Supporting the Vision

Davis also realized that new courses would not be enough to foster the culture of a learning community for the whole school. It would take a schoolwide commitment and ongoing professional development. So Montclair brought in Harvard education researcher Dr. Ron Ferguson, consultant for the National Minority Student Achievement Network. He worked with Montclair staff to begin implementation of his "Tripod Project," designed to teach staff members to build trust with students by demonstrating that they are competent, consistent, and caring. Montclair's ongoing work with the project has been so successful that the school has been cited as a Tripod Project model and staff members have presented to the National Education Association and the National Minority Student Achievement Network.

At the beginning of the school year, teachers were introduced to Dr. Ferguson's "prompts" for beginning the school year and developing effective student-teacher relationships. Montclair students' list of "what students wonder about on the first day of school" resulted from one of these prompts.

Montclair also provided staff members with ample choices in staff development, such as topical sessions that focus on the attributes of SLCs, design team meetings structured around Montclair's seven critical instructional attributes for effective teaching and learning, and book discussion sessions.