DALLAS — November 18, 2015 — Learning Forward and Corwin announce the Instructional Leadership Team from Braulio Alonso School in Tampa, Florida, as the winner of the 2015 Shirley Hord Learning Team Award. This award is given annually to a team of teachers that demonstrates Learning Forward’s definition of professional learning in action.
Teams from schools across the United States submitted nominations. Schools submitted videos of their teams engaging in professional learning, along with documentation of their work and its impact on student learning. A team of reviewers evaluated the submissions using Learning Forward’s Learning School Innovation Configuration Map.
“Hillsborough County Schools has made a commitment to being an innovative professional learning system, and this commitment is reflected in the work of the Instructional Leadership Team at Braulio Alonso High School,” said Learning Forward Executive Director Stephanie Hirsh. “The team’s collaborative leadership is contributing to a culture of continuous improvement that is improving teaching practices and student achievement.”
Alonso High School is the largest school in Hillsborough County Schools, the eighth-largest school system in the nation. The school’s Instructional Leadership Team is a cross-curricular team focused on implementing a system of professional learning and support to improve results for all learners.
“Our school’s ILT members have inspired their colleagues to open their classrooms for collegial observations; to collaborate across content areas; to plan with the end in mind; to share research-based instructional strategies that will assist struggling students; and to look at student work samples to track trends across the curriculum and to determine teacher professional development needs,” said Larissa McCoy Mitti, assistant principal for curriculum at Braulio Alonso High School. “More important, they have motivated their colleagues to effectively implement our state standards so that our students, and our school, can experience success.”
“The members of this professional learning community engage with student data that guides their instructional decisions,” said Learning Forward Scholar Laureate Shirley Hord. “There is abundant contribution and exchange of information, ideas, suggestions from each member of the community. They continue their own learning to improve their skills as a learning community, and their learning is directly related to their students’ needs in order that they more effectively teach all students, so students learn well. Congratulations to Alonso High School and its multiple communities of professional learners! I celebrate you and your work for students’ success.”
Learning Forward and Corwin will present the Braulio Alonso team with the Shirley Hord Learning Team Award at Learning Forward’s 2015 Annual Conference, December 5-9 in Washington, DC. Corwin generously sponsored the award, which includes funds to support representatives of the winning team to participate in the 2015 Annual Conference, $2,500 to support collaborative professional learning, and a gift of Corwin books for the school’s professional library.
To view the video submission of the winning team and learn more about the award, visit https://learningforward.org/get-involved/awards/2015-hord-award-winner
