University of Central Arkansas

Having Every Adolescent Ready to Triumph, HEART, is the mission of the Arkansas Adolescent Literacy Intervention (AALI).  To accomplish this mission, there must be supportive leadership that is willing to collaborate and move toward continued improvement in meeting the needs of Arkansas students.  On June 12, approximately sixteen teachers, principals, Arkansas Department of Education, and University of Central Arkansas leaders met to create a professional learning community (PLC).   The AALI PLC will provide all stakeholders with a network of other professionals to generate effective practices, share ideas and materials, develop support systems, and promote an effective intervention for the students of Arkansas.  Monthly webinars will be the communication structure for creating the avenue for collaboration and maintaining the work of the PLC.  This communication avenue will allow all stakeholders to remain at their site, but be actively engaged in professional learning with other state leaders.

The AALI Clearinghouse provides infrastructure for consistent communication and a system for providing professional services for schools participating in the Arkansas Adolescent Literacy Intervention (AALI).  After schools review the Content Enhancement or Learning Strategies Arkansas Commissioner’s Memo, they express interest to the clearinghouse by submitting an interest form. Once the interest form is submitted, the director of the clearinghouse contacts the interested school to discuss the intervention. If the school decides to apply for the intervention, they complete the school and individual commitment forms and submit them to the clearinghouse.  The leadership team reviews the commitment forms and considers their application for professional services.  Upon approval of their application, a professional developer is assigned to the school site to provide professional services and communicate with the school leadership team regarding student data and alignment of the intervention. After reviewing data, the professional developer and school leadership team will determine dates for two Content Enhancement Routines or Learning Strategies, two coaching visits, and two fidelity checks.  When the dates are determined, the professional developer communicates these dates to the clearinghouse.  The professional developer is responsible for continuous communication with the clearinghouse regarding submission of agendas, summaries, and evaluations of professional services provided at each participating site.  The clearinghouse will be a central location for all record keeping regarding the AALI professional learning.