Educators in the St. Thomas-St. John cohort celebrate at their certification ceremony on December 16 at Lockhart Elementary School.
Approximately 60 Virgin Islands Department of Education educators recently received certificates for completing 40 hours of intensive educational training in the Danielson Framework for Teaching. The weeks-long training was conducted by The Danielson Group and facilitated by the State Office of Curriculum and Instruction. Culminating activities for participants were held December 16, both at the Lockhart Elementary School in the St. Thomas-St. John district and at the St. Croix Curriculum Center in the St. Croix district. School administrators, subject coordinators and teachers, most of whom are members of their school-improvement team, participated in the training.
According to danielsongroup.org, "the Framework for Teaching is a research-based set of components of instruction, aligned to the INTASC standards, and grounded in a constructivist view of learning and teaching. The complex activity of teaching is divided into 22 components (and 76 smaller elements) clustered into four domains of teaching responsibility, including Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction and Professional Responsibilities."
State Curriculum and Instruction Director Yvette McMahon-Arnold, extending congratulations and expressing pride via teleconferencing at the St. Croix event, said, “This first cohort certified participants to be in-district Danielson facilitators in an effort to provide support to our teachers and administrators throughout the school districts.” McMahon-Arnold ensured the participants that the cohorts will continue because of the tremendous positive feedback she had received from them.
Guided by The Danielson Group Charter Member Elaine Phillips, Ed. S. and Consultant Ron Anderson, educators on St. Croix were involved in several timed exercises, which included one-on-one conversations about their experiences in the cohort and played a variety of games to reinforce the instructional methods they had learned. Consultant Anderson said the first cohort of The Danielson Group began in early December 2016, where participants visited each school in the school districts to observe teachers’ lesson plans and their instructional methods.
Phillips went on to say that they were celebrating achievement in the two-folded training program that will ultimately impact student learning. “Participants learned how to assist their schools and fellow teachers in strengthening instructional skills, reflecting on practices and using the Danielson framework for teaching as a tool to describe what excellence in teaching looks like,” she said. “They will use their training to give teachers feedback and engage them in professional conversations while reflecting on their practice. Training included an introduction into the framework for teaching, understanding the framework, and deepening observation skills.”
According to St. Croix Central High School Assistant Principal Vincent Gordon, Jr., Ph.D., The Danielson Group training was designed for teacher effectiveness and evaluation. “We learned how to utilize the Danielson framework to help teachers become more effective in sharing information with their students and the bottom line is that students can perform well at their grade level and of course beyond,” Dr. Gordon said. “And again, it’s about learning how teachers can become better at what they do, their experience, their credentials and it’s about them learning different strategies to help their students to become successful.”
St. Croix District Elementary Programs Coordinator Jeselle Cruse Peters, who participated in the weeks-long program, said she learned a lot from the training. “Because of this process that has happened we are looking at us educators growing professionally rather than simply looking at it as an evaluative tool,” she began. “Yes, it is being used as an evaluation process, but we are also looking at it as a means of growth. We realize that we are growing as professionals and that our training is going to impact our students as well. We want our students to succeed. As long as we continue the process as professionals, we will then take that information and use it to impact our students.”
This is the first year Virgin Islands' educators received Danielson framework training. In the St. Thomas-St. John District, participating educators shared the benefit of the training, stating that the instruction helped to both reinforce their skills as teachers as well as helped to expand their professional capabilities. Furthermore, members of the group say they expect to take the knowledge they received back to their respective schools and provide support to their peers when necessary.
St. Croix Educators showcase their certificates and engage in final training session on December 16 at the Curriculum Center.
