WGBY Offers a Conference Focused on Curriculum Mapping

During Grant Year 1, WGBY worked with FreshPond Education to develop a hybrid TeacherLine course, using both face-to-face meetings and online learning. While working on this project, they talked with districts and found many of the same topics popping up. Topics included curriculum mapping, closing the achievement gap, and alignment to standards. To help address these topics and promote PBS TeacherLine professional development, WGBY partnered once again with FreshPond Education for Grant Year 2 to run a series of seminars leading up to a regional conference on March 15, 2007 with key note address by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. The seminars will focus on helping school districts and teachers map curriculum, align to standards, and assess professional development needs and goals as well as regional examples of how TeacherLine can help them achieve these goals. The conference will bring together seminar participants and learners that have taken or are interested in INST300 Curriculum Mapping. The conference will have a computer lab in which attendees can learn more about online course offerings and professional development addressing streamlined curriculum and the achievement gap.

Update, March 2007

WGBY partnered with FreshPond Education to conduct a series of professional development seminars throughout their region. The seminars culminated in an educational conference— with almost 300 participants—on March 15 that was keynoted by Dr. Heidi Hayes-Jacobs, renowned expert on curriculum mapping in K-12 and author of PBS TeacherLine courses Curriculum Mapping I and II. The seminars and the conference engaged district leaders-- principals, professional development directors, and superintendents--in exploring curriculum mapping and featuring PBS TeacherLine as a solution that meets the professional development needs of the teachers in their districts.

One key ingredient to this successful project was leveraging relationships. WGBY was able to leverage the strong connection FreshPond has with school districts in the region and their experience with face-to-face professional development. WGBY also leveraged their relationship with the Massachusetts Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (MASCD), which helped to endorse the seminars and conference. Strategic promotions, such as discounts for groups and free conference registration for TeacherLine learners, helped to generate interest in the conference.

This project can be replicated in any area. All that is needed is a partnership with education organizations that have strong ties to schools and understand the needs of schools and districts so seminars and conference can be tailored.

Please contact Heather Lavigne ([email protected]) for further information on this project