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Educators Get Schooled on Teacher Effectiveness at BHS Event

Nearly 200 educators convened at Baldwin High on Wednesday to confer during the second annual Regional Best Practices Summer Institute event, provided by a partnership of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and Pittsburgh Public Schools.

hosted the second annual Regional Best Practices Summer Institute event on Wednesday. The event, which was , drew approximately 200 educators together for a day-long conference on this year’s key topic: teacher effectiveness.

The constituency of the conference was composed of educational administrators and experts from local, state and national institutions and organizations, including superintendents from most of Allegheny County’s 42 school districts.

Superintendent Dr. Lawrence C. Korchnak addressed the large group to welcome them at the start of the day.

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When asked what teacher effectiveness is and how the event will promote it, Korchnak told the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch, “Teacher effectiveness is not just about teaching children information but about truly educating them in every way and preparing them for success in life. It involves connecting with students, developing significant relationships with them and engaging them in the learning process.

“Too often, educators are isolated from one another. This event is a way of bringing them together for a collaborative sharing of what best practice is in the trade.”

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That “collaborative sharing” Korchnak referenced came to life at the conference. Educational experts shared their research, experience and insights via presentations, micro-presentations and a keynote panel discussion.

Corinne Herlihy, Project Director of Harvard University's National Center for Teacher Effectiveness, delivered a presentation on “Measuring Effective Teaching,” which stressed the need for multiple objective tools to measure teaching effectiveness.

Once such tools are identified and measured, Herlihy said, they can be used to establish guidelines which can be implemented in school districts across the country to encourage more effective teaching.

This sentiment was echoed in the comments of former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Thomas Gluck, who told the B-W Patch, “Research has settled the question that an important element of raising successful students is effective teaching in the classroom. Right now, we’re trying to agree, as a general matter, what effectiveness looks like. We need to identify effectiveness, measure it and support our teachers on a pathway toward it.

“We look for the things that should be in the classroom, such as trained teachers, ongoing professional development and the integration of technology. But effectiveness is not just about input; it’s also about outcomes. So, we also look at student-achievement growth and yearly teacher evaluations as legitimate measures of effectiveness.”

As the current Senior Adviser to the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units, Gluck delivered closing remarks at the event. But, before the day was done, many other of his colleagues had important information and opinions to share.

Dr. Linda S. Lane, Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, talked about how getting students “across the (graduation) stage” is not enough anymore and how teachers must prepare students for life after high school, such as for a two- or four-year college, a professional trade school or entry into the work force.

Effective teaching, Lane said, is one of the main levers to achieve this preparedness.

Preparedness and effectiveness are ideals fundamental to the function of the AIU. Executive Director Dr. Linda Hippert sees it as the task of the AIU to work together with regional school districts, administrators and students to create a model region known for having the best practices and most effective teaching.

In fact, Hippert and her AIU associates have renamed Pittsburgh. To reflect their goal to have the area known as the best place on Earth to be a child, raise a child and educate a child, they refer to Pittsburgh as “Kidsburgh.”

Korchnak was pleased to tell the B-W Patch that all five schools in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District are expected to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards this year. He looks forward to formally announcing that achievement sometime in the fall.

“A big congratulations and thanks goes out to the whole team,” he said, “from the teachers to the administrators to the custodial staff. They all contribute to make our district what it is, and they all do a great job.”

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