A User's Guide to PAR > Designing Your PAR Program

Designing Your PAR Program

Rochester's Novice Program

Designing a PAR program is not a simple task. In most districts that we studied, teachers and administrators came together in a series of meetings to choose the elements for their program. Such a planning team has to choose how best to structure the program, how to align it with to the district’s other initiatives, how to launch it successfully, and how to maintain it. Because each district is different, there is no one best design, no foolproof recipe for PAR. Instead each district must tailor PAR to its own context.

Nonetheless, the PAR programs in the districts we studied were similar in many ways. These districts had a wealth of experience with PAR and they were generous in sharing the lessons they had learned. Here, we provide information about several of the most important decisions that districts make as they design their PAR program. Click on the topics for further explanations about each component. For more information about how union leaders and administrators collaborated for program development, refer to the tab on Labor-Management Relations or click here.

• The Consulting Teacher’s Role

• The PAR Panel

• The Novice Program

• The Intervention Program

• Making PAR Work Day-to-Day