The faculty and staff of the Whitfield County School District are committed to using effective instructional practices that are non-negotiable in every classroom. Our goal is that all students in the Whitfield County School District will be successful because they will achieve at their highest level. To meet this goal:

We will teach the Georgia Standards of Excellence with fidelity by:

• Designing lessons aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE)
• Identifying key concepts in the language of the standards
• Using essential questions to connect instruction to the standard
• Asking students to explain the standards in their own words

We will monitor the progress of our students while working collaboratively using the Data Team Process by:

• Developing formative assessments that are explicitly aligned to standards
• Collecting, charting, and analyzing student work on a regular basis
• Identifying students who are not meeting standards, meeting standards, or exceeding standards
• Adjusting/Differentiating instruction based on assessment results
• Using a variety of instructional strategies to address student needs

All teaching and learning activities will reflect a shared understanding of what students should know, do, and understand and will be built around a common framework for instruction that consists of:

• Opening – Activating strategies centered on the standard, element(s), and essential question
• Mini-lesson – Modeling while referencing standards and key vocabulary
• Using exemplars (examples of student work that meets or exceeds the standard)
• Work Period – Engaging students using performance tasks
• Using higher-order thinking questions to probe student understanding
• Closing – Summarizing strategies to assess student understanding

Our classroom environment will be built on:

• Strong student-teacher relationships based on the school district’s core values
• The social-emotional needs of our students
• Established rituals and routines
• Evidence of the common framework for instruction
• Evidence of student work that reflects the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE)

Our communication with parents will be:

• Frequent, clear, and consistent
• Focused on building a partnership with parents and community for improving student performance