The North Carolina New Schools Project: Strategy | Integrated System of School Support Services

NCNSP's comprehensive approach to professional development, known as the Integrated System of School Support Services (IS4), has four key elements.

On-site, intensive coaching in leadership, instruction and school change provides direct support for school innovation while enhancing classroom practice among teachers. The coaches are highly qualified educational leaders with a proven record of achievement as high school teachers, principals or superintendents.

• The Leadership Coach provides direct support to principals engaged in high school redesign while guiding school leaders through reflective practice and the strategic planning process in the development of sustainable innovation. Leadership Coaches also facilitate professional development among teachers, principals and district administrators with protocols and other approved tools; advocate for the school within the district and in the community; and assist teachers and principals with ongoing analyses and interpretation of data as part on an ongoing cycle of continuous improvement.
• The Instructional Coach works with the school during the remaining four years of a school's partnership to help teachers in the classroom change their teaching -- working with teachers on their instructional strategies, watching teachers teach to suggest improvements and assisting in using data to make instructional changes.
• The School Change Coach works with a new school during its planning year and first year of implementation to provide both the technical assistance and direct support needed to align schools with the Design Principles, including facilitating meetings between key partners, assisting the school with network building and providing professional development focused on building the capacity of the staff to sustain the school.
  

NCNSP's North Carolina Center for Educational Leadership offers intensive and sustained professional development for principals of innovative high schools. Offerings are tightly aligned with teachers' professional development and include leadership coach support. Principals also visit an established innovative school within the NCNSP network.

Through Teaching For Results, NCNSP engages teachers in purposeful, research-based professional development aligned with leadership support for principals. Approaches include sharing best practices as well as facilitated visits and discussions among schools. Teachers host a Peer School Review and also act as critical friends on visits to two nearby schools, following the model of medical rounds used to train physicians. Reviews include time for reflecting and sharing best practices, learning new skills, planning improvements, and networking with colleagues within a region of the state.

Each school works with an assigned staff member who becomes both the expert and champion for the school, committed to working with the school to ensure progress and success. This dedicated staff member ensures that each school experiences a personal, sustained and meaningful relationship with NCNSP, as well as maintains a positive relationship with its school district.