Beliefs

• Student assessment and instruction are fundamentally interconnected – meaning the teacher can promote or can significantly hinder student achievement.
• Equity is a criterion of excellence – an equitable approach to excellence is possible in schools, in homes, in the community and in the workplace.
• An effective educator accepts the responsibility of leadership as part of being a lifelong learner. Education leadership can be encouraged and developed through effective professional development programs, and partnerships.
• Effective mentors are actively involved in learning communities based on peer review, and they provide support to interns to become part of a learning community as a peer.
• Standards become internalized when educators are part of a learning community that has protocols in place designed to examine actual work products through the lens of congruency – the connections among the stated performance indicators, the assigned tasks, the objectives, and the assessment tools being used.
• Effective teachers disaggregate their own students’ assessment data to improve instruction through inquiry.
• Effective educators use technological tools to manage resources efficiently.