The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform an amendment to extend a Grant Agreement, as follows:

With:

William Penn Foundation or its affiliates

Purpose:

To provide professional development to K-3 teachers in early literacy

Grant Start Date:  12/1/2017

Current End Date:  8/31/2022

Amended End Date:  8/31/2023

Current Amount Granted: $2,062,100

Additional Amount Granted: Unchanged

Location:

All Elementary Schools

Description:

Due to implementation delays caused by the pandemic, the William Penn Foundation has approved an extension to its current grant to allow teacher training to continue through the summer of 2023. Eligible participants include teachers new to the District, teachers new to the K-3 grade band, and current K-3 teachers who were not able to participate in previous professional development and/or who might benefit from additional training in reading instruction. Grant funding also supports the development of 14 hours worth of online professional development in early literacy topics that will be owned by the District and can be offered to K-3 teachers at various times throughout the year on an as-needed basis.

The content of the professional development being offered is designed to help teachers become confident in implementing the English Language Arts components of the District’s curriculum and Academic Framework, and includes learning about the research and evidence about the science of reading instruction, so as to ensure that all students are able to read on or above grade level.

Student reading proficiency levels will continue to be tracked and monitored at the student, school and District levels.  The Office of Research and Evaluation will also continue to evaluate the efficacy of the professional development offered to teachers, considering multiple sources of data that include changes to teacher knowledge and practice, the results of teacher satisfaction surveys, and direct observation of professional development sessions.

All of the professional learning provided through this effort is aligned to the District's English Language Arts instructional guidance which is grounded in the science of reading instruction.  The sessions offered are developed and revised regularly by the District’s curriculum staff as well as practicing teachers to ensure that they are evidence-based, practical and relevant.

Related Resolution(s)/Action Item(s):

December 10, 2020; No. 6

December 14, 2017; B-4