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Success for All Foundation (SFAF) is a national organization
with four regional offices across the country and a
training staff of approximately 250 teaching professionals
located in almost every state in the U.S. For more than
10 years, SFAF has trained coaches, teachers, assistants,
and administrators who have implemented SFA at their
respective schools/districts.
From a staffing perspective, each school would be assigned
a Lead Trainer, who is responsible for managing the
implementation of the Success for All program at the
school site. These Lead Trainers are supported by other
trainers and managers who all work closely with school
and district staff throughout the implementation of
Success for All.
- Associate Trainers are required
to have a Bachelor’s degree, professional certification
in the designated field and five years of experience
in education or a related field.
- Trainers are required to meet these
requirements and school experience with an SFAF program
is preferred.
- Senior trainers add 2-4 additional
years of teaching experience as well as 2-4 years
of SFAF training experience.
- Many SFAF trainers have master’s
degrees and advanced training in early childhood,
reading, math and instructional technology. Several
have also served as school principals or central office
administrators and are uniquely qualified to help
you clarify your specific issues and challenges and
provide the appropriate range of solutions.
To enhance the considerable education credentials and
experience they bring to SFAF, new trainers also participate
in a three-week train-the-trainers program taught through
the New Trainer Institute. This training, presented
by the Foundation, occurs in the summer preceding their
work with schools.
New trainers also co-train with a more experienced
trainer for their first training sessions. The support
of an experienced coach is modeled on the coach-teacher
relationship that is integral to the successful implementation
of the curriculum. The Foundation provides ongoing training,
with up to 10 region-wide staff development activities
conducted throughout the school year. Finally, trainers
participate annually in a one-week Experienced Trainer
Institute to both expand their understanding and utilization
of best practices and to stay current in the latest
scientific research in education.
For a school to effectively implement a complex and
closely coordinated set of changes in all aspects of
school organization, curriculum, instruction, special
services, family support, and other elements, there
must be a highly qualified individual whose only responsibility
is to help make certain that all programs are well implemented
and that all staff members are working cooperatively
to achieve the same vision of what the school should
be.
SFAF requires a full-time, school-based facilitator
to ensure the integrity of the program or programs a
school chooses to implement. The facilitator provides
faculty support, coaching, and in-class modeling, in
addition to organizing and distributing materials. The
facilitator also serves as a link between teachers and
SFAF trainers.
We have found that strong senior teachers in the school
are best able to perform this job. Senior teachers are
usually more comfortable with the hands-on nature of
this position and have already earned a level of credibility
and respect. Because of the time commitment required,
the facilitator must be relieved of all other classroom
duties.
- Facilitate changing school schedule
to accommodate the required curriculum components
- Monitor program implementation
- Organize and distribute program
materials
- Model instruction for teachers
- Monitor student achievement and
programming to see that every child is making adequate
progress
- Conduct regular grade-level meetings
and provide follow-up
- Communicate and coordinate program
with SFA facilitators
In short, the facilitator’s role is to support
teachers and to make certain that no child falls between
the cracks, that every child is moving as rapidly as
possible toward attainment of world-class standards,
and that resources are used as effectively and efficiently
as possible.
Staff Availability
SFAF maintains a full-time, field based training staff
that supports high quality program implementations.
Each SFA school will be assigned a Lead Trainer who
shares responsibility for managing the implementation
of the program at the school site, in partnership with
the school’s leadership. These trainers will begin
to work with school leadership as soon as the commitment
to move forward is received.
Initial planning meetings will be scheduled at the
earliest convenience for each school to define a comprehensive
implementation plan, including all key activities and
their
timelines, role definitions, training needs and scheduling
for staff development sessions.
After initial training and throughout the implementation
over the next year, the Lead Trainer will visit the
school for Implementation Visits, to provide further
staff development, help the school set goals based on
student assessments and classroom observation, and to
provide coaching to the teaching staff.
School leadership (Principal and SFAF Facilitator)
will also attend a monthly Leadership Conference and
both leadership and selected staff will attend an annual
Experienced Sites Conference.
Success for All trainers, managers, and directors become
a school’s partners with the shared goal of effectively
managing the change process through an excellent implementation
of Success for All.
The Foundation’s programs were built with the
recognition that children’s ability to become
successful is directly correlated with the knowledge
and skill level of their teachers to introduce a wide
range of instructional strategies. The Foundation has
made a commitment to the systematic and sustained professional
development of all educators to improve classroom teaching
and help increase student reading outcomes. Staff development
is provided for teachers, facilitators, and local and
district administrators on site in the school or the
district.
In the Winter 2002 issue of American Educator, the
Success for All reading program was profiled in an article
titled “Using Well-Qualified Teachers Well”.
In a side-bar article headlined “Professional
Development that Works,” SFAF’s professional
development program was described and NY Chancellor’s
District teacher Kimberly Ambrecht quoted as saying
that the modeling strategy she learned through SFA-related
professional development has made her a much more effective
teacher.
The Foundation provides student curriculum materials,
assessments, teacher’s manuals, and extensive
professional development training and materials for
all of its programs. In addition, detailed and well-validated
approaches are provided for classroom management and
tutoring.
Extensive professional development is provided for
school staff. First, SFAF facilitators and principals
will attend a weeklong training session. Then, SFAF
will conduct a three-day training session for all school
staff. After implementation, the SFAF facilitator will
conduct frequent classroom observations and monitor
the eight-week assessment data to provide ongoing feedback
and coaching for teachers. SFAF trainers will then conduct
three two-day implementation visits and provide additional,
specialized training sessions as needed. Finally, an
additional week of training will be provided on the
tutoring components of the model.
All staff development sessions are led by a qualified
Success for All trainer, manager, or director. Curriculum
sessions are generally led by Success for All trainers.
Trainers, managers, directors, and principals or former
superintendents teach new Leaders Conferences, Experienced
Schools Conferences, and Leadership Academies.
The Foundation’s staff development at each stage
of implementation also involves providing guidance to
teachers in the form of a presenter script, a participant
booklet, hands-on activities, cooperative learning structures
and strategies. Also included are partner and team discussions,
as well as debriefing segments after each section of
the staff development workshop.
One of the reasons that the Foundation’s programs
staff development is so successful is that we teach
based on the “model, teach, and practice”
approach before introducing more training. For example,
in the Success for All reading program, after teachers
are trained in the Kindergarten curriculum, or the first
grade reading level program (Reading Roots), or the
second grade reading level and above program (Reading
Wings) they are given an opportunity to practice for
about 8 weeks before the Success for All trainers return
for their first implementation visit. During that visit,
we discuss goals and benchmarks, observe teachers teaching
the component they were trained in, and then follow
up with further training and peer coaching. This is
the essence of effective staff development over time
(Joyce and Showers, 1984).
In addition to formal training sessions, teachers also
receive professional development through the work of
the Success for All Foundation facilitator. The full-time
facilitator coaches and supports teachers’ development
by observing classroom practice and monitoring assessment
data. This monitoring may also prompt the facilitator
to conduct additional, tailored workshops.
For more information, please contact Cheryl Sattler,
Education Policy and Constituent Relations Manager,
at 1-800-548-4998, ext. 2583.
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