·      Direct, Interactive, Engaged Instruction – This is a collection of instructional practices combined together to help teachers design and deliver well-crafted lessons that insure rigorous content is taught with a high level of student engagement.  It is based on a gradual release model using teacher-centered, direct instruction while guiding students to independent practice or extended learning activities. This model is designed to improve learning for all students and has been implemented at all schools in the Fowler Unified School District.

 

·    Professional Learning Communities – Teachers and administrators in a school share learning strategies and classroom practices, then act on what they learned to enhance instruction and improve student performance throughout the school, including observing their peers teach instructional strategies.  Principals and teachers meet regularly with their staff to discuss teaching strategies and student outcomes.

 

·      Using Data to Inform Instruction –Tremendous efforts have been made in Fowler Unified School District in this area, as benchmark assessments in core subject areas have been developed by teachers, and are analyzed utilizing a software system called Data Director. These exams are given to students in core subjects and used by staff to check skill mastery and progress on state standards.

 

·      Response to Intervention – RTI, a program designed to catch struggling students in the early grades to address their deficiencies, has been refined at the K-5 level.  The ability to scaffold (breaking a complex task into smaller tasks) and model the desired learning strategy is just one component of the RTI program that is being successfully utilized in all elementary schools; with the goal of having students be successful readers by 3^rd grade.

 

·      Addressing Common Core State Standards – Teachers will emphasize the new Common Core State Standards in all subjects. These new standards focus more attention on expository/ informational text, writing in all subject areas, and integrated performance tasks at an increased level of rigor in Math and English/ Language Arts. The goal is to graduate students that are college and career ready.