Self-Assessment: Model 

Wellcome Middle School has developed a professional learning system in which STEM-related professional development is personalized, data-driven, and directly aligned to teacher needs. Professional learning decisions are informed by a variety of data sources, including STEM and administrative walkthroughs, surveys, teacher PDP goals, instructional evaluations, informal feedback, and priorities identified through the STEM Business Advisory Council. Teachers consistently identify areas such as writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, reading, rigor, engineering design, and career integration as areas for growth, and these needs directly shape the professional learning offered at the school.

Professional learning is grounded in daily instructional practice and embedded into teachers’ regular responsibilities. All teachers engage in multiple forms of job-embedded professional learning, including coaching, modeling, peer observation, mentoring, and collaborative lesson design. Walkthroughs emphasize the 4 C’s of 21st-century learning—critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity—as well as AVID’s WICOR framework: writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading. Feedback collected through these walkthroughs informs both individual and schoolwide professional development sessions, ensuring that support is closely aligned to instructional trends, student needs, and the goals of the STEM program. Wellcome Middle also has a direct focus on the following high-yield strategies: vocabulary, collaborative pairs, and writing. Targeted professional learning is offered to strengthen teachers' ability to incorporate these strategies in their classrooms. 

Co-teaching and classroom modeling are used to provide hands-on support for inquiry-based instruction, rigorous questioning, literacy integration, and collaborative structures. Mentoring continues to be a core component of job-embedded learning, with beginning teachers supported by trained mentors who help build capacity in planning, classroom management, instructional clarity, and reflective practice. Teachers also participate in collaborative planning sessions focused on writing across the curriculum, analyzing complex texts, designing inquiry-based tasks, and strengthening student engagement through structured collaboration and organizational routines.

Administrators play an active and ongoing role in shaping STEM-related professional learning. Administrative walkthrough data, centered on the 4 C’s and WICOR, directly informs schoolwide PD priorities and coaching cycles. School leaders participate in professional learning connected to STEM instructional leadership, project-based learning, AVID implementation, equitable instructional practices, and career-connected learning. Their engagement ensures a strong alignment between STEM goals, AVID strategies, and the expectations for rigorous, inquiry-driven instruction in every classroom.

Through these structures, professional learning at Wellcome Middle School remains personalized, reflective of teacher voice, and embedded in instructional practice. The focus on writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, reading, and rigor ensures that STEM instruction is deeply connected to AVID practices and 21st-century learning expectations, creating a coherent system where all teachers receive targeted, ongoing support to strengthen their STEM pedagogy.

Professional learning is based on school-wide goals and self-identified needs from data collected from the following:

• survey data

• STEM walkthrough data

• administrative observation data

• instructional walkthrough data- occurs 5 times per week

• professional development plans

STEM Walkthrough Questions and Sample Responses

STEM check-ins have continued with the principal, STEM Coordinator, and District STEM Coordinator. These meetings occur monthly. During this time, the STEM program is discussed. We determine what is working and what should be changed to move the program forward.

At Wellcome Middle School, all beginning teachers (BT) are paired with an experienced, trained mentor.  The mentor provides assistance and guidance in lesson planning, classroom management, goal setting, teaching strategies, and overall reflection of their teaching practices.  A mentor will also observe the BT and provide useful feedback to help the BT grow as an educator.  If needed, the mentor will also teach a lesson for the BT to observe to model best practices.  

Dr. Neal does a great job of communicating with families about STEM events at WMS.