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IV. PEDAGOGY (BENCHMARK 1D)
High quality instruction is evident throughout the school.
Student achievement is Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant’s top priority, and, therefore, high quality instruction is
imperative to meet and exceed the school’s academic Accountability Plan goals. The school’s standards-based curriculum
is the basis for all lesson planning and implementation. Interim and other summative assessments help teachers track
individual student progress and create differentiated student groups. Teachers ensure that all students’ needs are being
met with a combination of direct instruction, differentiated grouping, individual instruction or the allocation of
individual learning tasks. Instruction is delivered with clear expectations, as all students are made aware of the lesson’s
objective visually (objective is displayed) and/or verbally (objective is described). Teachers re-enforce these objectives
with continuous references to prior learning.
V. INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP (BENCHMARK 1E)
The school has strong instructional leadership.
As evidenced by the school’s strong assessment results, student achievement is Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant’s
primary goal. Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant’s instructional leadership team, comprised of the Managing Director,
Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction, and the Staff Developer, have consistently analyzed student assessment
data to ensure that the school is on track to meeting and exceeding its academic Accountability Plan goals. The Staff
Developer position was created during the 2008-2009 school year to focus specifically on observing, coaching and
evaluating first and second year teachers. The team focuses on developing students’ core academic skills with an
emphasis on literacy and mathematics. If deficiencies in curricula, assessment models or instruction are discovered, the
team uses its expertise, as well as the input of teacher inquiry groups, led by teacher-facilitators who have been trained in
the Critical Friends teacher collaboration model and in giving feedback to teachers, to evaluate shortcomings and
propose and implement changes.
The Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction and Staff Developer have in place a comprehensive and ongoing
system for evaluating teachers’ effectiveness and quality. Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant firmly believes in
accountability and assessment. Teachers are observed regularly and receive either e-mail or in-person feedback. The
formal evaluation, given once a year, is comprised of both a qualitative narrative and a quantitative rubric with scores
ranging from 4 for “Advanced,” to 1 for “Needs Development.” The Co-Director for Operations and Finance conducts
non-instructional staff member evaluations.
Additional professional development is provided to Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant staff through Uncommon
Schools. During the 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09 school years, Doug Lemov, an Uncommon Schools Managing
Director, provided all new Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant staff with intensive training around the Uncommon
Schools Taxonomy of Effective Teaching Practices (a narrative description and video database of the best practices of
star teachers at many of the highest achieving urban schools in the country). Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant staff
members also had the opportunity to participate in Uncommon Schools Master Teacher Retreats during both the
summer in 2007 and 2008. Our staff members also have participated in Uncommon Schools annual subject area retreats
launched during 2007-08.
Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant has a system in place to recruit and retain high-quality teachers. The school relies
on its charter management organization, Uncommon Schools, Inc. 4 to recruit school staff. Uncommon has a nineperson
recruitment team in place that taps into a broad network of programs, such as Teach for America, to generate a
pool of qualified candidates. For the 2008-2009 school year, Uncommon Schools received 8,500 applications.
Uncommon’s team reviews resumes and screens candidates before referring them to the Co-Director for Curriculum
and Instruction for an interview. Uncommon’s team will then conduct a reference check, review a candidate’s writing
sample, and review a candidate’s transcripts as the final steps before the Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction
extends an offer of employment.
4 Please refer to Attachment L, Renewal Question 4c for detailed information regarding Leadership Prep Bedford
Stuyvesant’s relationship with Uncommon Schools, Inc.
Leadership Preparatory Bedford Stuyvesant Charter School
Attachment D-11