Effective & Culturally Responsive Instruction

The Early Childhood Hubs offer a wide array of opportunities for families and children from birth to age 5 to learn and grow together while supporting the development of every child. 

Coming soon: Detailed strategy summary

Provide coaching and mentoring to Early Learning staff and offer opportunities for Saint Paul residents to learn about early child care and education to promote readiness for kindergarten.

Coming soon: Detailed summary

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) staff will receive training using Autism Navigator to help children with characteristics of autism develop and learn in the classroom and at home.

Staff to support the increased need for special education assessments and services due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provide recovery services to help students in special education make progress on their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals after the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted their education.

Ensure all K-5 students learn about a variety of subjects, including science, social studies, physical education and the arts, regardless of what school they attend and/or their academic needs.

Time within the school day for elementary classroom teachers to collaborate, learn, review data, and plan lessons and activities that meet the needs of students. Students participate in enrichment classes during this time.

Ensure that all SPPS elementary students have access to their school library and that library staff are updating their collections with student-centered materials.

Updated curriculum to support students' knowledge about American Indians that reflects accurate cultural and historical representations and meets state standards across all content areas.

Wellstone, Farnsworth Lower, Nokomis South, American Indian Magnet, Hazel Park and Battle Creek Middle will hire instructional content coaches or academic support teachers to maintain continuous improvement efforts and support implementation of evidence-based practices.

Coming soon: Detailed strategy summary

Crossroads Science, Four Seasons, Nokomis North, Hidden River and Highwood Hills will hire Learning Leads to support implementation of evidence-based practices and provide instructional coaching and planning.

Coming soon: Detailed summary

Eighth-grade students will participate in Junior Achievement’s JA Finance Park to enhance their knowledge of personal financial literacy and career awareness.

Create new academic lesson plans for first, third, fourth and sixth grades centered on the planetarium field trip and increase Community Education offerings at Como Planetarium.

Coming soon: Detailed strategy summary

Additional licensed literacy teachers in every elementary and middle school to provide small group reading instruction.

Designated schools will receive targeted supports with their goals around math. Teachers at designated schools will receive support around lesson planning and teaching mathematics.

Provide training to principals and school staff on Culturally Responsive Instruction principles and practices using the Ready for Rigor framework by Zaretta Hammond. CRI connects students’ cultural backgrounds and life experiences with what they learn in school.

Develop guidelines and train school staff on Culturally Responsive Instruction (CRI) to increase opportunities for students to make choices about how they learn and demonstrate their learning.

Provide opportunities for students to recover credits and implement a standardized schedule and grading system across all high schools to help ensure all students are prepared for postsecondary learning and careers after graduation.

Provide multiple ways for high school students to earn credits and stay on track to graduate with their peers, including daytime credit recovery support and instruction, Extended Day for Learning (EDL), Evening High School (EHS) and the Credit Recovery Network (CRN).

Increase awareness and testing opportunities for bilingual and multilingual students in grades 10-12 to achieve a Minnesota Bilingual Seal or World Language Certificate and earn college credits.

Create learning opportunities for Bilingual Level 1 Educational Assistants to improve their English writing skills and become Level 2 Educational Assistants, leading to greater retention of Bilingual EA staff.

Provide English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers with coaching and professional development to support non-ESL teachers in developing and integrating English Language strategies into the classroom.

Hire a Somali-speaking staff person to increase engagement and connection between Somali families/community members and SPPS.

Three multilingual staff members to support schools in implementing effective English Language services, provide training, and support co-teaching and language development practices across content areas. 

School staff will have access to timely, integrated technology solutions to support their teaching and learning.

Increase access to educational apps that students and teachers can use to enhance classroom learning.