Jackson teachers to collaborate on improving education

A new collaboration project at Jackson High School will mean more teamwork among teachers and a slight schedule change for students.

Beginning Jan. 10, the teachers will break into groups based on subject areas and meet for 20 minutes at the start of school every Monday morning to collaborate on improving student achievement.

Classes normally begin at 8:05 a.m. To make up for the 20 minutes lost on Mondays, school officials have extended the school day by two minutes. The remaining time will be made up using extra minutes already built into the school day, principal Rick McClard said.

McClard said bus schedules will remain the same, but when students arrive at school on Mondays they will wait in the library or gymnasium until the meeting is over.

The idea behind collaboration, McClard said, is to avoid teachers working in isolation. For each meeting, groups will have a set agenda prepared by one of the team members. Team members will be required to report on issues discussed in the meeting and evaluate the effectiveness of the discussion.

"We'll look at what we're doing in practice and at ways of improving how students are learning," McClard said. "It's really a learning process for teachers."

Jackson teachers are already doing something similar in vertical teams, but McClard said the focus of those groups are on curriculum that runs from sixth grade to 12th grade, and they only meet once a month or so.

"We've agreed on a curriculum. We know what we're supposed to teach. Now the question is, how effective are we?" McClard said.

Among other things, the collaborative groups will analyze data from students' assessments.

"The opportunity to analyze data and devise methods for addressing problems will be really important," said Carol Keen, a math teacher. "It will be a huge benefit to the school and for our students."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128