Center for Education Innovation - Public Education Association: Frank San Felice

My name is Frank San Felice and I am the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Project Director for several TIF grants awarded to the Center for Educational Innovation - Public Education Association (CEI-PEA). I have been asked to write a letter of support for Accelerated Literacy Learning (A.L.L.), a professional development organization with whom CEI-PEA has contracted for professional development services for our TIF consortiums of schools. I am happy to comply with this request.

CEI-PEA began working with A.L.L. in March of 2013 with cohort-wide professional developments held at CEI-PEA focused on Language Arts Common Core Standards. This partnership grew to include additional support on-site to the schools within our TIF 3 Grant (6 schools), supporting teachers in continued transition to Common Core Standards.

Literacy professional development was included in our TIF Round 4 grant proposals and A.L.L was selected to be our partner in this endeavor. Success with our TIF 4 proposals resulted in expanding A.L.L's scope of work to include pairing each of the 11Round 4 schools with a highly qualified A.L.L. consultant (based on level) to provide consistent literacy support throughout the year. This work is tailored to meet the unique goals of the school, attesting to the flexibility and versatility of their consultants.

A.L.L. consultants provide support at all levels of each school's Human Capital Management System. At any given time, one may see an A.L.L. consultant working with Professional Learning Communities and teacher teams to tune lessons and units of instruction, meeting with a literacy instructional coach to support mentoring teachers within their department, working one- on-one with a teacher to demonstrate how to translate a lesson from plan to practice and communicating with the principal to update on progress towards school goals.

In the summer of 2014, we held a Summer Leadership Academy. An A.L.L. consultant was an essential component of this Professional Development, guiding school leadership teams in fostering a desire for "Deeper Learning" within their school buildings. A.L.L. consultants also facilitated a "Deeper Learning Through Literacy" professional development in the summer of 2014, approaching this concept through the perspective of a classroom teacher.

In the fall of 2014 PICCS began work on a comprehensive induction program, providing various avenues of support for novice teachers within the cohort. A.L.L. serves as one of the main pillars of this support, providing on site professional development in the area of literacy, but through the lens of the novice teacher. Teachers working with the A.L.L. consultants know they are not only supported in content, but in teacher pedagogy as well. Our schools often contact PICCS for a request for additional days with these consultants, attesting to the quality of the work that is taking place.

We have continued and expanded our involvement with A.L.L. to the present. My expectation is that CEI-PEA will continue contracting with A.L.L. throughout the entire grant period, which extends through the 2016-17 school year. If and when additional funding is available for professional development, CEI-PEA will continue its relationship with A.L.L.

It should be evident that CEI-PEA has high regard for A.L.L. as a service provider of literacy focused professional development. CEI-PEA holds its service providers to high standards of performance. The schools A.L.L. is contracted to service are client schools of CEI-PEA. To some degree, the assessment of CEI-PEA by its client schools is dependent upon the quality of service provided by the service providers and their consultants with whom CEI-PEA contracts to deliver these services. The ongoing relationship between A.L.L. and CEI-PEA affirms that A.L.L. continues to surpass the high bar for service that CEI-PEA has set for its professional development providers.

I recommend A.L.L. without reservation. I have no doubt that your schools will be well served by contracting for A.L.L. professional development services. Should you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.