The Institute for Learning earned another $1M from the Hewlett Foundation

The Institute for Learning (IFL) received another $1 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to continue its work strengthening English language arts (ELA) instruction in middle schools by integrating student-centered, research-based practices.

Over the past school year, the IFL — the practice arm of the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center — spearheaded work in two regional districts to strengthen student performance in fifth through eighth grade literacy. The collaboration with educational non-profit TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) focuses on integrating student-centered practices in the classroom, which position students as active meaning-makers engaging deeply with complex texts through reasoning, discussion and writing.

IFL Fellows, led by Sara DeMartino and Cheryl Sandora, work on-site and online to support teachers at Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the School District (SD) of the City of York collaborating to analyze data from each district, learning about effective instructional change rooted in student-centered practices and sharing those techniques. In addition, the IFL and TNTP run leadership meetings for school principals learning to function as instructional leaders and learning to support network improvement. The initiative establishes Network Improvement Communities (NICs), cross-school networks to facilitate the sharing of best practices and resources related to student-centered instruction. The networks support teachers and principals to adapt high-quality instructional materials to incorporate student-centered practices.  

During a July gathering, many participants said the practices of comparing notes and sharing approaches with colleagues contribute to a newfound sense of communal responsibility. As Ann Fillmore, executive director of K-12 literacy at Pittsburgh Public Schools observed: “You are accountable to your students and to your school, but you are also accountable to the learning community of other instructional leaders that are in the network.”

In the SD of the City of York, principals and coaches participated in monthly Zoom calls focused on aligning leadership’s vision for effective literacy instruction with that of the vision being built by network teachers. Kate Fritz, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, SD of York City, noted, “It is very powerful to have principals on the calls. It sends a message to everyone that they (the principals) are prioritizing support for the community of instructional leaders.”

PPS Assistant Superintendent Monica Lamar noted “We can’t do this work alone. We have a community of great school leaders and great teachers that contribute to its success.”

In the SD of the City of York, social studies teachers were invited to share their use of the practices with the literacy network. Kate Fritz, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, noted that the social studies teachers created another informal cross-content collaboration as well.

“What’s really remarkable is that we have people from different schools within a single district collaborating, we have two districts collaborating and we have two educational organizations collaborating — it’s really rare to have that happen,” said Tony Petrosky, co-director of the IFL and a faculty member in Pitt’s School of Education. “This is now a living network with people  collaborating within and across their districts.”

Helping students in schools in Pennsylvania is just the beginning. The IFL, in collaboration with TNTP, has also written a national playbook that will offer a practical roadmap to help districts implement impactful, effective NICs and develop leader capacity to sustain positive instructional results.

For the IFL and TNTP, this work is also about supporting districts to build a sustainable system for improvement. This year, the project aims to further build district capacity to support and lead network meetings. The goal for its third year is to scale up and spread the work districtwide.

“We want every student to experience classrooms where their thinking and voices are central to the learning. Because of the expertise already built across both districts, teachers and leaders will be well-poised to champion this work together and sustain it over time,” said IFL Executive Director Angela Allie.

Read more about the project on the LRDC site.