Interview with Julia McBride, Principal of Pinckney High School
How did Pinckney Community High School get started with a focus on disciplinary literacy?
Six years ago, I joined the PCHS Administrative Team. I had previously worked for New Tech Network, a national nonprofit that supports schools in their adoption of project-based teaching and learning, which puts strong emphasis on individual assessments of knowledge and thinking through written communication. Pinckney launched a New Tech school in 2010, and I was their New Tech School Development Coach, which is how I came to be connected to the school community. Once I transitioned into the principal position, I knew the staff would need to come together around a common vision and instructional improvement effort. Written communication was a “low hanging fruit”. There had been a previous effort around writing across the curriculum at PCHS, so there was a natural opportunity for teachers to move beyond this into disciplinary literacy.
How has your school engaged in professional learning around disciplinary literacy?
We've followed a consistent process each year, which you can see here. In addition to our annual process, we've had local professionals in for a panel to describe to us the types of information they have to engage with and communicate in their jobs, to help inform the design of our tasks. Teachers also sign up to showcase their tasks at our bi-weekly Friday PD sessions, which includes artifacts for them to share and staff affirmations at the end of their presentations. This year, we will prioritize scoring calibration when looking at student work samples from disciplinary literacy tasks. In previous years, we’ve focused on identifying patterns in students’ skills we’re assessing to inform scaffolding priorities for the next task.
What resources have been helpful in supporting your learning around disciplinary literacy?
The Essential Instructional Practices document, training offered at Eastern Michigan University, and panels of local professionals have been helpful. It has also been helpful to have a staff-wide focus and expectation, with regular time for professional development. Celebrations of the impact of our collective effort help keep the energy going.
What are you hearing from teachers, students, and families about this work?
Once teachers start to understand what it truly means and looks like in their particular content area, I think it's eye-opening for them and feels like something that can become a natural part of their curriculum. We also hear teachers of upperclassmen express that they are impressed by the skills students are coming with as a result of our collective focus each year. Former students express that they felt prepared for the types of writing expected of them in college. Families perk right up when you describe what this focus is and examples of what it looks like in action. We receive lots of head nods about the relevance to college and careers!
We're collecting stories about how schools across Michigan are taking up the work of disciplinary literacy, and we need to hear from YOU! Share your story--no matter how big or small--and we just may publish it in an upcoming newsletter! Fill out the form HERE.
