Santa Rita students showcase writing; district outlines 'deeper learning' professional development

Santa Rita Elementary students and teachers presented samples of classroom writing and instruction as the Los Altos School District described a year-long professional development plan centered on “deeper learning.” The demonstration and the district’s update appeared on the board agenda and were presented to the Board of Trustees during the meeting.

Teachers and students at Santa Rita walked trustees through writing processes and classroom tools the school uses, including the Lucy Calkins Units of Study, outlines for narrative and expository writing, checklists for self-assessment, peer review protocols and goal-setting routines. Denise Talbot, a presenter from Santa Rita, introduced the school and students and said, “I’m Denise Talbot from the school at Santa Rita. I’m so pleased we’ve got a lot of wonderful students with us tonight.” Students read excerpts of narrative and personal pieces to illustrate the classroom practices.

The demonstration illustrated how teachers scaffold writing instruction and differentiate using principles of universal design for learning (UDL). Presenters described a sequence that moves students through planning, drafting, revision, peer feedback and publication; students described using outlines for narrative structure and checklists to self-assess spelling, punctuation and organization. One student described using “verified sources like Newsela” when research was required.

Separately, a district professional development update led by Mr. Drummond outlined the broader training for teachers that supports the classroom practices seen at Santa Rita. Drummond described five clusters of teacher practice that the district is emphasizing: provocation (to spark curiosity), questioning (to build student inquiry), structured academic talk protocols, routines to develop metacognition, and documented learning (walls or artifacts that trace classroom inquiry). He said teachers have had “two on-calendar professional development days” this year and an additional summer/start-of-year training day that launched the deeper-learning work.

Drummond linked the classroom examples to the PD framework: “The way they were doing the thinking about their thinking, their honest reflection about who they were becoming as writers…is about the way that teachers have set up this learning experience for them to truly develop, as full people.” He said the district will introduce five additional instructional moves at the January PD day, including authentic tasks, student choice, opportunities to exhibit learning, feedback-and-revision cycles, and integrated planning for the district competencies.

Trustees responded with questions about curriculum and assessment. One trustee suggested Project Zero materials from the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a useful assessment lens for early learners. Drummond and others noted the work of Sarah Erlanger, who curated much of the deeper-learning content; Drummond said Erlanger will present at an upcoming deeper-learning conference.

The presentation closed with board appreciation for the students’ work and district staff’s PD plan. Trustees said the classroom examples helped make the district’s PD priorities more concrete and suggested the same documentation processes could inform future board study sessions.