Bridging theory & practice
Our approach to professional development bridges theory and practice to generate solutions that work for a multitude of schools. We are the only resource that provides micro expertise in urban and suburban schools as well as a macro perspective on global approaches to excellence in education. By leveraging affiliations with universities and schools — in New York and beyond — and engaging in ongoing dialogue and discovery, we provide innovative solutions that address the needs of school leaders and instructional staff.
Our team provides curricular, pedagogical support for schools and organizations through our core services, including content area coaching, classroom visits & conversations, and leadership coaching, as well as through our signature initiatives that support early career teachers, give voice to students authors, allow for immersive project-based learning experiences, and focus on cross-cultural collaborations.
Our team provides curricular, pedagogical support for schools and organizations through our core services, including content area coaching, classroom visits & conversations, and leadership coaching, as well as through our signature initiatives that support early career teachers, give voice to students authors, allow for immersive project-based learning experiences, and focus on cross-cultural collaborations.
Coaching philosophy
We work hard to meet the needs of teachers and school leaders within their own context. As you are striving to meet ever-changing standards, we’re striving to bridge gaps between theory, research, policy, and practice. As we design professional development projects — including job-embedded coaching, online courses, institutes, and retreats — we are constantly examining how our promising practices can be solidified. Through this examination, we’ve come to identify five principles of practice: cycles of inquiry, communities of practice, contextualized practice, cultivating strengths, and critical reflection, which inform our work and help to establish project-specific goals. These principles, also known as the 5Cs, provide a map to a project's outcomes. Achieving these outcomes creates dynamic and sustainable transformation within school communities.
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A collaborative approach to discourse and decision-making that works toward a shared goal. Foster communities of practice by cultivating relationships that build trust, honor diversity, acknowledge skill sets, and establish reciprocal accountability within school communities.
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While there are many patterns and trends in education, each partner, project and person is unique. We believe in designing each project to the culture, context, and concrete goals.
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Meta-cognition, self-awareness, and considering multiple viewpoints are all features of critical reflection that trigger inspired, strategic action. We learn from our successes and our missteps so that we can be constantly improving our practice.
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Grounded in the Growth Mindset, we believe in cultivating the strengths of each person in the community, valuing what each person does well, and leveraging those strengths to have an impact on areas of need.
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As educators, we must maintain a commitment to the inquiry process in which we identify challenges, pose questions, implement interventions, and monitor for improvements. It is this quest for understanding that fosters a learning community and helps us to evolve to meet the changing needs of our partners.
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Selected projects
With partners and projects in all five boroughs of New York City, the US, and internationally, our coaching team has a wide-reaching impact on K-12 educators. Through direct support for instructional strategies and coaching for leaders, content area teachers, and struggling teachers, we bring an attention to standards-aligned curriculum and innovative instructional practices, as well as modeling and mentoring to create a positive professional learning community for teachers and school leaders.
By offering both general instructional coaching and content-specific coaching, our K-12 professional development projects have cultivated strong partnerships with schools who return year after year for extended services. These partnerships develop strong relationships with their coaches, who evolve the work each year. These schools are stronger than other schools in their peer group as a direct result of our work together. Schools who work with CPET for two or more years tend to perform better on their Quality Reviews, see an increase in teacher performance according to Advance Ratings, and see an impact on student achievement data.
By offering both general instructional coaching and content-specific coaching, our K-12 professional development projects have cultivated strong partnerships with schools who return year after year for extended services. These partnerships develop strong relationships with their coaches, who evolve the work each year. These schools are stronger than other schools in their peer group as a direct result of our work together. Schools who work with CPET for two or more years tend to perform better on their Quality Reviews, see an increase in teacher performance according to Advance Ratings, and see an impact on student achievement data.
Empowering school leaders to design writing initiatives
Through our partnership with New Visions, we've created a series of custom-designed, monthly workshop sessions for Bronx, Queens and District 28 New Visions schools. The series is designed to support all assistant principals and literacy teachers in deepening their understanding of how to teach students the stages of the writing process and to empower the school leaders to design writing initiatives in their own schools.
We are responding to the district’s concerns that in order to be college-ready, students need to have excellent writing and communication skills. District leaders recognize that schools need outstanding administrators who understand the importance of writing as an invaluable tool for learning and a crucial skill for success in college and beyond. This series of workshops delve into writing across disciplines for college readiness, and includes writing theory, practice, and contextualized implementation.
Participants also develop their lenses for classroom observations and effective approaches to offering teachers feedback. During each session participants have the opportunity to:
• Explore research-based theory on stages of the writing process
• Strategically plan to implement writing practices across disciplines at their own schools with customized support
• Experience specific teaching writing strategies
• Develop discipline specific strategies
We are responding to the district’s concerns that in order to be college-ready, students need to have excellent writing and communication skills. District leaders recognize that schools need outstanding administrators who understand the importance of writing as an invaluable tool for learning and a crucial skill for success in college and beyond. This series of workshops delve into writing across disciplines for college readiness, and includes writing theory, practice, and contextualized implementation.
Participants also develop their lenses for classroom observations and effective approaches to offering teachers feedback. During each session participants have the opportunity to:
• Explore research-based theory on stages of the writing process
• Strategically plan to implement writing practices across disciplines at their own schools with customized support
• Experience specific teaching writing strategies
• Develop discipline specific strategies
Making data meaningful for elementary educators
Our partnership with PS114 in Brooklyn has been focused on enhancing their teachers' ability to draw upon state test data to guide instruction. To do this, our team developed a multiple regression model to test existing school data as predictors of student achievement. Using this model, we identified higher and lower priority indicators of student success to track in order to plan interventions this school year. We paired this model for intervention with an emphasis on improving our own data tracking capacities and when state test proficiency data came in, we supported the school in identifying where classroom-based assessments were more predictive of end of year performance. Using this evidence, we are now working with teachers across grade levels to export these promising practices for use toward cultivating evidence responsive pedagogy.
To inform our continued work with PS114, we partnered with the school to create detailed state test reports based on instructional reports released by the state. These CPET-created reports presented weighted achievement results within and across domains, combined with a nuanced analysis from our data specialist.
Many teachers remarked that these reports provided the clearest and most relevant state test data they had seen. One teacher shared, “In the past, I’ll be honest, I would not even look at the data because it was too hard to read. But this was so clear that I was actually able to understand what the numbers meant for my class.”
To inform our continued work with PS114, we partnered with the school to create detailed state test reports based on instructional reports released by the state. These CPET-created reports presented weighted achievement results within and across domains, combined with a nuanced analysis from our data specialist.
Many teachers remarked that these reports provided the clearest and most relevant state test data they had seen. One teacher shared, “In the past, I’ll be honest, I would not even look at the data because it was too hard to read. But this was so clear that I was actually able to understand what the numbers meant for my class.”
Equipping educators with tools for globally-minded curriculum
Our partnership with the Nazareth Area School District in Nazareth, PA has provided on-site coaching for educators within the district. Its primary focus has been on equipping Nazareth teachers with the tools and practices necessary for aligning their curriculum to state standards, as well as the Global Capacities Framework — a research-based set of habits of mind that were developed by CPET leaders in cooperation with universities and secondary school in the United States, Singapore, Finland, Australia, and China. Through several sets of workshops in the district, our coaches provide space for long-term planning, unit planning, curriculum design, and the design of performance tasks aligned with their educational objectives.
Leveraging technology for international connections
An exciting partnership with YouCH in Shanghai, China has allowed us to leverage technology as a means of providing high quality professional development to teachers 13 hours ahead and 7,300-plus miles from Teachers College. We launched live, online workshops customized for specific groupings of teachers: Primary and Secondary English Language and Primary and Secondary Science teachers.
From working in small groups, deepening discussions, and teaching with the arts to creatively designing rigorous projects and assessments, each workshop included:
• A focus on instructional strategies relevant to the grade level and content area(s) of the participants
• Examples of practical skills teachers can use in the classroom integrated into each workshop; and
• Tools to support 21st century practices with the resources available
Our work with YouCH is an example of how our professional development is designed in partnership, with the unique needs and context of teachers at the forefront of planning, resulting in truly customized instruction for educators from New York City to halfway around the globe!
From working in small groups, deepening discussions, and teaching with the arts to creatively designing rigorous projects and assessments, each workshop included:
• A focus on instructional strategies relevant to the grade level and content area(s) of the participants
• Examples of practical skills teachers can use in the classroom integrated into each workshop; and
• Tools to support 21st century practices with the resources available
Our work with YouCH is an example of how our professional development is designed in partnership, with the unique needs and context of teachers at the forefront of planning, resulting in truly customized instruction for educators from New York City to halfway around the globe!
Creating cohesive curriculum
Our team has helped to reinvigorate River Vale School District’s pedagogical practice by incorporating 21st century skills into the heart of their K-12 curriculum. Through their Portrait of a Graduate project, they identified key skills that students need to master as they transition from school to career. CPET coaches led teachers through the exploration of 21st century skills and global capacities, and considered the implications of integrating these skills into the existing curriculum and assessment framework. Teachers transformed a simple writing prompt into dynamic, multifaceted projects with the addition of learning goals from the Global Capacities Framework.
