• Ambitious Mathematics Teaching (AMT)

AMT is a reform-oriented inquiry approach to teaching mathematics that emphasizes exploring concepts through problems that can be solved in multiple ways rather than memorizing formulas. The four dimensions of AMT are:

1. Eliciting and responding to student thinking 

2. Positioning students as sources of mathematical authority

3. Using complex, authentic, high-demand tasks

4. Emphasizing multiple dimensions of equity

Teachers play the role of facilitator, supporting students’ reasoning and equitable discourse where students share their thinking with one another.

• Chief Academic Officer 

The Chief Academic Officer is the supervisor of the Teacher Leaders and oversees curriculum development and enactment, state standard alignment, and professional learning. 

• Coaching the Coach Cycles

Coaching the Coach Cycles are similar to the above coaching cycles except the participants are coaches seeking to develop their coaching practice. The first stage consists of the coach and a mentor coach planning for the entire coaching cycle with the teacher, including the planning and/or debrief meetings between teacher and coach. The mentor coach can participate in the coaching cycle alongside the coach. Whether the mentor coach participates or not, the teacher/coach meetings can be recorded for later reflection. The cycle concludes with the coach and mentor coach meeting to discuss the coaching cycle as a whole.

• Collaborative Planning Time (CPT)

CPT is an essential part of the professional learning program. It is regularly scheduled time in the master schedule when teachers come together to collaborate on curriculum, lesson plans, looking at student work, reviewing data, and other elements of teaching and learning. During this time at East, teacher leaders facilitate work with teams of teachers in their departments. CPT occurs every other day for 72 minutes.  

• Content Focused Coaching (CFC) Cycles 

Content Focused Coaching is a model of instructional coaching where a coach and one teacher work together to inquire into student learning and mastery using the curricular content as the main vehicle of discussion. CFC generally engages the coach and teacher in three distinct phases that together constitute a coaching cycle: a planning conversation, an in-class lesson (with or without co-teaching), and a post-lesson debrief.  Multiple cycles completed within a relatively short time frame are known as a coaching block; this approach is generally more impactful on teacher practice and student learning than singular coaching cycles.

• Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy (CRRP)

CRRP is an educational approach that is based on Culturally Relevant Pedagogy from Gloria Ladson-Billings (2021) and Culturally Responsive Teaching from Geneva Gay (2018). Combining the two theories results in a deep understanding of who the students are—individually and how they are identified, using educational materials and curricula that are responsive to those identities, promoting a culture of empowerment with high expectations, and instilling a critical consciousness that seeks to rectify inequities.

• Curriculum Embedded Performance Task (CEPT)

A CEPT is a performance-based assessment that requires students to solve genuine problems or create original work, for an authentic external audience. They are embedded into the regular instructional time throughout a unit of study, rather than as add-ons or isolated assessments. CEPTs are designed to increase motivation, deepen learning, and engage with the community. 

• Distributed Leadership

Distributed Leadership is a practice based on a shared moral purpose. All leaders act as team members, make decisions collaboratively, and share accountability. Leadership roles are cultivated at all levels, creating structures for individuals to contribute, whether they are a Teacher Leader, Teacher, or Scholar. 

• East High School

Prior to the EPO, East served students in grades seven through twelve. The EPO added a sixth grade and intentionally decreased enrollment over several years. East’s pseudonym is the John Lewis School.

• Educational Partnership Organization (EPO)

The EPO is a formalized collaboration between the University of Landover and the John Lewis School. It was created with oversight from the New York State Education Department, due to the state’s determination of John Lewis as a “persistently struggling school” and the threat of school closure. The University of Landover served in the superintendent role for five years starting in the 2015-2016 school year and, when extended, for another five years in 2020. The Landover Board of Education voted to return the John Lewis School back to the Landover City School District when the renewed EPO contract ended in 2025.

• Freshman Academy

The Freshman Academy is a separate area of the Upper School that focuses on scholars in the ninth grade, an historically vulnerable grade in terms of attendance and accrual of course credit.

• Group Coaching Cycles

Group coaching cycles are similar to Content Focused Coaching Cycles. They differ in that during a group coaching cycle, a small team of teachers collaborate with one coach to plan, implement, and reflect on a particular lesson. All participating teachers participate in the group planning meeting, agree to co-teach the lesson with the coach, and participate in the group debrief meeting. During lesson implementation, the classroom teacher co-teaches with the coach while other participating teachers observe. 

• John Lewis School

The John Lewis School is the pseudonym for East High School.

• Landover

Landover is the pseudonym for the city of Rochester, NY and is used in several terms: Landover Board of Education, Landover City School District, and the University of Landover.

• Learning Labs (or Teaching Labs)

Learning Labs evolved from the lesson study approach (rooted in Japanese teacher professional learning) and incorporates the methods of Content Focused Coaching, but instead of one teacher and one coach, there are multiple teachers involved together. Typically, a lesson is chosen because it showcases one or more professional learning focus areas that are being practiced or enacted. As with CFC, Learning Labs generally engage the coach with a group of teachers in three distinct phases: planning session, in-class lesson observation (one participant teaches while the rest of the team observes), and a post-lesson debrief. Learning Labs might include multiple in-class lesson observations of different teachers, particularly when teachers on a team are implementing the same lesson and/or strategy.

• Lower School

The Lower School is a separate area of the John Lewis School that houses grades six, seven, and eight.

• Management in the Active Classroom (MAC) Protocols

These protocols are based on the 2021 work from R. Berger, D. Strasser, and L. Woodfin and EL Education. Over 40 protocols are outlined to establish a culture in the classroom where students are engaged, effective collaborators, and accountable for their own and others' learning.

• Model of Sustainable Ambitious Math Programs (MSAMP)

MSAMP is a National Science Foundation-funded project (Grant no. 2010111) that explores the enactment and sustainability of ambitious mathematics teaching and learning in high-need settings. The team includes researchers and professional development experts from the University of Rochester, San Diego State University, and UC-Davis.

• Monroe Community College (MCC)

A community college in Landover that partners with the John Lewis School to provide college credit-bearing opportunities to scholars prior to graduation.

• MSAMP Model (or Model)

The MSAMP team has developed a visual model to represent systems and resources that support the enactment of challenging forms of mathematics curriculum and instruction. The model is based on a case study of the John Lewis School in a high-need setting that has sustained the implementation of an ambitious mathematics program for 10 years. The MSAMP Team has held several local and national focus group experiences to gather feedback on the model and revise it.

• NYSED

The New York State Education Department is the entity that designated the John Lewis School as a Persistently Struggling School under the State’s School Receivership law and therefore in danger of permanent closure. NYSED later approved the EPO between the University of Landover and the John Lewis School.

• Scholar

The term “scholar” is equivalent to “student.” At the start of the EPO, the term “scholar” was determined to be used instead of student in all school documents and speech by teachers, administrators, and staff. The distinction is rooted in the desire to shift the focus from passively receiving information to actively participating in learning and the creation of knowledge. 

• Teacher Leader (TL)

A Teacher Leader is a classroom teacher with additional leadership responsibilities within their department. Working collaboratively with teacher peers and administrators, teacher leaders are expert and enthusiastic practitioners of adopted curricula. They facilitate collaborative planning time, and plan and lead professional development activities, including content focused coaching.

• Teacher Leader Collaborative Planning Time (TL CPT)

Teacher Leader Collaborative Planning Time is similar to the teachers’ CPT periods. TL CPT occurs for 72 minutes every other day for Teacher Leaders to come together to collaborate around their work and learn together in support of curriculum and instruction at East. TL CPT is facilitated by the Chief Academic Officer, the Lead Teacher Leader, and/or partnering consultants. 

• Teaching Labs (see Learning Labs)

• Understanding by Design (UbD)

Understanding by Design is an approach for curriculum design developed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. It is an example of “backward design” in that the first stage is to establish the final outcomes of a lesson or unit. The next stage is to determine what evidence must be gathered to assess student learning. Lastly, the specific lesson(s) and activities that will support the learning and provide the evidence are designed.

• University of Landover

The University of Landover is the pseudonym for the University of Rochester.

• University of Rochester

The University of Rochester, founded in 1850, includes the Warner School of Education and Human Development. The Warner School was instrumental in spearheading the EPO and supporting many aspects including curriculum, professional development, and community engagement.

• Upper School

The Upper School is a separate area of the John Lewis School that houses grades nine through twelve.