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PreK On My Way Case Study Report
Teachers and instructional staff members in District A participated in more training than those in District B. In District A, online professional development was spread over five days where Scholastic provided approximately three hours of professional development each day. In contrast, in District B, teachers and staff members only received one full day of professional development. However, teachers and instructional staff members in District B received training before teachers and instructional staff members in District A. Due to delays in the curriculum adoption process, District A did not receive PKOMW materials until after the school year started, which meant that they did not receive professional development until late fall 2021. In contrast, many (but not all) teachers in District B received training in the summer before the school year started. One district staff member mentioned that the timing of professional development is important to starting out the school year on track.
Coaching. Most teachers ( n = 3) reported the in-person coaching as an especially valuable aspect of training. The in-person coaching session involved a Scholastic coach observing PKOMW implementation in the classroom and then debriefing with and providing feedback to teachers and district staff members/center directors. For example, a center director shared that a Scholastic coach provided feedback on how best to transition from whole-group to small-group activities so that students remained engaged with the lesson.
“I enjoyed it [ in-person coaching ]. I found it always very helpful. It helps me organize my thoughts and next steps for my students .” - PreK Teacher
The in-person Scholastic Professional Learning coaching took place in spring 2022, when pandemic restrictions were lifted from having visitors in the classroom. During these coaching sessions, coaches worked with teachers to troubleshoot any questions they had about the curriculum and work out the details of implementation. For example, one teacher described how she worked with a Scholastic coach to review a PKOMW lesson plan and look at the different resources on the PKOMW online teacher hub. This helped the teacher to better understand the online resources that were available and how to use them. Other Training . Additional training activities helped support teachers with PKOMW curriculum implementation. District A engaged in two types of training that District B did not. Scholastic provided instructional walk-through coaching sessions to teachers and district leaders to help them understand PKOMW further and what they should look for in classrooms during PKOMW implementation. District A piloted virtual coaching check-ins with teachers where they could pop in and ask questions. However, teachers did not attend these check-ins because they were optional, so District A decided to discontinue these check-ins, but planned to continue the in-person coaching sessions.
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