TEAM UP Model

Participating Schools
How Schools were Identified
Time Commitment
Outcomes
The Bottom Line
How Grant Funds Support Teachers and Schools
Summer Institute/Workshops Costs

Student-focused: Personal and team-based professional development will help educators provide effective learning experiences for English language learners in their schools.
Site-Based: Small teams of six comprised of teachers and paraprofessionals work together to solve problems that are specific to their schools.
Collaborative: Team members represent a variety of instructional roles (grade-level teacher, ESL teacher, paraprofessional bilingual staff) to ensure integrative and long-term solutions.
Professional: Substantial release time and financial support is provided for team members who commit their time and effort to this initiative.
Individually rewarding: School-site team members will identify individual goals for professional development and work toward those goals (certification, endorsement, advanced degree, National Boards, etc.)
Long-term: Each team will meet regularly for two years to foster a long-term approach to problem solving and community building.

Participating Schools

The following chart provides a glimpse of what participating schools and representative teams look like. The maximum number of participants per team is six, and members must represent a variety of instructional roles. The exact makeup of each team is determined by the school’s needs, staffing and English language learners.

TEAM UP School Profiles	Paraprofessional Teachers/ Bilingual Aids (1-2)	Mainstream Teachers (1-2)	ESL Teachers (1-2)	Other (1-2)	Total
Large urban school with high numbers of Hmong and Latino ELL students Over 60% ELL	1 Hmong bilingual aid	1 fourth grade teacher, 1 fifth grade teacher	1 ESL teacher, 1 Latino Consent Degree/ESL teacher, 1 Language Academy teacher	-	6
Large suburban school with a high number of ELL students from many backgrounds Over 20% ELL	1 ESL paraprofessional	1 second grade teacher, 1 fourth grade teacher	3 ESL teachers	-	6
Small rural school with high numbers of Spanish and Somali - speaking ELL students. ~13% ELL	1 Special Education Paraprofessional	2 fourth grade teachers, 1 third grade teacher	1 ESL teacher	1 special education teacher	6
Small rural school with high numbers of Spanish-speaking ELL students. Some Somali, plus miscellaneous other student backgrounds ~13% ELL	-	1 fourth grade teacher	2 ESL teachers	1 art teacher, 1 social worker, 1 community liaison	6

How Schools were Identified

Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment scores were used to identify schools in which 1) students have not made Adequate Yearly Progress, 2) have a high percentage of English language learners, and 3) have not received additional Reading Excellence Act money. The project is unique in that its focus is on long-term, teacher-driven professional development tied to site-specific goals.

Time Commitment

Teams chosen to participate must commit to the entire two-year process, including the following group activities:

A two-week summer institute during each of two consecutive summers
Three 2-day workshops during each of two consecutive school years
Monthly release days to work on school-specific team and individual goals
Presentation of lessons learned through the project to other staff in building and other AYP schools

Activities for each of the components are described in the following charts. For some participants, individual topics provide necessary review and opportunities to explore issues in-depth. For other participants, material may be new information. Specific content reflects issues that each team identifies in relation to its site goals.

For more information, see the TEAM UP Syllabi and agendas.

Phase I: Summer Institute 2003 (July 14-25)
As a full group participants will learn about:	basic principles of second language acquisition; the long-term process of second language acquisition; needs of English Language Learners in the mainstream classroom; models of collaboration in meeting the needs of English Language Learners in the mainstream classroom; and an introduction to current practices in the field of second language acquisition for elementary-aged children.
As a school-site group participants will:	clearly identify and refine the set(s) of challenges that they would like to work on and resolve during the course of the project; outline the resources they will need to address the challenges; and create a timeline for addressing the challenges.
As a role group participants will:	determine their own professional goals in terms of certification and/or degree options. discuss challenges that they face in their particular role and share possible solutions and implementation strategies; learn specific best practices related to roles from the project leaders.

Phase II: School Year Workshops
	Fall Workshop	Winter Workshop	Spring Workshop
As a full group participants will consider topics such as:	Integrating ELLs into the classroom community Strategies for creating lessons jointly	The impact of cultural factors on learning for ELLs Integrating the curriculum by team	Maintaining high expectations for ELLs Assessment of ELLs: a group endeavor
As a school-site group participants will consider topics such as:	Student/school needs assessmen Information gathering strategies	Sharing of information gathered on a specific topic/issue	Synthesis of what was learned on the groups’ specific topic
As a role group participants will:	Explore issues arising from the teams through unique role perspectives Engage in discussion with colleagues from different settings and with different problems

Phase III: Second Summer Institute 2004
As a full group participants will learn about:	Deepen knowledge about research done with ELLs in the mainstream; Explore specific techniques for learning language through content; Investigate issues in assessment (Basic Skills Test, Minnesota High Standards, MCAs); Explore strategies for teaching ELLs of varying levels of language proficiency in the elementary setting.
As a school-site group participants will:	Assess progress made toward achieving goals defined in previous summer institute; Discuss new challenges, share possible solutions and implementation strategies; and Create an action plan and timeline for addressing the challenges.
As a role group participants will:	Assess progress made toward achieving goals defined in previous summer institute; Discuss new challenges that they face in their particular role and share possible solutions and implementation strategies; Create an action plan and timeline for addressing the challenges.

Phase IV: Second School Year Workshops 2004–2005
	Fall Workshop	Winter Workshop	Spring Workshop
As a full group participants will discuss:	Going public: Strategies, venues, and need	Dissemination techniques	Document findings Practice presentations
As a school-site group participants will:	Discuss challenges and solutions	Finalize action plan to address solutions	Consider what can continue beyond the TEAM UP program
As a role group participants will:	Explore paths to professional development	Create a professional portfolio Reflect on what we learned and how we can help others in the community	Document what was learned through the process Set future goals

Outcomes

Outcomes related to participating in the project will include the following:

Teams will become leading partners in assisting schools in making informed decisions concerning English language learners.
Individuals will set professional development goals, participate in coursework and collaborate with others to meet those goals.
Attention to those ongoing strong instructional practices and incorporation of practices known to be successful with English language learners will contribute to increased MCA performance on the part of ESL students.

The Bottom Line

A small team of teachers will receive funding to tackle an existing issue in small, focused, ongoing professional development activities.
Knowledge gained by a few will be shared with many. Teams will be equipped to share their findings within their own schools and districts. Individuals will also be supported in sharing information gained with colleagues in their role groups (ESL, grade-level, paraprofessional) throughout Minnesota thereby strengthening these professional groups.
Students will directly benefit from extended focus on instructional practices.
The University benefits from on-going, close contact with teachers and their schools in that faculty continue their close involvement with current issues and practices in student learning, instruction, and assessment, and ongoing working relationships between schools and colleges of teacher education can only continue to be of benefit to both parties.

How Grant Funds Support Teachers and Schools

Actual money that will go directly to teachers participating in this program totals approximately $25,000 per school per year. The grant funds the summer institute efforts (all expenses, including per diem, books, etc.), costs of three 2-day meetings/workshops each school year, and the collaborative opportunities with second language educators at UM and DCFL and stipends given to the participating teachers.

Summer Institute/Workshops Costs

The grant will pay for the costs of a two-week summer institute and three follow-up workshops throughout the year including; working lunches for all-day institutes; per diem, accommodations, and mileage for outstate teachers to participate; and parking costs for all participants. Each participating school will send 6 teachers. For some teams a student teacher will participate and will be funded through the grant.

Funded Activities: Release Time, Training Stipends and Credit
Funded Activity	Calculation	Total over 2 years	Type of Payment
Release time for 1 Team Leader in each school	(2 days for 10 mo. @ $100/day)	$4,000	Reimbursement to School to pay for subs
Teacher participants release time during the year per school (incl. Team leaders)	(6 teachers x 10 days @ $100/day)	$12,000	Reimbursement to School to pay for subs
Team Leader Stipend (one per school)	(1 x $5,000/per year)	$10,000	Contract to teachers
5 Teacher Participant Stipends	(5 x $1,000/per year)	$10,000	Contract to teachers
Tuition/Fees for Credit Course	(6 teachers x $1,041 for 4 credit course + fees)	$12,490	Value of inkind contribution