Eagle Rock Hosting Mid-June Pre-Service Education Retreat

School Reform Initiative (SRI), in partnership with Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, is excited to host its third annual summer retreat for pre-service teacher educators here on our campus in Estes Park, Colorado, June 18-19, 2018.

Pre-service teacher educators represent schools or organizations interested in School Reform Initiative tools that include protocols in supporting their teacher training programs. The retreat targets educators interested in strengthening their teacher training programs as well as those interested in joining a collegial group of others who do.

The day-and-a-half program runs from 8 a.m. on Monday, June 18, and concludes at noon on Tuesday, June 19. First-time visitors to Eagle Rock can participate in tours of our school that will take place Tuesday afternoon once the retreat concludes. As we’ve done in the past with this program, our Professional Development Center staff is providing facilitation for the day-and-half retreat, as well as sharing insights on work we’ve done here at Eagle Rock as an alternative licensure program.

The retreat promises to provide an excellent educational opportunity for SRI affiliates, whose work includes supporting pre-service teacher candidates in both traditional and alternative certification programs. In fact, before reading more about the 2018 retreat, take a look at the following video recapping the 2017 experience:

As you can see, those in attendance can experience how programs are successfully using SRI tools to support the learning of pre-service teacher candidates. In fact, the mission of SRI is to create transformational learning communities that are fiercely committed to educational equity and excellence.

Click here to register for the retreat, which costs just $100 and includes all meals. Housing here at Eagle Rock is available for an additional $20 per person. (Please note: Registration and housing costs do not include transportation to or from our campus in Estes Park; however, SRI will help coordinate shared rides based on the registrations it receives through the SRI Website.)

As for the retreat itself, attendees will have time for:

• Networking and sharing of best practices.
• Receiving feedback on individual dilemmas or problems of practice.
• Exploring opportunities to partner with other pre-service educators
• Taking up common issues and dilemmas using the Network Improvement Community (NIC) model.

This summer’s retreat marks the third consecutive year that Eagle Rock has hosted SRI. In 2016, SRI affiliates participated in the first such gathering here. That session saw nine SRI affiliates kick off the first Network Improvement Community dedicated to supporting pre-service educators working to incorporate SRI principles and practices into their licensure programs.

That retreat also saw participants learn about Improvement Science, work through their own context to define the problems, analyze root causes, develop measurable outcomes, map systems, and adopt a change idea. This event was skillfully coordinated and guided by Eagle Rock staff members.

The following year, eight SRI affiliates joined three of our Professional Development Center staffers — Michael Soguero, Dan Condon, and Anastacia Galloway Reed — for the second annual such gathering at Eagle Rock in Estes Park. That experience saw participants collaborating on how to better support pre-service teacher candidates in pre-service education, using the principles and practices of SRI critical friendship. The group applied tools of Improvement Science to opportunities for improvement in SRI’s various teacher licensure programs.

For more information or to register for the June 18-19, 2018, retreat, please visit the Pre-Service Education Retreat registration page on the SRI website.