One of the factors affecting student achievement is teacher skill. Demonstrating their commitment to continuously expanding their knowledge and improving their skills, a number of Townshend faculty members are taking advantage of Stanford University’s online program, and have begun the course, “Using Complex Texts to Develop Language.” The ability to understand complex texts has been tied to college and career success.
The purpose of the course is to support teachers to enhance students’ language development by analyzing complex texts and using language from those texts. The course addresses: 1) what makes a text complex; 2) effective strategies for teaching students to analyze textual features; 3) effective strategies for teaching students to use and acquire textual language; and 4) designing lessons that emphasize students using textual language and analyzing textual features.
Our teachers show that learning is a lifelong endeavor, and by taking the course, seek to bring even higher levels of achievement to our students.