The Mission of the New Albany-Plain Local School District is to create a Learning Community that empowers our young people to develop the knowledge, talents, and virtues necessary for success in a changing world.
As part of that mission our staff embraces the model of a Professional Learning Community as it is described in Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement, by Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker. Based upon that model, we are engaged in continued discussion of the following questions as part of our professional collaboration and work to increase student achievement:
- What is it that students need to know, understand, and be able to do in each course or curricular area?
- How will we know when students know what they need to know? How do we best assess student learning for each course or curricular area?
- How do we help those students who are not successful in learning all that they need to learn?
- How do we help those students who learn what they need to know but may be capable of extending that learning even further?
One of the key components of a Professional Learning Community is ongoing teacher collaboration and reflection that is centered around the goal of increasing student achievement. Therefore, all professional development for the staff of the New Albany-Plain Local School District is purposeful and is designed with that goal in mind. Teachers of all grade levels and departments meet regularly and are engaged in ongoing curriculum work. To learn more about that process see the link entitled K-12 Curriculum Work Process.
This website has been developed as a resource to highlight the work that is being done by our staff in all grade levels and departments. It is also an effort to involve all of our stakeholders— staff, students, parents, and community members— in the process of working together collaboratively to increase student achievement. Please feel free to discuss any of this work with the staff as they are all involved in this process.
Please note that all of the documents shown are “works in progress” and are under continuous revision and development.