CONVENING PRACTITIONERS

Thanks to a $1.4 million grant from DC's Race to the Top fund, E.L. Haynes is leading a consortium of 12 schools to help teachers citywide build expertise in pedagogical content knowledge, transition to the Common Core State Standards and significantly improve student learning. The DC Common Core Consortium (formerly known as Professional Learning Communities of Effectiveness or " PLACES"), will create an online library of 350 Common Core Standard video lessons in math and reading, adopt the internationally-recognized technique of lesson study to develop content, and share best practices via an innovative technology portal and a biannual lesson study film festival. Reaching more than 9,000 students citywide, the DC Common Core Consortium will make a major impact on DC's move to Common Core Standards.

In 2009, with support from DC's Office of the State Superintendent of Education and the US Department of Education's Charter Schools Dissemination Grant Program, E.L. Haynes launched the Power of Planning (POP) project to dramatically increase the effectiveness of school-wide planning to drive student achievement. The one-year project was a partnership among E.L. Haynes and two DC public schools has had a tremendous impact on advancing curriculum planning expertise at all three schools.