Educators often search for an effective way to support, plan, and implement whole school approaches for literacy improvement. Stepping Out, a school-wide Professional Development Model, was specifically designed to provide this critical link. A grades 7-12 educational resource, it is comprised of courses and materials researched and developed by the Education Department of Western Australia, and recently enhanced by new literacy research from Canada and the United States.
Developed from current research unique to adolescent learners, Stepping Out professional development courses have been developed specifically for classroom teachers, literacy leaders and whole school staff. Courses incorporate theory, modeled practice, interactive and collaborative activities, as well as productive and practical strategies known to enhance adolescent learning. Participants at courses receive a text and a practical resource book that have immediate application at the classroom and whole school level
Flexibility of the Program
Stepping Out can be implemented in a number of ways to meet the needs of a school or district. Stepping Out actively promotes a whole school or learning area approach to literacy, but there are a number of ways this professional development program can assist curriculum and literacy leaders to:
Plan and coordinate the implementation of a whole school literacy improvement plan
Support learning area teachers as they implement a literacy focus across the school
Develop collaborative pathways with teachers from different content area disciplines
Stepping Out can assist subject area teachers to:
Identify the literacy demands of their discipline
Determine the type of support that will help students make progress
Increase the repertoire of teaching & learning strategies
Choose the most appropriate teaching, learning, monitoring, and assessment strategies to support differentiated instruction
Professional Development Courses
The Stepping Out resource is organized into two components: Reading and Viewing and Writing. Professional Development models include a 3-Day Literacy Leader Course, 7-Day Facilitator Course and Administrator course.
3-Day Literacy Leader Course $995.00
The Literacy Leader course is designed to develop school-based teacher leaders. Literacy Leaders are trained in a component and also to support school implementation. Literacy Leader training occurs over three days and includes one day of whole school literacy implementation planning. The benefit of the Literacy Leader model is the development of leaders within a school to become change agents and to model strategies for other teachers to implement the resource in their classrooms. Training can be delivered by board-based Facilitators, or by Pearson Professional Learning Consultants.
Materials:
This 3-day course is for literacy leaders who have responsibility for literacy beyond their own classes. Each participant receives the Resource Book, Course Book, and Literacy Leader Book.
7-Day Facilitator Course $3750.00
This is a 7-day "train the trainer" course that prepares participants to present Stepping Out training to teachers and support the implementation of Stepping Out across a school or district. A 7-day Facilitator course includes an introduction to Stepping Out, research on adolescent learning, specific strategies to improve the teaching, learning and assessment in a component, leadership and implementation training, and facilitator training.
Materials:
This 7-day course is a cost-effective model for boards, districts, and schools seeking to train their own Facilitators, so that they can present Stepping Out courses and offer follow up support within their own context. The course includes all materials from the Teacher and Literacy Leader courses, as well as work sheets, scripts and slides for facilitation of the program.
Administrator Courses $3500 flat fee
This half-day or full-day session is specifically designed to highlight what Administrators need to understand to support their teacher's implementation of Stepping Out in the school. Administrators receive background information on the research findings, the whole school, cross- curricular approach to literacy learning and a brief overview of the literacy framework and adolescent learning principles.
For more information on Professional Courses or Resources go to www.pearsonschoolcanada.ca
