Institute Trainings :: Summer Institute

Summer Institute: Proven Strategies for Student Success

 
The UPCS Institute hosts a summer institute to introduce small school leaders, teachers and partners to the philosophy and pedagogy of the University Park Campus School (UPCS) that have made it the highest performing urban high school in Massachusetts and a nationally recognized model high school.
 
The three and a half day summer institute coincides with the school's August Academy, an orientation program for all incoming seventh graders and high school preparation program for rising 9th graders. Institute participants are immersed in a pedagogy of practice and observe the making of a school culture beginning with the first weeks of school's entering class. UPCS teachers from the middle and high school levels share proven strategies that lead to student success and these master teachers inspire participants to return to their own school rejuvenated and ready to influence others.
 
The summer institute will focus on the school development and instructional design elements that have led to UPCS’ success. Specifically, participants will learn:
  • The strategies used by UPCS to prepare low-performing students and English language learners to excel in a non-tracked, college-preparatory program of study
  • How they can apply these practices to create exemplary schools
  • How to build powerful partnerships with colleges and universities that promote student success
Participation in the UPCS Summer Institute
The institute is designed to meet the needs of school leaders and teachers at secondary schools serving substantial numbers of students with low entry-level academic skills or Limited English Proficiency. Priority is given to early college high school intermediaries who are partnering with JFF to design and deliver year-long training cohorts for their school leaders and instructional coaches. Capacity is extremely limited, please contact Dan Restuccia, Training Director, to discuss availability of space prior to registering. 

Dates:
  • Session 1: July 28-31, 2009 (All spaces reserved.)
  • Session 2: August 4-7, 2009 (All spaces reserved.)
 
Contact:
 
Please contact Dan Restuccia, UPCS Institute Training Director, to inquire about availability and registration procedures.
 
Dan Restuccia
UPCS Institute Training Director
617.728.4446 x281
 
 
Apprenticeship for Excellence
 
Most professional development that focuses on strategies to raise the achievement of under-served students happens without real practitioners and students on site. That is not the case here. Institute participants will observe and participate in workshops with UPCS’ teachers from all major disciplines during an August Academy for rising seventh and ninth graders. They will learn to meet the challenge of enabling all students to achieve high standards.
 
The Summer Institute focuses on the high achievement/high support design principles and training participants to implement them at their own school. The design elements clarify the critical elements of UPCS' academic program and school culture and highlight the organizational practices that enable their implementation.
 
The instructional aspects of the program focuses on six key instructional strategies which form a coherent instructional program that scaffolds all students to college readiness at UPCS. The strategies emphasized are:
  • Collaborative group work
  • Writing to learn
  • Literacy groups/circles
  • Questioning Techniques
  • Scaffolding Text
  • Classroom Talk
School leaders will work with the founding principal, Donna Rodrigues and the development of their own schools and partnerships. Participants will visit the school, observe the induction of new students into the school’s culture, and watch master teachers work with students, guiding them on their path toward college success.
 
The institute will offer separate strands for school leaders and instructional coaches/teachers.
 
The Leadership Strand will focus on how to:
  • Incorporate the academic and organizational approaches of the UPCS model into your school’s design
  • Build a culture of achievement among the students so that they all believe in themselves and the power of helping each other
  • Implement a demanding, college preparatory core curriculum without pull-outs or tracking
  • Develop a professional culture committed to sharing, mutual support, collaboration, effective practice, and helping every student to learn
  • Design and build strong partnerships with all stakeholders, with a particular emphasis on developing strong college and community partnerships, to create a "community of commitment" to the school’s mission and student success.
  • Use data to inform practice
 
 
The Instructional Strand will focus on:
  • Effective strategies for promoting literacy and mathematical understanding including writing to learn, literacy groups/circles, questioning techniques, scaffolding texts, accountable talk, and collaborative group work strategies.
  • Use of differentiated and tiered instruction to support diverse learners, including English language learners, within a common classroom
  • Strategies to introduce students, from day one, to the analytic frameworks of the core disciplines, regardless of their incoming literacy levels (e.g., teaching students the basic methods of literacy analysis using picture books as the text).
  • Effective strategies for promoting literacy and mathematical understanding

Institute Schedule:
  • Tuesday: Orientation & Overview of Culture and Instructional Approach at UPCS
    12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
    • Orientation
    • Pre-round presentations
    • Introductory Math and English Workshops

  • Wednesday: In-Depth Workshops in School Leadership or Content Area Instruction
    8:00 am - 4:00 pm
    • Classroom observations
    • Leadership session or content-area specific sessions
    • Concurrent sessions on instructional topics
    • Team Time

  • Thursday: In-Depth Workshops in School Leadership or Content Area Instruction
    8:00 am - 4:00 pm 
    • Classroom observations
    • Leadership session or content-area specific sessions
    • Concurrent sessions on instructional topics
    • Team Time

  • Friday: Planning Your Own Exemplary School
    8:00 am - 12:00 pm
    • School improvement planning session for leaders
    • Lesson planning session for teachers
    • Team time
    • Presentations

 
Registration
Click here to register.
Reactions from Past Summer Institute Participants
It is an experience that every ECHS teacher and administrator should have! That was by far the most powerful P.D. I've done.
The presenters were vibrant and imaginative.
Totally awesome!!! I can't remember a more practice and relevant experience from an institute.
A wonderfully productive time for our group! The energy we are taking back for our opening will be obvious to all.
Comments on the Leadership Strand

This model of leadership should be the norm in the nation.

The leaders received concrete, practical advice on how to develop and run schools.
I plan to apply everything I've learned in the institute.
Comments on the Instructional Strand

I learned how to make writing a part of all curriculum areas.

The learned methods to engage reluctant writers.
Great example of non-traditional instruction.