Grade Level Student Achievement Teams

According to research, goal setting, along with collaboration, regular monitoring and adjusting actions toward those goals, produces positive results. AEMP schools can maximize the effectiveness of the Academic English Mastery Program intervention by implementing Grade Level Student Achievement Teams (GSAT’s) at their site. GSAT’s are critical inquiry groups which engage teachers in an exciting, critical, and dynamic collaborative learning process. GSATs encourage teachers as researchers and facilitate the process of garnering effective, consistent instruction throughout the school.

GSAT components include:

MONTHLY MEETINGS
On a monthly basis, each GSAT meets after regular work hours to discuss instructional issues that are related to student outcomes and student achievement. Possible topics include lesson planning and lesson study, student products, instructional strategies, use of resources, classroom environment, and assessment. The primary goal is to improve instructional practices in the classroom and create a climate where teachers feel comfortable as researchers sharing and discussing their practice.

PEER COACHING
This research-based professional development method encourages and enhances collegiality and improved instruction. It is an on-going, confidential process that allows teachers to share expertise, provide feedback and support, and assist each other in developing and refining classroom skills. Peer coaching provides one-to-one opportunities for non-evaluative feedback in a non-threatening situation. At its essence, the peer coaching model allows teachers to learn from one another as they plan instruction, develop support materials, and watch one another work with students, while considering the impact of their behavior on student outcomes and achievement.

FOCUS ON STUDENT WORK
This critical friends group of teachers meets on a monthly or bi-weekly basis after school to extend the discussion to specific student outcomes and broader issues within the school. The process encourages teachers to offer feedback to each other in challenging but non-threatening ways. The purpose is to increase student achievement and to create an avenue for open, candid dialogue in a positive environment.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AEMP PROGRAM CONTACT:
Noma LeMoine Ph.D., Director (noma.lemoine@lausd.net)
Programs for Standard English Learners
Academic English Mastery Program
333 Beaudry, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Instructional Support Services, 25th Floor, Room-131
PHONE (213) 241-3340 FAX: (213) 241-8495