Instructional Leadership Includes:

Shared Leadership/Responsibility

• The superintendents responsible for the early years (pre-school and school age) in Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board are strong advocates for the gradual release of responsibility model. They empower staff members to gradually take on more leadership and responsibility. [Toronto and Area Region Final Report]
• York Catholic District School Board continues to implement the Early Literacy Intervention Program (ELIP), originally designed through the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) project—Student Assessment Project: Sharing Promising Practices. Three sites are running a pilot program that involves all classroom teachers from kindergarten to grade two. A group of seven teachers assisted in the preparation and delivery of all the ELIP training. Each of the seven teachers also conducted after school sessions for groups of trained teachers. This project provided an opportunity to build teacher capacity through shared leadership. [York Catholic District School Board Final Report]
• Teachers of kindergarten classes in Niagara Catholic District School Board received mentoring from educational resource teachers and opportunities to observe educational resource teachers teaching their students using multi-sensory, intensive and explicit strategies about which the ERTs had received special training. Students targeted for the program were those who were still working at the inventive level of reading and had yet to consolidate such skills as letter names and sounds, ability to form letters in print, concepts about first and last, etc. Teachers received feedback from the ERTs on best practices for their teaching setting. Engaging teachers in constant reflection about their teaching and their students' learning was also part of the mentoring process. The capacity building came from increasing the level of teaching skills of the ERTs, apprenticing them to become teachers of reading. The ERTs work with children directly or assist the classroom teacher with planning and implementing next steps. [Niagara Catholic District School Board Final Report]
• Huron Superior Catholic District School Board uses the Web Based Teaching Tool as the main assessment for junior kindergarten-grade one students. The board studied the WBTT critically, asking for teacher input about the effectiveness of this tool. Learning resource teachers and junior kindergarten, kindergarten, and grade one teachers all received a survey about the WBTT. District staff discussed the use of the WBTT with staff members when they were in schools. There was a wide range of opinions, but some common ideas. Teachers felt that doing the WBTT assessment provided good information, but they were concerned about doing the interventions effectively and having the time to record them on the WBTT. In response to this finding, the board investigated materials that would support the ease with which teachers would be able to focus on areas of needs for students. Some ready-made materials were selected for teachers to use in their classrooms to target the key areas in phonological awareness. [Huron Superior Catholic District School Board Final Report]