Vertical conversations can strengthen the school as a system and can be a powerful vehicle for building a staircase of proficiency as students move from grade to grade.  Building upon the work of horizontal teams, vertical conversations promote a wide-angle view of student learning and further promote collective responsibility for the students within a school.  Vertically aligning our learning targets and identifying key gaps/overlaps is crucial in developing a guaranteed and viable curriculum.  

What evidence can the receiving team gather about student learning that could be helpful to the sending team? Precise and specific feedback is far more effective than generalities. The statement "These kids don’t know how to write" is not helpful. "Forty percent of the students struggle with making transitions between paragraphs" could be very helpful to a team focusing its efforts on ways to benefit students.

*It can be an easy trap to fall into the "These kids don't know_____".   Just a friendly reminder that Teacher TEAMS are working extremely hard.  It's not like the previous grade is sitting back and saying....welp, it's their problem next year.    Everyone is working hard...let's work together to make sure we are ALL working together!  

Collective Teacher Efficacy: (1.57) refers to a staff’s shared belief that through their collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes, including those who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new teaching approaches, set more challenging goals, and attend more closely to the needs of students who require extra assistance. In addition, when collective efficacy is present, staffs are better equipped to foster positive behaviour in students and in raising students’ expectations of themselves by convincing them that they can do well in school.