Develop at Achievement Prep

Developing great teachers is a priority for Achievement Prep. We believe that education is the greatest equalizer and our teachers play the most critical role in shaping scholar mastery. Teaching is brain surgery – each teacher decides what does or does not go into a child’s brain each day. It is our job to equip our surgeons with the tools needed to help our scholars soar.

We develop great teachers by:

Summer Institute: Beginning with a four-week intense summer program Achievement Prep Platinum Teachers are exposed to best practices in curriculum development, instructional practices, and culture.

Wednesday Professional Development: Every Wednesday is early dismissal for scholars and the afternoon is dedicated to teacher professional development. Platinum teachers spend the afternoon in a school-wide group or in grade level teams to participate in sessions that push the planning and practice of instruction and management. Professional development sessions are developed based on real-time areas of need for the school community.

Observation and Feedback: Teachers are observed, formally and informally, at least 20 times throughout the year. Those observations result in immediate, real-time feedback on strengths and weaknesses. These observations then feed into twice-yearly formal evaluations.

Weekly Individual Professional Development Meetings: Every teacher has a bi-weekly, thirty-minute professional development meeting with their school leader that focuses on upcoming curriculum, scholar data, and an individual professional development goal.

Video Analysis: We believe there is power in using video to improve one’s craft. Achievement Prep teachers are regularly videoed and that video is analyzed with leadership and/or peers in order to help improve instruction.

Accessible Leadership: Our instructional leaders know that we can’t support teachers if we do not know what’s happening in classrooms. All Achievement Prep instructional leaders are in classrooms, hallways, and common spaces to support teaching and learning. With an open door policy, Achievement Prep teachers know they can reach their leaders for support before, during, and after the school day.