Three Columbus Municipal School District schools have been chosen to participate in a program that enhances teachers’ ability to conduct virtual learning classes to enhance student achievement.
The Mississippi Department of Education is sending digital learning coaches to 62 schools across the state to help build the capacity of teachers and administrators to use educational technology to improve student outcomes, according to a press release from MDE.
“We are excited about the digital support for our three schools,” CMSD Superintendent Cherie Labat said to The Dispatch. “They will be supporting our teachers in their digital development and assisting them with understanding the technology needs of our students.”
Starting Thursday, digital coaches will be deployed to Columbus Middle School along with Stokes-Beard and Cook elementary schools, Labat said. The selected schools are in the 29 school districts statewide that submitted applications to MDE for digital learning coaching support.
The coaches are part of the Mississippi Connects initiative, which aims to provide every public school student in Mississippi with the technology to learn. The state is paying them.
Schools were selected based on the highest level of need and the expertise and the proximity of coaches.
“Educational technology provides teachers with new opportunities to help students learn and collaborate in innovative ways,” Carey Wright, state superintendent of education, said in the MDE press release. “The digital learning coaching program is designed to help teachers effectively use technology to advance student learning.”
Labat said the digital coaches will be focused on teaching educators to become instructional technology savvy.
“I think it is an important aspect to us moving forward and really using our technology well in the classroom,” Labat told The Dispatch. “I think it is a moral obligation that we use this technology well.”
MDE’s digital learning coaches will work with school leadership to select a cohort of four to six teachers to receive individualized coaching support throughout the 2021-22 school year. The teachers will receive weekly coaching conferences, classroom observations, collaborative lesson planning, modeling and co-teaching. Coaches also will provide schoolwide support including digital learning planning and professional development.
Cook Elementary Principal Billie Smith said teachers will receive digital and technological instruction throughout the school year that will alternate between in-person instruction and virtual learning every other week. She said this program will provide teachers with feedback, help them set instructional goals and provide resources in technology.
“It is going to provide ongoing coaching support for a cohort of teachers and provide coaching support for me so that I can continue to help the teachers,” Smith said. “This will have a big impact to help us to educate our students and improve student achievement.”
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