Fisher & Frey

For this blog entry I will be discussing  "Implementing a School-wide Literacy Framework: Improving Achievement in an Urban Elementary School" by Douglass Fisher and Nancy Frey. It was enlightening to read about the Rosa Parks Elementary School and how they transformed their school by implementing a school wide literacy approach. The Principal allowed the teachers to abandon the scripted literacy curriculum to create a plan that would work for their school. They wanted to implement a plan that everyone believed in and everyone followed. Initially, they drafted their core beliefs about literacy. They believed learning is social, conversations are critical for learning, reading writing, and oral language instruction must be integrated, learners require a gradual increase in responsibility. They then proceeded to develop an instructional framework that supported their core beliefs about literacy. Once this was established they needed a school wide plan to on-board teachers effectively. They created focused professional developments, learning communities, and peer coaching to ensure their teachers were adequately prepared to implement the framework created. This carefully constructed method worked for Rosa Parks Elementary School. Their plan was most beneficial because they created consistency across grades that kids become familiar with. 

What I learned most from reading this was change needs to be implemented from within. In our current school system, the ETO has tried to implement some of the practices discussed in this article, such as an instructional framework, professional developments, learning communities, peer coaches, but we are not seeing the same results as Rosa Parks Elementary. I believe we are not seeing the same results because change comes from within a school. The first thing Rosa Parks Elementary school did was sit down and clarified their core beliefs about literacy. Their beliefs did not come from an external group of people imposing  beliefs on the school. After clarifying their core beliefs and what worked best for children, they were able to create an instructional framework that worked for their school. Because everything came from in-house conversations, they were able to take ownership over it, they created their own professional developments, and their professional learning communities were geared towards their needs, and what their school needed to propel their literacy plan forward. In our district it is very hard for us as teachers to implement the ETO's plan with fidelity when we do not share their beliefs, and what they think is best for children does not always work for our students. In order for us to see the same results Rosa Parks Elementary school is seeing we need to create a plan that works for our teachers and our students. We need to come together as a school and define our core beliefs about literacy and what works best for our students. From there we can create an instructional framework we believe in. I believe when teachers have autonomy they can create great things that they are more likely implement with fidelity. Additionally, teachers will constantly work on improving the plan to fit the needs of their school.