like, what are five? 

[00:30:41] Alison: Yes. 

[00:30:41] Colleen: Right? Maybe five strategies that teachers could go back and try. Yes. Um, because 40, you know, you could be paralyzed with the amount of options out there, right? Um, and then maybe you find some that worked really well- Yes ... some that didn't work, and now you can try a new five or something like that, right?

Um, so [00:31:00] yeah, I think breaking it down into small, achievable- Bits is- 

[00:31:04] Alison: Yeah ... 

[00:31:05] Colleen: really helpful. 

[00:31:06] Alison: Absolutely. 

[00:31:06] Colleen: Mm-hmm. 

[00:31:07] Alison: This was amazing. It's always amazing to be able to speak with you. Oh, thank you. Um, it is w- a perfect, wonderful partnership that we have with the school. Mm-hmm. And it's something that I know a lot of schools would love to animate.

Yeah. So thank you so much for joining me. 

[00:31:20] Colleen: Thank you. Thank you. Happy to be here. 

[00:31:22] Alison: And we're excited to see where we go. I love to read 

[00:31:23] Colleen: podcast. 

[00:31:26] Alison: Thanks. 

[00:31:27] Colleen: Thanks. 

[00:31:28] Alison: Joining me now are Dana and Kyndal, and we're gonna talk about what has been coined the Mississippi Miracle. I'd love to hear a little bit about you first.

Can you tell us what's your role at the institute and a little bit about you? 

[00:31:41] Kinjal: Sure. Uh, my name is Kyndal Nichols, and I'm one of the directors of content and implementation here at the Windward Institute. 

[00:31:48] Alison: Wow, what a mouthful. 

[00:31:49] Kinjal: Yeah. Um, and I'm actually gonna go back to what you said. It was coined the Mississippi Miracle- Mm-hmm

because it really is a marathon. Uh, when we talk about it more, you know, one thing I really appreciate about [00:32:00] Mississippi, it was a very, very thought out, calculated, research-based w- you know, really thoughtful, implemented plan that really made it work, and it wasn't a miracle. It was because a lot of adults made a lot of great decisions for kids around the state.

[00:32:15] Alison: Well said. We're gonna talk even more about that- Yes, of course ... as we keep going. 

[00:32:19] Dana: Um, thanks for having me. I am Dana Carr Ford, also a content and implementation director here at the Windward Institute, um, educator from New Jersey, and really interested in talking more about what has made this, uh, initiative so successful.

[00:32:33] Alison: Amazing. Can you tell us just a little bit what is a content and implementation director? 

[00:32:38] Dana: Hmm. Um- What do you 

[00:32:40] Alison: do? 

[00:32:40] Dana: Great question. Uh, so we do a lot of the work to bridge research into practice through, uh, content development, professional development of teachers and school leaders across the country, worldwide, right?

Um, so doing a lot of that work to support educators everywhere to support students with reaching their [00:33:00] highest and greatest potential. 

[00:33:01] Alison: Amazing. All right, let's dive right in. Let's talk a little bit about Mississippi. So they went from the 49th state to the 21st state. Wow. Yeah In their fourth grade reading in under a decade.

Let's talk a little bit about that. How do they do it? What does it look like? Why is this important for us to think about? 

[00:33:22] Dana: Yeah, and I think what's interesting and really important to note is that now even their most underserved students are out-performing lots of kids all over the country, and it's because they really focused on how to improve instruction across the board.

And it shows that if we really change the way we teach, we can really impact how students perform and what they can do. So it's not about where a child comes from, it's more about how best we support them, how do we improve classroom practices, really support the administration, and make sure that legislation is really solid around, around these initiatives.

[00:33:56] Alison: Amazing. But is that all that they did? 'Cause it seems like something that most [00:34:00] states are working on already. And Kyndall, you already mentioned this, that it's the marathon. What do you mean by that? 

[00:34:06] Kinjal: Um, I mean that it takes time. It takes effort. It takes really, really strong planning and thoughtfulness from the adults in the room to find out what's best for the kids.

Um, professional development is a big part of that. Mm-hmm. Right? Making sure that the teachers are trained because it's not just about what you learn, it's about what you're doing in your classroom. And we know that teachers go to trainings, but they can still revert back to the things that they always do in their classrooms.

Of course. And we know that su- sustained high-quality professional development and coaching is the key to making that change happen in the classroom. Uh, and in Mississippi, underneath it all was a belief that all kids can reach their potential. They gave teachers everything they needed so students could be successful.

[00:34:50] Alison: But was it just at a professional development level? Was it just that they started to do structured literacy, or was there more to it? You talked a little bit about sort of changing the whole [00:35:00] mindset- Yeah ... in terms of helping kids to be successful and realizing that every kid has the potential, but what else was there that fully changed what was happening?

[00:35:10] Kinjal: Um, I think there was a lot of accountability, right? Yeah. What do 

[00:35:13] Alison: you mean by that? Tell 

[00:35:13] Kinjal: me a little more. Sure. Yeah, yeah. I mean, they had a very clear third grade gate, right? And it wasn't symbolic. It had purpose. Uh, it really defined the lines of responsibility. Parents were notified. Um, students were retained if they didn't meet the standards.

Um- I just feel like that is a space where they didn't drop the bar when it came to accountability. They didn't say, "We're doing all these things, and then what happens?" They say, "We're doing all these things, and we're making sure we're following through." And that's the key. 

[00:35:41] Alison: And they were accountable on every level.

[00:35:43] Kinjal: Yeah, 

[00:35:44] Alison: absolutely. You know, it started from the state level. Legislation was created. They set up universal screening for kids to be able to see where kids were. Then they moved to holding teachers and school districts accountable in a way that they never have. 

[00:35:58] Kinjal: Exactly. 

[00:35:59] Dana: And if we [00:36:00] also back up and think about, um, Mississippi and what they did to reform- Mm-hmm

at the very first step of teacher training- Yeah ... and looking into the college pre-service programs and making sure that all of their pre-service teachers were, um, informed and really trained around the science of reading- Yeah ... uh, really was helpful because then we're getting s- uh, teachers into our spaces that really know what they're doing and really can support students all around, so we're not having to retrain, um, you know, teachers who, you know, year over year- Yeah

we have these gaps. They're really prepared to support kids in the best way. 

[00:36:33] Alison: And I can tell you from experience, uh, so much of my own personal research when I was going through my dissertation and my master's was looking into what pre-service programs ask- 

[00:36:44] Betsy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm ... 

[00:36:45] Alison: of teachers coming out, and most schools have one or two literacy courses that you take.

[00:36:51] Betsy: Yeah. 

[00:36:51] Alison: That's it. And then you're expected to go out and teach something like reading- Right ... that is really fundamental and, and [00:37:00] is, ends up being the foundation and piece in every single subject. 

[00:37:04] Kinjal: Right. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. 

[00:37:06] Alison: So it's, it's fascinating to me, and it's really interesting, and I think often what is forgotten and what we kind of go to with Mississippi is that we just think that it started because the curriculum changed- Right

and that they put the science of reading in. But really, it was bigger than that. 

[00:37:24] Kinjal: It was. Yeah, and I think, you know, structured literacy is everywhere right now. Yeah. But it's not a program. Yeah. Right? It's, it's how you teach. It's explicit step-by-step instruction with the sounds of the language, how those sounds meet up with the letters.

It's about explicitly teaching fluency and comprehension and vocabulary, and it looks different, right? Yeah. Depending on the kid, depending on the level, but it's a framework- Yes ... and it's not a script. 

[00:37:49] Alison: Yes. 

[00:37:49] Kinjal: So I think that's what's really important is that this is research-based. This isn't a trend. This is science, and this is what, how kids learn how to read.

[00:37:57] Alison: Yeah. I mean, I think that is a big [00:38:00] topic that we're consistently hearing about. Um, I will say I think what is also really helpful across the board is that there are a lot of different professional development providers, and there are so many that we work with and pair with that are really strong and do really rely on the science.

But what's hard is curriculums change- Mm-hmm ... consistently. But the idea of having structured literacy- It's based in the science and the research, you know that kids are gonna get the right support they need, right? 

[00:38:34] Kinjal: Mm-hmm. 

[00:38:35] Alison: So I know we've spoken about Mississippi, but, uh, in our own home state and our own area, what's happening in New York?

[00:38:43] Kinjal: So we're also seeing these curriculum changes within the city of New York and within the state, right? But one of the things we're seeing is that the training's not always coming with it. Mm-hmm. Right? We see a new program, uh, and it can work, and we do the training, but if par- teachers don't understand kind of why it's built- Yes

or what's the [00:39:00] science behind it, they're not gonna be able to properly apply it in their classroom. Uh, you know, if anything, Mississippi has taught us that the materials are the vehicle and teachers are the engine of- of the knowledge, right? Um, and what's also being left out is the accountability. Mm-hmm.

Right? Like Mississippi had a real, real clear goals, and I think we're adopting these curriculums- Yeah ... but we're letting things like accountability kind of fall through the cracks. 

[00:39:23] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:39:24] Dana: Yeah. And, um, you're right, Kendelle, I think it's really important that we think about accountability at all levels- Yes

so not just at the school level, but also with parents and at the state level. Um, and what some states are doing is what they're calling the paper snowflakes- Yeah ... where they're taking parts of what Mississippi has done and leaving out other parts, and then not seeing the same results, right? Uh, so we gotta make- 

[00:39:44] Alison: And then being upset and shocked- Right.

Yeah ... of, "Well, why isn't this working?" 

[00:39:48] Dana: Right. Yeah. So when we're thinking about replicating those results in other places, we have to make sure we don't leave out that accountability piece, um, making sure we're keeping families involved- Yes ... and notified along the way of how their students are progressing, [00:40:00] and then the high-stakes retention, right?

Mm-hmm. Right. It doesn't feel great to- No ... have that as a piece where a student may not move on, but we wanna make sure that kids are actually ready for the rigor of the next grade and are able to reach those goals. 

[00:40:12] Alison: Yeah. No, absolutely. You know, and I even think back to what the state is doing. We have mandates now for curriculum that they have decided follows the science of reading.

We have mandates for universal screening. Mm-hmm. So there are starting to be some changes here in the legislation. I, we talked about this in several podcasts before. There still needs to be more. Yeah. But it's started. Um, and it's really holding kids at the heart, and us really thinking across the board of how we support them- Mm-hmm

and what needs to change for that. But it needs to be more like Mississippi. Mm-hmm. Yep. And- The 

[00:40:47] Dana: whole picture. 

[00:40:48] Alison: Yes. The whole picture. The whole picture. Um, and I think that is where we're really s- starting to look at other states. There are other states who are trying [00:41:00] to kind of start to do what Mississippi is doing, but we need more of it.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And you can see it's a huge shift- Yeah ... for a state. 

[00:41:08] Kinjal: Mm-hmm. And like we've mentioned before, it's a marathon. 

[00:41:11] Alison: Yes. 

[00:41:11] Kinjal: It doesn't happen overnight. We really need everyone to work together. 

[00:41:14] Alison: Yes. Yes. Well, and even thinking about us currently here, I think we're very privileged in that there are so many different professional development providers that we work with that are working to change at every level, um- We work with a lot of public school teachers.

We work with a lot of organizations like BOCES, which are helping to get the information for teachers of what they need and helping to put those structural changes in place. And It is really interesting to sort of see what is coming out now as what we need to be talking about. So we talked a little bit about structured literacy.

That's not going anywhere. 

[00:41:56] Kinjal: Mm-hmm. 

[00:41:57] Alison: It still needs to be forefront in a lot of what our [00:42:00] conversations are. But what other trends are we starting to see? I know writing has been something that is starting to come up again. Mm-hmm. Dana, can you talk to us a little bit about that? 

[00:42:10] Dana: Yeah. Um, I can definitely talk about writing.

I also wanna name, you talked about both Cs and other, some of our other providers- Yeah ... about like what makes the PD so great. Great. It's not just, um, you know, PD for PD sake or one-off workshops. It's really an, an integrated model into their system, and it in- involves lots of multiple c- lots of components.

Yeah. So there's workshops, there's in-service training, there are, um, courses that teachers can take, and it involves bridging that, you know, research into practice- Yeah ... with that expert feedback. So it's really important in structured literacy, but also in the writing and the other components that, that we know are coming out.

[00:42:45] Alison: And everything. And I, uh, we... You were not part of the conversation before, but I sp- had a long conversation with Betsy about what makes good- Right ... professional development. Mm-hmm. And she used an acronym of COMPASS and, and it is almost [00:43:00] quoting everything that you said of what good professional development should look like.

[00:43:04] Dana: Right. Right. In thinking about the writing that you mentioned, uh, direct instruction is really, really key. Yeah. Students need lots of structure around how to produce a really strong writing piece. Um, and we almost have to support them with the executive function pieces behind that as well, right? Right, executive function.

Right, executive function. So have you heard that phrase? I have. I don't know if you've heard it. At all. Um, so there's lots of things happening in that process of writing, so supporting, teachers supporting students with, um, building- Yeah ... from the sentence level to the paragraph level, all the way up into the essay level.

Um, providing the explicit instruction, that modeling, and that ongoing practice with feedback is really key to help students organize their work. Yeah. So we talk a lot about, like, graphic organizers, um, vocabulary development, making sure what they're writing is really strong, um, and then that feedback piece, tailoring their work along the way so that they can produce really strong result- results at the end.

[00:43:59] Alison: We [00:44:00] often talk about how writing is the hardest of language arts, and, and it's something that most teachers have not been taught- Mm-hmm ... on how to teach writing. Mm-hmm. You know, a writing activity- Yeah. 

[00:44:15] Kinjal: They 

[00:44:15] Alison: all know how to assign it ... is very... Exactly. But they don't know how to teach it. It's very different than a structured, explicit modeling of going through the steps of how you're actually building this.

[00:44:26] Kinjal: Right. 

[00:44:27] Alison: Which is amazing. 

[00:44:28] Kinjal: And what's also really great, it's not in isolation. Yes. This works in social studies. This works in science. Yes. Like, these are skills that are applicable everywhere. 

[00:44:34] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:44:35] Kinjal: And, you know, we're not just teaching the writing teacher how to teach writing, we're teaching everyone to teach writing 'cause that's key.

A part of the learning process. 

[00:44:41] Alison: Absolutely. What are we seeing? You mentioned executive function. Right. I have been hearing possible murmurings of that across the country at the moment. Kinjal, can you talk a little bit to that? 

[00:44:52] Kinjal: Sure. I mean, executive functioning is, you know, we talk about it as being The, you know, if we're thinking about, [00:45:00] like, airports and airlines, we're think- that's the control center of the brain, right?

Yeah. Yeah. It's how a lot of things kind of need to happen, the attention, the emotional regulation, um, the task initiation. Mm-hmm. There are all these different pieces that kids kind of need to be explicitly taught- Mm-hmm ... to really be successful in school, right? You know, if we're asking kids- 

[00:45:19] Alison: I would argue not just school, 

[00:45:20] Kinjal: but life.

Not just school. But in life, right? Like, there's, you know, as adults, like, think- Yeah ... about how much time and energy we're taking. You know, and people always think about attention as, like, "Oh, I don't have attention," or, you know, "I can't..." But it's like about managing attention. Yes. Right? Yes. And we need to teach children how to manage their attention because, you know, we see kids all the time, be like, "Yeah, but she spent three hours playing video games," right?

Because she can manage her attention there. Yes. So clearly these k- kids have the skills. It's about learning how to apply that in other spaces. Yes. Um, and so yeah, that's a big part of the learning process for teachers as well, right? Mm-hmm. And again, it goes, it doesn't matter if you teach science or social studies- Mm-hmm

or PE. Like, these are skills that kids [00:46:00] need to learn, and teachers need to learn how to teach them to kids. 

[00:46:03] Alison: Exactly. All right, and another big kind of- Oh, yeah ... hot-button topic right now, AI- Yeah ... has started to be a large conversation across the country. 

[00:46:12] Kinjal: Yeah, especially 

[00:46:13] Alison: in our schools. What are you seeing?

What are you hearing? Yeah. 

[00:46:15] Kinjal: You know, my honest take is when it comes to AI and it comes to students, particularly the students that we serve- Yes ... students with language-based learning disabilities, it's just not there yet. Yeah. Right? Like, I just... It doesn't have... You know, the kids that we teach need explicit, step-by-step, hands-on instruction, uh, and that a human has to do, right?

Yeah. AI doesn't understand the nuance of a student who's struggling how to read. Mm-hmm. It can't teach them the skills of how to become a stronger writer, how to organize their thoughts. And there are pieces where, yes, AI can be helpful with, you know, in terms of the cognitive load or learning how to- Yes

organize yourself. Yes. But at the end of the day, it can't [00:47:00] really provide the repetition. It can't provide the precision, and those are the things that our students need- 

[00:47:07] Betsy: Yeah ... 

[00:47:07] Kinjal: uh, and that a human teacher can be able for, right? Yeah. They know when to stop. They know when to start. They know when to put in the scaffolds, when to take away the scaffolds.

They know what follow-up questions to ask. Mm-hmm. And AI can't replicate that. 

[00:47:19] Alison: Yeah. I mean, I think it's very interesting because it is very prevalent within the world. A- and to be honest, as a professional, I use it quite often. Yeah, agreed. But it is not yet able to do the work without checking- Mm-hmm

without knowing- Right ... the information before. Exactly. And I think that's a challenge with a lot of students because they need to be taught to be critical consumers- 

[00:47:44] Dana: Right ... 

[00:47:45] Alison: and have the skills to be able to do that I think it has the potential. 

[00:47:51] Dana: Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:47:52] Alison: You know, I think at some point we will absolutely get to the point where it can, it can be used more and support students more, but it's not there yet.

[00:47:58] Dana: No. [00:48:00] 

[00:48:00] Alison: All right, and then my last, which I always find really interesting, there's a lot of conversations that have been started around math now, and there's a, you know, a conversation of whether this is a math war, like there were the reading wars. Is that really happening right now? I, 

[00:48:14] Dana: I think so, right? And this is me speaking as an educator and also a parent of a second-grader who

who's now learning his facts and, you know, doing larger question- Yeah ... problems with, you know, these big numbers. Number sense and fluency are really important. Mm-hmm. Right? We wanna make sure our students feel confident. We wanna make sure that they can go and attack a task. Um, and sometimes it's time, right?

Yeah. So we wanna make sure that they, um, go into these academic spaces with that, with that really strong. So yes, I think there's a math war that's coming. Um, I think we need to keep in mind all the struggles that we saw with reading, and get ahead of it, right? 

[00:48:53] Alison: I 

[00:48:53] Dana: agree. Uh, we know it works for kids. We know explicit instruction- Yeah

is really important, and we know that students need that step-by-step explicit [00:49:00] instruction and practice and feedback to do well. So we need to just get ahead of it and s- and, and start doing the same things that we did for reading with math. Amazing. Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

[00:49:08] Kinjal: And I, you know, like, I agree. The, you know, what we did in Mississippi, that was a great model, right?

A new math curriculum won't work- No ... if teachers don't understand how kids learn math. Mm-hmm. You know? The same thing happened in, with reading- Yeah ... and so we need to apply those things with the math teacher training program. Yes. Um, and I think that conversation is coming- Mm-hmm ... and I think we all need to be ready for it, because our kids really deserve to have a strong math curriculum- Yeah

so they can be, you know, if Mississippi, they can move up, we can do it in math, too. Why not? Great. We just have to apply the same principles. 

[00:49:38] Alison: Agreed. Mm-hmm. So my last question, as a takeaway- Mm-hmm ... what do you think that, um, would be helpful for our listeners to know, either about Mississippi and/or about professional development and how you think about it?

Mm-hmm. What should we be thinking? 

[00:49:55] Dana: I think plainly, professional development isn't a checkbox, right? It's [00:50:00] a full system that requires a lot of work. Yeah. It requires a lot of stakeholders to be involved. Um, and it requires a lot of, uh, accountability- Yeah ... and high expectations all around. So making sure that we are really investing in our teacher training, making sure it is ongoing and consistent and really embedded in the needs of both the teachers and the students, uh, is gonna, uh, provide us with the best outcomes.

Amazing. 

[00:50:22] Kinjal: Mm-hmm. Um, I would say if I was an administrator- Yes ... I would go to whoever's providing the PD and really ask them, like, "What are you doing that's actually gonna make change in this classroom?" Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And if they can't answer it, if they're vague about it- Mm-hmm ... you need to push back, or you need to find someone who is gonna answer that question.

Yeah. Uh, if I'm a teacher, I'm not gonna wait. I'm not gonna wait for my district or my state or my administrator to say, "Okay, this is the PD you're going to." Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, the resources are out there. The research is out there. Yes. And, you know, the strongest teachers are the ones who make use of the research and make use of the resources- To, you know, really give their students the best.

[00:50:59] Alison: [00:51:00] Yeah. And who collaborate and wanna learn- Yeah ... and keep growing. 

[00:51:03] Kinjal: Exactly. And keep growing. 

[00:51:04] Alison: You know, yeah. Um, I like- We don't have to wait for 

[00:51:05] Kinjal: permission. 

[00:51:06] Alison: Exactly. Just do 

[00:51:07] Kinjal: it. 

[00:51:07] Alison: And I like to say we are continuous learners. 

[00:51:10] Kinjal: Yeah. 

[00:51:11] Alison: I think when you stop learning and growing, then you become stagnant in all areas of life.

Yeah. That's very much who we are. Um, and this is an amazing opportunity. We're at a really important part in history where I think we're at a precipice of where education is moving to. 

[00:51:30] Kinjal: Yes. 

[00:51:31] Alison: We have the potential to learn and grow and really support our students. 

[00:51:36] Kinjal: Yeah. Yeah. And really make great change.

[00:51:37] Alison: Yeah. 

[00:51:38] Kinjal: Absolutely. 

[00:51:38] Alison: Amazing. Thank you both for joining me this afternoon. Thanks for having us. Thank you. And we'll hopefully see you again soon. 

[00:51:44] Kinjal: Yeah. Okay. 

[00:51:46] Alison: Thank you. Everything we've talked about in this episode comes down to one thing: teacher knowledge changes outcomes. Betsy showed us what good professional learning looks like.

Colleen described what it looks [00:52:00] like to build it inside a school with intention. Dana and Kinjal explained what happens when a whole system commits to it. This summer, the Windward Institute is offering professional development across the exact topics we've been discussing today. If structured literacy is on your mind, what it really means, how it works across grade levels, and how to bring it into your classroom, we have a course for that.

If you wanna go deeper on the writing and the reading and writing connection, or understand how executive function shapes your students' learning, we have courses for those too. All of it is grounded in the science, all of it practical, and all of it is designed the way Betsy described, not a lecture, not a folder of handouts, but real learning with practice, feedback, and something you can actually use when school starts in September.

This is professional development designed with teachers in mind. To see this summer's full course offerings and register, visit the Windward Institute [00:53:00] website. We'd love to spend part of your summer with you. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you in the next episode. 

[00:53:06] Alison, Dana, Kinjal: Until next time, readers