Context

My name is Kelsie Zitzer and I have been teaching in the classroom for 13 years. I've been at Beaverhead County High School for 8 years and my current role is teaching juniors in Biology and seniors in AP Biology. I've been doing these two classes for the past 4 years but prior to having a biology focus I taught chemistry, physics, environmental science and earth science. I also coach cross country for the high school. Go beavers!

Beaverhead County high school is a rural class A school with an enrollment of around 330 students. Each department has 3-4 teachers and elective departments have just one person teaching all levels of their subject. For example, there's 3 science teachers; we each teach 1 required class and a couple of elective science classes but there is just 1 art teacher who does all levels of art. We've done some work with PLC's but because we are a school of "singletons" it has been difficult to collaborate in a meaningful way across departments. The community has historically had a lot of pride in the school and a lot of people who grow up in Dillon, stay in Dillon. A large percentage of my coworkers went to school at BCHS themselves!

Every seven years BCHS goes through a Cognia Accreditation process which evaluates how well the school is following its mission statement and meeting its goals. This process identifies areas of improvement for the school to work on in the future. I was able to be a part of the team in the school gathering, identifying, and analyzing the evidence submitted to Cognia during the 2023-2024 school year. This process became my needs assessment and the starting point for my capstone project.

1. How does awareness of your own biases, experiences of privilege, and personal values inform your chosen Capstone Project?

I grew up in Vancouver, WA and attended an art magnet school for 6th-12th grade. I had the privilege of selecting a specific and unique way to learn because I was living in an urban environment rather than a rural one. My high school experience was focused on expressing what you learned in a variety of ways, beyond just a multiple choice test. How students are assessed, and making sure all students of all backgrounds and learning styles have a way to showcase what they know is something I've become passionate about in my teaching career.

2. At the beginning of the TLI program, at which level (emerging, developing, performing, or transforming) in the progressions did you place yourself for each of your four chosen competencies?  

Overarching Competency #1: Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emerging

I have previously taken the perspective that I can only control what happens inside my own classroom. I am choosing to engage in this process to not just learn and demonstrate my own personal vision for the profession in my classroom but to learn to express that vision to my colleagues. 

Overarching Competency #2: Adult Learning, Pre-Emerging

I can’t say prior to this program I have investigated or researched ways that adult learners grow professionally besides just thinking about what professional development was useful or impactful to me personally.

Explore and Challenge Inequity, Developing

I acknowledge that cultural differences and biases exist and can identify the dominant and privileged cultures in my environment. I have engaged in self reflection and self education in this topic.

Instructional Leadership; Facilitating Collaborative Relationships, Emerging

Prior to the start of this program in July I had been part of a small team of teachers that attended a PLC conference. Here I learned about the importance of collaborative culture, determined the collaborative culture of my school, and compared this culture to a new understanding of what collaboration could look like.

1. Describe your work with diverse stakeholders, shared learning experiences, and how you anticipate your leadership pathway mindset might evolve during the TLI process. 

In working with the PLC team during the project, I will be intentional about creating inclusive learning environments for adults. The PLC structure allows each teacher to bring their own lens, student population experience, and cultural context into the collaborative process. I will guide group dynamics purposefully to ensure that everyone is heard and respected, especially colleagues who may not feel like they've had a voice at the table in previous leadership decisions.

2. Describe how your awareness of those from different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds inform your chosen project. 

Traditional grading systems often reflect biases, penalize behaviors unrelated to learning, and disadvantage students who come from diverse backgrounds or who face barriers such as lack of resources or familial support. By shifting to standards based grading—even starting with one standard at a time—I aim to create more equitable and transparent assessment systems in our school that focus on what students know and can do as opposed to how well they fit into one teacher determined norm. As we build proficiency scales and make sure our assessments are aligned with standards, I will encourage the PLC members to consider cultural context and representation in learning goals, and think through accessibility of assessments. The teacher clarity PLC is not just about improving grading practices—it is about recognizing the individual learning of all students and creating a system that respects their differences.