PICCS School Improvement Engine

Research tells us that the quality of a teacher’s instruction directly relates to the level of student success in his or her classroom. The concept of performance-based incentives is premised on the idea that incentives for teachers will drive them to improve their instructional practices and in turn increase student outcomes. PICCS adopts this premise and takes it a step further: We are developing a set of tools, resources and practices to help teachers better understand the needs of their students so that they can customize their instructional practices to meet those needs. “Better” instruction in PICCS is instruction that is aligned with the performance goals of each and every student in the classroom. Therefore, “quality instruction” can and does take many different shapes in the PICCS schools.

The PICCS School Improvement Engine helps teachers develop quality instructional practices appropriate to the needs and learning styles of their students by guiding teachers to answer four main questions:

1. What does each of my students need to achieve success?
2. How do I customize curriculum and instruction to meet those needs?
3. How do I know that my modifications are working?
4. How can I use what I’ve learned and developed to help other teachers?