FEBRUARY INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES

Below is our Instructional Framework monthly update for February:

Learning Walks:

Our Instructional Framework Implementation team conducted our second round of Learning Walks at eight schools on February 1st and 2nd and then engaged in a half day debrief discussion on February 3rd. The eight schools that we visited in February were Ainsworth, Beaumont, Grant, Jason Lee, Kellogg, Rigler, Roosevelt, and Woodstock.

The purpose of the Learning Walks is continued calibration around what grade level standards aligned instruction looks like in action, progress monitoring implementation, increasing collaboration and reducing siloing of our work, and informing how we better support schools. These Learning Walk experiences are truly for learning and continuous improvement for our system and are not evaluative.

You can review a summary of the data from February with some comparisons to October in this slide deck. OTL, OSP, and OSSS are developing “action plans” to be carried out over the next 2 months to address the findings before the May Learning Walks. In March, we will be planning for our next round of Learning Walks in early May and reach out to building leaders of schools that are selected.

Developmental Continuum Working Group:

We had our fourth Working Group session on February 15th and have two more scheduled for March. The team is continuing to evolve “I” statements across grade bands that connect to the student indicators of the instructional framework for three of the Graduate Portrait elements: Inclusive and Collaborative Problem Solvers, Inquisitive Critical Thinkers with Deep Core Knowledge, and Transformative Racial Equity Leaders. 

In addition, the team engaged in a Student Persona activity to personalize the experiences of students and think about how student experiences might bring to life the “I” statements that we are drafting. You can learn more about the activity and see the Jamboards that the teams created in this PDF. We are planning for small group conversations with students and families over the next few months to bring more student and family voice into the process and inform the creation of additional Student Personas to include in the Developmental Continuum process. 

Finally, we joined the RESJ Partnership Quarter 2 Meeting on Monday, February 27th to share the Developmental Continuum work and discuss how RESJ partners might use the continuum and how they support students in achieving the Graduate Portrait elements that we are focusing on.

Advisory Group:

We did not have an Advisory Group session in February and our next meeting is on March 9th. We plan to review and discuss the learnings from the Listening Tours that Advisory Group members have been conducting over the past few months and check-in on progress with our Developmental Continuum Working Group.

Feedback/Questions?

Please fill out this form with any feedback or suggestions. We’d love to hear from you about bright spots for implementing the instructional framework, as well as opportunities for additional support and thought partnership.

Kimberlee Armstrong, Chief Academic Officer

JANUARY INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES

Below is our Instructional Framework monthly update for January:

Learning Walks:

Our Instructional Framework Implementation team is conducting our second round of Learning Walks at eight schools across February 1st and 2nd with a step back and debrief discussion on February 3rd. The purpose of the Learning Walks is continued calibration around what grade level standards aligned instruction looks like in action, progress monitoring implementation, increasing collaboration and reducing siloing of our work, and informing how we better support schools. These Learning Walk experiences are truly for learning and continuous improvement for our system and are not evaluative.

The Learning Walks consist of a morning meeting and afternoon debrief with the building leader, a focus group with teachers, classroom visits and calibration time. We will compile the data collected in February and share a summary of data from our fall and winter Learning Walks. We have a third round of Learning Walks scheduled for the Spring.

How Schools Are Selected for Learning Walks: 

• Sampling of schools that includes diverse representation of grade bands, SCI/TSI/Title, DLI programs, areas of the city, etc.

• No schools with new Principals

• No schools that had an Academic Diagnostic Site Visit in the Spring of 2022

• The first eight schools we are visiting in February are Ainsworth, Beaumont, Grant, Jason Lee, Kellogg Rigler, Roosevelt, and Woodstock

Developmental Continuum Working Group:

We’ve had three Developmental Continuum Working Group sessions thus far. This is a team that includes students, teachers, instructional coaches, building leaders, TOSAs, and other central office leaders who are collaborating to co-create a PK-12 Developmental Continuum that backwards maps elements of the Graduate Portrait. 

The team is starting to draft “I” statements that connect to the student indicators of the instructional framework for three of the Graduate Portrait elements: Inclusive and Collaborative Problem Solvers, Inquisitive Critical Thinkers with Deep Core Knowledge, and Transformative Racial Equity Leaders. These “I” statements will progress across grade bands to show the development of skills on the path to graduation.

The team is really grappling with key questions related to the Developmental Continuum, including the audience for the tool, the specific grade bands or proficiency levels to represent, how the skills and competencies progress over time, and how the tool can be directly connected to and support the instructional framework and MTSS. These slides provide a summary of our discussions in December and January and we took some of the key questions to the January 18th Advisory Group for more input (more information below).

Advisory Group:

We held our third Advisory Group session on January 18th and our discussion focused on the third element of our team purpose below:

• Provide feedback about the implementation of the instructional framework, including successes and challenges, and inform how we evolve our implementation over time.

• Compile resources that showcase effective practices and artifacts within PPS classrooms to support our Educators bringing the Instructional Framework to life.

• Provide input on drafts of our PK-12 Developmental Continuum, which will be a tool that connects to the instructional framework and establishes developmental milestones to benchmark progress towards our PPS Graduate Portrait.

This document captures the themes from our discussion and feedback from the group and you can access the resources from the session on our Instructional Framework Website. Advisory Group members will be conducting a Listening Tour at their sites if they haven’t already over the next month to hear from colleagues what types of resources would be helpful to support making sense of and implementing the framework.

Feedback/Questions?

Please fill out this form with any feedback or suggestions. We’d love to hear from you about bright spots for implementing the instructional framework, as well as opportunities for additional support and thought partnership.

Kimberlee Armstrong, Chief Academic Officer

DECEMBER INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES

Below is our monthly update for December about our ongoing implementation of the PPS Instructional Framework! 

Advisory Group:

We held our second Advisory Group session on November 30th and our discussion focused on the second element of our team purpose below:

• Provide feedback about the implementation of the instructional framework, including successes and challenges, and inform how we evolve our implementation over time.

• Compile resources that showcase effective practices and artifacts within PPS classrooms to support our Educators bringing the Instructional Framework to life.

• Provide input on drafts of our PK-12 Developmental Continuum, which will be a tool that connects to the instructional framework and establishes developmental milestones to benchmark progress towards our PPS Graduate Portrait.

The team is grappling with what types of resources and artifacts would be helpful for educators at this early stage of implementation of the framework and how we lift up bright spots of teacher practice within our system. This document captures the themes from our discussion and feedback from the group and you can access the resources from the session on our Instructional Framework Website. Advisory Group members will also be conducting a Listening Tour over the next six weeks to hear from colleagues what types of resources would be helpful to support making sense of and implementing the framework.

Developmental Continuum Working Group:

We kicked off our Developmental Continuum Working Group on December 7th. This is a team that includes students, teachers, instructional coaches, building leaders, TOSAs, and other central office leaders who will collaborate to co-create a PK-12 Developmental Continuum that backwards maps elements of the Graduate Portrait. Below is more context about this work and we will share more as the team continues to progress through discussions.

• Goal #2 from Forward Together Strategic Plan (page 28 of the document, page 30 of the PDF) Describes the Work: Backward map and build out the developmental continuum (PK–12) of the Graduate Portrait. Following this, develop corresponding performance-based assessments to demonstrate mastery, in alignment with the Instructional Framework, for all levels.

• The initial elements included on the Developmental Continuum are described starting on Page 20 of our PPS ReImagined Vision document - we plan to start with the three on page 20 that connect most closely to the Instructional Framework

• Theory of Action statement connecting the Developmental Continuum: If we develop a PK-12 Continuum that articulates what the Graduate Portrait elements look like for a learner on a successful path in each grade level, and if we provide developmentally appropriate guideposts for learners and the adults who support them on their journey, then we will grow all PPS students towards achieving our Graduate Portrait outcomes.

• We see the Developmental Continuum as an additional resource for Educators that aligns to the instructional framework and reflects developmental progressions over time in connection with our Graduate Portrait

Feedback/Questions?

Please fill out this form with any feedback or suggestions. We’d love to hear from you about bright spots for implementing the instructional framework, as well as opportunities for additional support and thought partnership.

Kimberlee Armstrong, Chief Academic Officer

NOVEMBER INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES 

Below is our monthly update for November about our ongoing implementation of the PPS Instructional Framework! 

Updates About Outcomes/Metrics:

In mid-October, our Instructional Framework Implementation Team, which includes representatives across central office teams, visited schools and held focus groups with teachers as part of our quarterly Learning Walks. We also embedded survey questions for leaders and teachers about current perception of the instructional framework.

Below are our multi-year outcomes/metrics with a summary of the baseline data collected during the Fall Learning Walks. We will be establishing annual growth targets based on the baseline data.

We want to extend a HUGE thank you to the building leaders and teacher teams at the schools we visited in October for your partnership: Benson, Boise-Eliot, Hayhurst, Llewellyn, Mt. Tabor, Vernon, W. Sylvan, and Woodmere. You can view last month’s update for a reminder about how schools were selected. 

Advisory Group:

On October 26th, we kicked off our Phase 2 Advisory Group. The group centers the voices of school-based staff and includes building leaders, a variety of classroom and specialist teachers, instructional coaches, etc. and is facilitated by central office leaders. The team reviewed data from our quarterly Learning Walks and focused on the first element of our purpose below:

• Provide feedback about the implementation of the instructional framework, including successes and challenges, and inform how we evolve our implementation over time.

• Compile an internal resource bank of best practices and artifacts that showcases how our Educators bring the instructional framework to life in PPS classrooms.

• Provide input on drafts of our PK-12 Developmental Continuum, which will be a tool that connects to the instructional framework and establishes developmental milestones to benchmark progress towards our PPS Graduate Portrait.

This document captures the themes from our discussion and feedback from the group and you can access the resources from the session on our Instructional Framework Website.

Feedback/Questions?

Please fill out this form with any feedback or suggestions. We’d appreciate it if you would include any artifacts, examples or resources that can spotlight how the instructional framework is being used in your school.

Kimberlee Armstrong, Chief Academic Officer

OCTOBER INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES 

As we enter into the second month of the school year we are sharing the below update about implementation of our instructional framework. As the year progresses, we will archive these updates and add new resources to the Instructional Framework Website.

Outcomes/metrics:

This is Year 1 of our instructional framework implementation, after developing the framework in Spring 2022. We’ve set the following multi-year outcomes to guide our implementation, and as we establish baseline data this year we will set growth targets for each year of our implementation within our multi-year Forward Together Strategic Plan.

• All teachers, building leaders, and central office leaders across our Division of Instruction and School Communities can articulate the shared vision of what teaching and learning looks like in PPS as described in the instructional framework.

• All teachers, building leaders, and central office leaders across our Division of Instruction and School Communities agree that the effective implementation of the instructional framework, when paired with newly adopted curriculum and effective and aligned teacher professional learning, will result in improved and more equitable outcomes for students.

• All Educators are teaching grade level content to all students that reflects the design and intent of the standards, including but not limited to Common Core shifts (see Appendix A for Common Core shifts in each content area), design principles in NGSS, ELP Standards, World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, etc, and utilizing district adopted curricular resources when available.

Advisory Group:

We are relaunching our Instructional Framework Advisory Group for 2022-23. This team will meet 5-6 times throughout the year to:

• Provide feedback about the implementation of the instructional framework, including successes and challenges, and inform how we evolve our implementation over time.

• Compile an internal resource bank of best practices and artifacts that showcases how our Educators bring the instructional framework to life in PPS classrooms.

• Provide input on drafts of our PK-12 Developmental Continuum, which will be a tool that connects to the instructional framework and establishes developmental milestones to benchmark progress towards our PPS Graduate Portrait.

To ensure we are learning from the experiences of our school-based staff, we will be limiting the number of central office teammates who participate in our Advisory Group sessions and will find other venues to discuss implementation with central office staff. The school-based staff that participated last year have RSVP’d if they would like to continue participating this year and Area Senior Directors will be reaching out to Principals to include a representative from each school and program that is not yet represented. Our website has more information about who participated previously. We will also create other opportunities for feedback for all teachers through surveys. 

Learning Walks and Quarterly Step Backs:

We are scheduling learning walks at eight schools during three different time points of the year, with the purpose of continued calibration around what grade level standards aligned instruction looks like in action, progress monitoring implementation, increasing collaboration and reducing siloing of our work, and informing how we better support schools. These learning walks are in no way evaluative and are meant to support our learning as a system to support continuous improvement. Paired with the quarterly learning walks, the Instructional Framework Implementation Team will meet to review and calibrate around data, discuss progress of implementation, and how we can shift our support to better serve schools. We will share back our themes from the visits after the Learning Walks.

How Schools Are Selected: 

• Sampling of schools that includes diverse representation of grade bands, SCI/TSI/Title, DLI programs, areas of the city, etc.

• No schools with new Principals

• No schools that had an Academic Diagnostic Site Visit in the Spring of 2022

• Each ASD has no more than one school each quarter

• The first eight schools in October will be Boise-Eliot, Benson, Llewellyn, Mt. Tabor, Vernon, West Sylvan, and Woodmere and we are partnering with the building leader to build out a schedule for the day.

What Will the Learning Walks Include?

• Morning overview with building leadership team

• Classroom walkthroughs, focusing on English Language Arts and Math 

• A small focus group

• End of day debrief with building leadership team

Feedback/Questions?

Please fill out this form with any feedback or suggestions. We’d also love it if you would include any artifacts, examples or resources that can spotlight how the instructional framework is being used in your school.

Kimberly Armstrong, Chief Academic Officer

RESOURCES AND SUMMARY - JUNE INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK BUILDING LEADER SESSIONS

We appreciate everyone who joined one of the seven instructional vision sessions in the first two weeks of June during such a busy time of the year - there were between 20-40 participants for every session.

All of the resources from the session are linked on our instructional framework website, including the slides, framework, 1-pager, two session recordings, and Padlets from each session.

We’ve synthesized the inputs in the Padlet, which are summarized below. You can also reference this document for more details about all of the inputs captured.

In the instructional framework, what resonates with your vision of highly effective teaching and learning?

The most common responses about what resonates were centering student voice and students’ lived experiences, students owning and doing the work, alignment to vision and educational equity, everyone is a learner (learner stance), including both educator and student indicators, and appreciation for the four focus areas - culturally affirming, deeply engaging, grade level and standards aligned, and data driven.

How can you imagine using this tool as a Building Leader?

Building leaders highlighted that they could imagine using the tool in guiding PLC conversations, instructional rounds / learning walks, observations, staff PD, coaching cycles, school and individual goal setting, and connecting to our instructional why, priorities, and adoptions. It’s important to note that the framework is not an evaluation tool, but rather a tool to support individuals and help capture school and district-wide trends to improve implementation and inform professional learning.

In what areas do you think Building Leaders will need the most support with implementation of our instructional vision and what resources would be helpful?

There were a wide variety of answers to this question and the most common were around a common PLC calendar and structure, more collaboration and planning time for teachers, cross-walking the instructional framework with our evaluation tool, resources and training about differentiation and scaffolding, narrowing our focus and limiting scope through a multi-year implementation, clear communication examples and talking points, video exemplars, and consistent professional learning about the framework integrated with other PD.

Next Steps

An introduction to the instructional framework is being embedded within our Summer Institutes for teachers and we will embed professional learning and connections to the framework within our system-wide professional learning opportunities next school year. We are also planning an opportunity during our Summer Acceleration Academy for building leaders to join an optional instructional round grounded in the instructional framework. Finally, we are in the process of incorporating feedback and building out our implementation plan that we will share at August Leadership. 

Questions

We are continuing to update our FAQ document based upon questions from our building leader sessions and you can always submit general feedback and questions using this form.

Emily Glasgow, Sr. Director of PK-5 Core Academics, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent for MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

PPS INSTRUCTIONAL VISION

With only a few days left in the school year, I want to thank you for all of your work and commitment throughout this year. 

This message is part of our series of updates about our instructional priorities - please reference Admin Portal and Teacher Connect for the previous messages. 

PPS is committed to providing all students with high-quality instruction in every classroom, every day - instruction that supports students to achieve our Graduate Portrait and closes persistent gaps in outcomes based on race. As you know, we’re taking several important steps to make this vision a reality for all students: creating a shared vision of instruction through a framework for educational equity, adopting new curricula to support that instruction, and offering improved professional learning experiences for teachers aligned to both. 

Last week, we shared our first version of the instructional framework that we will launch at Summer Institutes. Our framework is grounded in the belief that educational equity entails a commitment to instruction that is grade-level & standards-aligned, culturally-affirming, deeply engaging, and data-driven. You can view the framework and learn more on our instructional framework website, including this question form and framework FAQ.

Our vision for instructional coherence also includes our curriculum adoptions that are backed by the 2020 Portland school bond and corrective action plan from ODE. All teachers will be required to use the new curriculum materials consistently in classes for which there are adopted materials (see this table for more details about all adoptions). This will enable PPS to provide support and access to effective, high quality, standards aligned instructional materials--a guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVC)--for all of our students. Previous iterations of our GVC will be updated to align with the recommended scope and sequence of each adopted curriculum. 

In alignment with our instructional framework, we are also committed to ensuring that our adopted resources are culturally relevant and appropriate for all students. When we determine that a particular adopted resource has gaps in this area, we will engage stakeholders in a process to supplement these gaps. You can capture any questions that you have about adoptions on this form and we will re-share out our adoptions FAQ as we get more questions.

Finally, the instructional framework and curriculum adoptions will guide improved and aligned professional learning opportunities for teachers this summer and upcoming school years. On this document, you will find your appropriate registration link for Summer Institute. Please reference our TPL FAQ and you can email any outstanding questions to tpl@pps.net. 

We appreciate your ongoing dedication to our PPS vision and our students. Have a great last few days of the school year and summer!

Dr. Cheryl A. Proctor (She/Her)

Deputy Superintendent of Instruction & School Communities

Portland Public Schools

INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK UPDATE - MAY 31ST VERSION

We are excited to share that we have compiled our first version of the instructional framework! We truly appreciate the 100+ members of our Advisory Group and 100+ other stakeholders that provided input over the past six weeks, including students, teachers, building leaders, other school staff, central office staff, and community partners. Here is a link to the May 31 version of the instructional framework, which is also now linked on our instructional framework website. As you will see, we are still finalizing a few pages within the document and we will share an updated version next week.

Input Sessions Last Week

Last week, we held our third Instructional Framework Advisory Group session to obtain input about our latest instructional framework draft and ideas for implementation, support, and resources. We are extremely grateful for everyone that participated in our Advisory Group process and provided input through other venues during such a busy time of year. The discussions and input were extremely valuable. 

The Design Team made adjustments to the framework language based on all of the input last week from the Advisory Group, IPC, PAPSA, and our input form. You can view this document to see the changes made based on input last week.

Ongoing Engagement

We will continue to provide updates throughout our implementation and continuous improvement phase, as well as additional opportunities to engage and provide feedback. In the meantime, you can continue to capture comments and questions on this form and we will add questions to our Instructional Framework FAQ.

Emily Glasgow, Interim Sr. Director of PK-5, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK UPDATE AND DRAFT FOR INPUT BY 5/28

Design Team and Advisory Group

We had our 2nd Advisory Group session on Thursday afternoon with over 60 attendees of various roles throughout the organization, as well as community partners and students. We reviewed updated drafts of the Educator and Student Indicators within each of our four domains. You can see the materials we reviewed with Advisory Group members and everyone’s input on our instructional framework website. 

On Monday, we had another Design Team meeting to review all of the input and incorporate it into another draft to share back with the Advisory Group on Wednesday. The Design Team also continues to work through planning for implementation, another topic that we will discuss with the Advisory Group on Wednesday. 

Opportunity for Input

We are sharing the latest complete draft of the instructional framework that we have evolved based upon input received. You can provide input about the draft in this form by Saturday, 5/28 at Noon so that we can incorporate the input prior to finalizing our first version to share next week.

Other Updates

• We engaged in update and input sessions with PAT Leadership at IPC on Monday and Building Leaders from PAPSA on Tuesday and those materials will be posted on our website soon.

• We also are meeting regularly with the PPS Communications Team to discuss the launch of the framework in early June and our plan to communicate and engage with the community. 

• Our FAQ document continues to be updated as more questions are submitted.

As a reminder, this website has all of the information about the instructional framework in one place.

Emily Glasgow, Interim Sr. Director of PK-5, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

ADMIN PORTAL & TEACHER CONNECT - INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT UPDATE AND NEW FAQ

Design Team and Advisory Group

Last week, Design Team members reviewed all of the input from our first Advisory Group meeting and other input discussions we’ve held over the past two weeks. Based on the input, the Design Team drafted teacher and student indicators for each of the domains of the framework to share back with the Advisory Group this week and discuss at our next meeting on Thursday afternoon.

Discussions Based Upon Input

We are shifting our language for the framework from “Look Fors” to “Indicators” as the framework is not intended to be an evaluation rubric. The framework will be used to align on common language tied to our district-wide vision for teaching and learning and to support discussions about how to continuously improve practice within each of the framework domains.

We’ve also been having discussions about ensuring that we are centering racial equity in the framework and aligning the language within the framework to our RESJ Framework and professional learning tenants. Similarly, we’ve heard a lot of feedback about Transformative Social and Emotional Learning and that TSEL needs to be explicitly integrated within the framework language. These are two areas of focus for us as we continue our iterative process.

Other Updates

• We’ve compiled this FAQ document that we will continue to add to. This FAQ includes questions from the Advisory Group and from the other input and survey forms we’ve sent out thus far. 

• We are working with our Research Team to compile all of the input that we’ve received thus far in a more user-friendly format.

• In addition to continuing the development of the framework, we are working on an implementation plan that includes embedded professional learning opportunities for teachers and building leaders and identifying accompanying resources that we will need to develop to support the successful implementation of the framework.

As a reminder, this website has all of the information about the instructional framework in one place and you can always submit general feedback and questions about the instructional framework using this form.

Emily Glasgow, Sr. Director PK-5 Core Academics, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

ADMIN PORTAL & TEACHER CONNECT - INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK ADVISORY GROUP KICKOFF AND NEW GOOGLE SITE

Last week, we held our kickoff session for the Instructional Framework Advisory Group. This group consists of a diverse group of representatives, including students, teachers, building leaders, TOSAs, and other central office roles. You can view the full list of participants on this document.

Our outcomes for the meeting were to: 1) articulate the purpose of the Instructional Framework, 2) describe the role of the Advisory Group and the Design Team, and 3) review the draft components of the Instructional Framework and provide input. We spent the majority of our time in breakout groups that focused on four rotations discussing draft components of the framework: Grade-Level and Standards-Aligned, Culturally Affirming, Deeply Engaging, and Data Driven.

You can view the slides here with the Jamboards linked on slide 16 and the full group recording here (the breakout group discussions were not recorded). A full compilation of all of the input from the breakout group discussions can be found here. The meeting was 90 minutes and we will have 120 minutes for our next two meetings to go deeper into discussions and input on the iterative drafts.

We are compiling all of the information about the PPS Instructional Framework on this new Google Site, including a communication archive and materials from our meetings, and we will add more resources and a FAQ when they are available leading up to. This page has a summary of our 25 responses from our input survey that we shared last week in Admin Portal. We are also working to add optional sessions in early June for building leaders to learn about the framework prior to our soft launch of the framework with teachers at our Summer Institutes in June.

You can always submit general feedback and questions about the instructional framework using this form.

Emily Glasgow, Interim Sr. Director of PK-5, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

ADMIN PORTAL & TEACHER CONNECT - INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND PARTICIPANTS

We have our Instructional Framework Advisory Group Kickoff on Wednesday and will share next week a summary of the discussion and the initial input survey we sent out last week. We also plan to build out a website with all of the instructional framework development resources in one place.

In the meantime, we’ve compiled this document with an overview of the instructional framework development process and the participants on our Design Team and Advisory Group.

You can always reach out to otl@pps.net with any questions about the process.

Emily Glasgow, Interim Sr. Director of PK-5, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

ADMIN PORTAL & TEACHER CONNECT - INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK UPDATE AND OPTION FOR INPUT

The development of the new PPS Instructional Framework is under way. As a reminder, the Instructional Framework will serve as a guiding document that articulates what highly effective teaching and learning looks like in PPS PK-12 classrooms. The purpose of the Instructional Framework is to ensure all students are engaged with grade appropriate content through culturally affirming practices to help them achieve the Graduate Portrait.

Design Team Update

The Instructional Framework Design Team met last week to continue to unpack our experience from the March UnboundEd Standards Institute. Discussions centered around initial framework components and what the structure of the framework might look like, including how to frame teacher and student look fors to inform professional learning and planning. 

The Design Team is the core working group of 20 members from across Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL), Office of School Performance (OSP), and Office of Student Support Services (OSSS) who are responsible for the content and development of the framework. The team was selected based on their roles, leadership experience and instructional expertise. The Design Team will rely heavily on input from the Advisory Group and other district stakeholders outside of the Advisory Group to "pressure test" the drafts before launching the framework in June.

Advisory Group Update

We will finalize the participants of our Advisory Group this week, with the Advisory Group Kickoff scheduled for May 4th. We will have an initial series of three meetings in May. We envision continuing to engage with the Advisory Group for input throughout the next school year as we learn from experiences of students, teachers, and leaders to support refinement of the framework, professional learning and resources.

Engagement Update

Outside of the Design Team and Advisory Group structures, we will regularly reach out to stakeholders for feedback in other ways. Last week, we joined our quarterly RESJ Partner meeting, a convening of PPS Leaders and representatives from our RESJ Community Partners. You can see the notes from the small group discussions captured on this document. 

Option for Input

Educators will begin engaging with the first iteration of the Instructional Framework in district-led professional learning experiences as soon as the Summer Institute and throughout next school year. We invite you to fill out this survey by Monday, 5/2 at 9am to provide input about our initial framework components and definitions. We will review all of the input provided and consider how to integrate the input into future drafts of the components and eventually “look fors” for teachers and students.

Please contact otl@pps.net if you have any questions.

Emily Glasgow, Interim Sr. Director of PK-5, eglasgow@pps.net 

Margaret Calvert, Regional Superintendent of MS/HS/MPG, mcalvert@pps.net 

EMAIL TO ALL TEACHERS AND LEADERS - PPS INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT - SEEKING TEACHER COLLABORATION

Dear Teachers,

I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment to our students during an incredibly difficult year. The pandemic created new challenges for us to navigate and reinforced existing ones—particularly the significant gaps in achievement and quality of learning experiences between our white students and our Black, Latinx, and Native students.  

To support our students at this critical moment, we need to ensure they all have access to high-quality instruction every day. It’s a shared responsibility that starts with a shared vision of what excellent teaching and learning looks like in PPS.

That’s why we’re inviting you to partner with us to develop the new PPS Instructional Framework. The collaboratively developed framework will align us on common language and guide decisions and discussions at the central office, school, and classroom levels as we plan professional learning opportunities. The framework will define the core elements of standards-aligned instruction we commit to providing all students as a key part of our PPS reImagined vision and our Strategic Plan. 

Our goal is to have the framework and aligned professional learning in place for the 2022-23 school year.

We will partner with an advisory group that includes stakeholders from across the district (including teachers, principals, students, community partners, and central office staff) to develop the framework. If you are interested in being part of the advisory group—a commitment of 6-8 hours between now and the end of the school year (extended hours paid)—please fill out this interest form by Monday, 4/25 at 9am. You can find more information about the advisory group and its role in developing the framework here.  

Teachers will be selected to ensure a diverse representation of perspectives and expertise and as we progress through this process, all teachers will receive regular updates that include input surveys through Teacher Connect.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the OTL Team at otl@pps.net. Thank you for your partnership!

Forward Together,

Dr. Cheryl A. Proctor (She/Her)

Deputy Superintendent of Instruction & School Communities

Portland Public Schools

EMAIL TO ALL LEADERS - UPDATES REGARDING INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK INITIATIVE

Dear Building Leaders,

I’m excited to share updates with you about instructional work within our Division of Instruction and School Communities.

Context 

We continue to be committed to providing robust academic and instructional programs aligned to PPS Core Values, our Forward Together Strategic Plan, and our Graduate Portrait and Educator Essentials. In order to ensure that we have a full picture of the student experience to ground our work going forward, we are continuing to Collect Data to Inform our Practice, which includes assessing the needs of students and teachers after the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing gaps in learning experiences and instructional practices. While it is critical to accelerate student learning, we must prepare educators to connect academic and nonacademic data to targeted and effective supports for students. For this reason, it is important to unpack the student experience in the classroom and identify the level of rigorous, standards-aligned, personalized instruction that students may or may not be experiencing.

Within the Forward Together Strategic Plan, one of the primary themes is Inclusive and Differentiated Learning for Every Child. Within that theme, a critical strategic outcome is to Develop an Integrated Instructional Framework to guide teaching and learning and integrate respectful consideration of culture, disability, race, gender, and language. We are excited to kick-off this project to support inquiry-based, foundational, and interdisciplinary learning for students to develop and demonstrate mastery of the Graduate Portrait and learning standards.

Collect Data to Inform our Practice

As you may have heard and some of your schools are already participating in, we have two independent partners separately conducting school site visits this school year to learn about the student academic experience to inform ongoing strategic planning. The two partners are New Teacher Center (NTC), who conducted school site visits in the Fall, and TNTP. The purpose of obtaining two completely separate reviews is to ensure that we have two independent perspectives and a complete picture of the experience of our students.

These two processes will inform the development of the instructional framework and include:

• In-person walkthroughs in a representative sample of K-12 ELA and Math classrooms, 

• Conversations with educators, and

• A review of instructional materials and assignments to ensure alignment with college and career-ready standards. 

The site visits will not require any additional time from Principals, however, Principals are more than welcome to attend any or all of the following optional engagement activities: a 30 minute morning meeting to learn more about the observation tool, attend classroom walkthroughs, and/or attend a 30 minute debrief with TNTP reviewers. In addition, there is nothing at all that teachers need to do to prepare for this observation, as we just want to observe a typical day of instruction.

Schools were selected to participate to ensure representation across the district - thank you to those schools who have already participated and those who will participate soon. It is important to note that these processes are meant to gather and share information and are in no way punitive or evaluative. As mentioned above, the overall purpose of the site visit is to look at student experiences across the district and all data collection and reporting will be shared in aggregate at the district level. No findings/data will be tied back in any way to individual students, teachers, or leaders. 

Develop an Integrated Instructional Framework

As part of our continued effort to improve learning for our students, Portland Public Schools is also partnering with TNTP to develop a culturally sustaining Instructional Framework that will enable schools, central office leadership, and staff across the district to align their efforts so that all students receive the academic opportunities and supports they need to achieve the district’s Graduate Portrait. The Instructional Framework will also drive professional learning for building leaders and teachers.

Phases of Work

Phase I (February- March)

Planning, Initial Learning and Engagement

Diagnose current state of instruction and lay the groundwork among key stakeholders to develop the Instructional Framework

- Focus Groups with Principals, Teachers, and Central Office Admin.

- Interviews with OTL and OSP Leaders

Phase II (March-May)

Develop Framework and Continuum

Draft the Instructional Framework and iterate in successive rounds in response to feedback from the larger stakeholder group 

- Design Team - core working group to support TNTP in drafting and revising the framework (will include primarily OTL Leaders)

- Advisory Group - larger group of stakeholders who will review drafts and provide ongoing feedback to the Design Team (will include a broader stakeholder group outside of OTL)

- Leadership Meetings

Phase III (May-June)

Develop Implementation Plan

Develop a strategic implementation plan that articulates critical instructional priorities and the systems, supports and resources that will need to be in place for schools to successfully bring the Instructional Framework to life

- Design Team

- Advisory Group

Phase IV (June-Ongoing)

Professional Learning and Implementation

The implementation plan will include a series of professional learning sessions aligned to the teaching and learning practices outlined in the framework, a set of goals/metrics to monitor implementation, and an instructional design guide for teachers and leaders.

- Professional Learning opportunities for building leaders and teachers

Next Steps

At our March 10th Leadership Meeting, we will share more context about this work and initial themes and findings from the NTC analysis and will provide time for you to process with your peers. Over the next month, we will build out the stakeholder engagement process for the Instructional Framework.

Thank you in advance for your participation and engagement. We are excited about the opportunity to better understand and improve the student experience in Portland Public Schools.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to myself and Casey Hoffman if you have any questions!

With gratitude, 

Dr. Cheryl A. Proctor (She/Her)

Deputy Superintendent of Instruction & School Communities

Portland Public Schools