College Park teachers demonstrate high‑leverage strategies tied to Hattie research

Michael Brock, principal at College Park, introduced a teacher‑led presentation on high‑leverage instructional strategies drawn from John Hattie’s meta‑analyses. Dr. Charice Kroner summarized Hattie’s methodology — describing Hattie’s "hinge point" effect size of 0.4 and noting Hattie’s synthesis of thousands of studies and hundreds of millions of students — as the frame for the practices presented.

Teachers showcased three classroom strategies: problem‑solving teaching (reported effect size ~0.61), deliberate practice supported by IXL data and the Writing Revolution for building summarization skills across content areas. A fourth‑grade teacher described using IXL skill plans aligned to state Forward exam standards to monitor proficiency and derive local cut scores that helped identify students likely to attain proficiency. Presenters shared classroom artifacts and short videos (some playback technical issues occurred during the presentation).

Board members and attendees asked about teacher professional development and how the district supports teacher study groups. Presenters said staff have run summer book studies, participated in networks such as the math leaders network and used weekly PLCs to plan instruction. Brock and Kroner said the district‑provided ELA curriculum and PLC time helped teachers implement strategies. The team emphasized that the model emphasizes in‑class Tier‑1 instruction supplemented by targeted pull‑outs rather than remediation outside of core instruction.

Next steps: presenters noted upcoming pilots of curricular programs and welcomed board questions; the board thanked the team for the demonstration.