Concord Road Elementary is a K-4 school in an upper-middle class suburb, 20 miles north of New York City. The students at Concord Road have consistently met and exceeded New York State performance requirements. Teachers therefore approach professional development not as a vehicle to totally change what is already working, but as a means to extend and refine their knowledge and skills based on current research and theory.

Professional development initiatives are the essence of many building conversations. Administrators, as well as teachers, read, discuss, and meet with consultants, attend workshops and conferences and become involved in mutually determined initiatives. Curriculum time is provided so that teachers (K-4) can meet weekly to discuss curricular issues. The heart of the professional development program lies in grade-level and cross-grade common interest teams that are routinely given the opportunity to meet with experts, as well as to problem solve as a group.

New ideas are introduced and change is effected through a four-phase process: awareness, orientation, guided implementation and evaluation. The four-phase process includes a staff introduction establishing awareness about the proposed professional development initiative. Then small group or individualized orientation occurs during which information is gathered, planning occurs, and questions are addressed. Guided implementation follows as consultants and/or school administrators provide feedback, as well as ample time for peer collaboration and discussion. Success or additional needs are assessed during the evaluation stage.

One of the goals of the Concord Road professional development program is to improve teachers' ability to work with diverse learners within the classroom setting. This goal is clearly being met as evidenced by the fact that special education and limited-English-proficient students are making consistent progress. In 1997, 90% of the special education students met the minimum competency requirements in reading, while in 1998 and 1999 100% of special education students performed at or above the minimal requirement. On the math assessment based on the New York State learning standards, 98% of the fourth graders performed at the proficient and advanced levels. Students are required not only to demonstrate computational accuracy, but also to explain and support their problem-solving strategies in writing.

Contact Information

Concord Road Elementary School
Rochelle B. Cohen, Principal
Concord Road
Ardsley, New York 10502
914-693-7510
914-693-8720 (fax)
shcohen@ric.lhric.org

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