Figure 1: Culver City Unified School District CAPP Plan 1993-1996

Professional Development

Teachers participated in an array of staff development activities during all three years of the CAPP grant. They received ongoing training in curriculum and were provided time during the academic year to work on curricular issues. Collaboration within the middle school and high school departments, as well as between them, became an important and structured focus. Each year staff development activities concentrated on two instructional issues such as collaborative learning and assessment. Teachers attended professional conferences and workshops. Although not specifically provided by the grant, several middle school teachers enrolled in the Math Teacher Institute, a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program at CSUDH, which accelerated their professional growth. Figure 2 summarizes Culver City CAPP staff development activities.

A concerted effort was made to establish collegial relationships between middle school and high school teachers. Whenever appropriate, staff development activities targeted both groups. Mutual respect for each other developed over time, and teachers now routinely work together. Teachers reported through interviews and questionnaires that collegiality was a significant benefit of the project because they learned from each other and addressed educational issues together.

September Institutes

Three to five day inservices prior to the start of school brought middle school and high school teachers together. The major goals of these inservices included launching the staff development instructional focuses for the year and providing time and support for curricular planning. No attempt was made to provide comprehensive staff development in targeted areas (assessment, for example). Rather, teachers were provided with introductory information, outside expertise, and time to begin discussions that would continue for the entire year. All curricular planning time was carefully organized and monitored for accountability.

Curriculum Training

Since new curricular materials were introduced at both the middle and high school levels during all three years of the grant, training specific to the new materials was required of all teachers prior to using them. To insure that teachers would have adequate support, they were expected to teach no more than one new class in a year. Intensive summer institutes or multi- day training sessions during the year provided the groundwork for staff development in new curricular materials.

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