If you are a teacher using Skyline, we invite you to participate in the year-long curriculum-based professional learning series specifically designed for your Skyline course. In response to teacher feedback, this year’s professional learning model is designed to be more flexible and frequent, with more focused, bite-sized chunks of learning.
Each course-specific series reflects the following cadence of sessions, giving you access to centralized, unit-specific workshops (Skyline Unit Launch and Practice Workshops) that prepare you to successfully implement an individual unit, followed by school-based, teacher-led protocols (“Skyline Co-Labs”) that can be used to internalize curriculum in a job-embedded and peer-supported environment rooted in the CPS Learning Cycle Model:
SY24 Skyline Professional Learning
Please take time to familiarize yourself with SY24 Skyline Professional Learning opportunities. Then create a Sched account using your CPS email and log into Sched to register for sessions.
Skyline Co-Labs
The Skyline Co-Labs consist of highly articulated protocols that any team of teachers can easily follow, extending learning that begins at Unit Launch and Practice Workshops. As with the Universal Co-Labs, school-based teams have the flexibility to schedule Skyline Co-Labs within their existing meeting structures, including grade level meetings, whole school professional development, and flex time. Each Skyline Co-Lab is designed to take approximately 45 minutes and can include optional extension activities. By engaging in Skyline Co-Labs, school-based teams will:
- Internalize unit content - understanding how key content & instructional shifts live in the curriculum
- Engage in lesson study protocols - internalizing and rehearsing lesson content for implementation
- Engage in data collection and reflection - informing instructional decision-making with upcoming Skyline content
Skyline Co-Labs are accessible below:
Skyline Essentials Training Materials
The Skyline Essentials Pathway prepares you to plan, teach, and assess with Skyline using asynchronous training modules that can be found within SAFARI Montage. Upon completion of each training module, CPS educators can earn a badge - a microcredential housed within the district’s badging platform Canvas Credentials (formerly Badgr). Digital badges are representative of professional learning achievements. Skyline-adopting teachers who complete the training modules and earn the associated badge will be paid for one hour per completed badge at the non-instructional rate and receive 1 ISBE credit per badge.
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Available now: Navigating Skyline
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Available now: Planning with Skyline
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Available now: Teaching with Skyline
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Available this summer: Assessing with Skyline
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Available this summer: Customizing Skyline
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Available this summer: Accessibility Skyline
Continuous Learning Partners
If your school has been paired with a Continuous Learning Partner (PCG, TNTP, ANet, Leading Educators, or Teaching Lab) to support Skyline implementation, please contact Robert Welch (rwelch2@cps.edu) with any questions. You may also contact the manager of your respective Continuous Learning Partner:
- Achievement Network (ANet): Janine Givens-Belsley (jgivensbelsley@achievementnetwork.org)
- Leading Educators: Claudine Andrews (candrews@leadingeducators.org)
- Public Consulting Group (PCG): Paul Wilson (PWilson@pcgus.com)
- Teaching Lab: Jalinda Soto (jalinda.soto@teachinglab.org)
- The New Teacher Project (TNTP): Amy Nicholson (amy.nicholson@tntp.org)
Self-Paced Skyline Professional Learning Resources
All self-paced professional learning content is conveniently located on the Skyline Professional Learning Asset Map. Included among these resources are:
Quarterly Curriculum Series
- These self-paced content-specific sessions build understanding of the principles, key practices, and instructional shifts aligned to Skyline in each subject area, and lay the foundation for successful planning and teaching of your upcoming Skyline units.
Unit-Specific Modules
- Self-paced, unit-specific modules guide teachers through the most important content and instructional practices for each Skyline unit by subject area. These modules are designed so school-based teams of teachers (or individual teachers, if necessary) can learn and plan together (note these are available for each quarter for World Language).
Instructional Practice Series Modules (ELA and Math)
- Self-paced modules that provide deep dives into the core practices and instructional shifts aligned to Skyline ELA and Math content. Teacher teams or individuals can use these flexibly according to their needs or professional learning interest.
Skyline 101 for Administrators
- Professional learning series designed for school leaders to support them through successful Skyline adoption. These self-paced sessions:
- Focus on best practices for successful curriculum implementation
- Hone understanding of content-specific best practices and instructional look-fors
- Provide structured and supported collaborative planning for successful curriculum adoption
Research-Based Best Practices
Skyline professional learning rests on the design elements that research shows have the most impact on teacher practice, as detailed in the Carnegie Corporation report The Elements: Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning. As aligned to this research, Skyline curriculum-based professional learning:
- Is rooted in the high quality materials teachers use in their classrooms, with their students in mind
- Combines centralized supports from content experts with school-based collaborative inquiry by teams of teachers
Need Help?
If you or a member of your team encounter challenges using Skyline, please visit the Service Now website and open a support ticket, or simply call 773-553-3925 and a support ticket will be opened for you.