Professional Learning Series

A multi-session, interactive experience to prepare educators to engage their struggling readers with STARI

About the Online Professional Learning Series

This online professional learning series invites educators to dive into the STARI program and provides opportunities for teachers and coaches to explore STARI practices and skills and learn to implement STARI effectively. Sessions include videos, readings, hands-on activities, and much more. The series is designed with collaborative teacher teams in mind, but it can be used by individual teachers as well.

This series is designed to fit into professional development structures that are already in place. Therefore, the training is organized into sessions to be completed during the summer and over the course of the year. Upon completion, a certificate is provided that may be used for professional development credits in districts that provide them.

Introduction to the STARI Online Professional Learning Series

Scheduling

We estimate that the STARI Professional Learning Series will take approximately 20 hours, with about 8 hours intended for before implementation (Sessions 1-6) and the rest spread across the year (1-2 hours/month). There is likely to be quite a bit of variability depending on how quickly you move through the content, how many of the optional activities are done or skipped, and whether any of the sessions are done collaboratively.

If completed collaboratively with a facilitator, we recommend two 6-hour days of training before the first day of school, followed by monthly 2-hour PLC meetings during the school year. (Note: this calendar is based on a September-June school year; if your district operates on an August-May calendar, adjust accordingly).

Suggested Pacing Guide for the Year

	Session	Topic
Summer	Session 0 • 30 minutes	Icebreaker (in-person only)
	Session 1 • 2 hours	Intro to STARI
	Session 2 • 1.5 hours	Discussion
	Session 3 • 45 minutes	Decoding
	Session 4 • 2.5 hours	Fluency
	Session 5 • 1 hour	Comprehension Strategies
	Session 6 • 15–75 minutes	Prepping for Implementation
September	Session 7 • 30–60 minutes	Beginning of the Year Check-in
	Session 8 • 1 hour	Partner Reading
October	Session 9 • 1–1.5 hours	Guided Reading
	Session 10 • 45–60 minutes	Talk Goals 1 and 2
November	Session 11 • 1–1.5 hours	Debate
	Session 12 • 35 minutes	Talk Goals 3 and 4
December or January	Session 13 • 1–1.5 hours	Getting Ready for Unit 2
February	Session 14 • 1–1.5 hours	Going Deeper with Discussion
March	Session 15 • 45–60 minutes	Adaptations
April	Session 16 • 1–1.5 hours	Getting Ready for Unit 3
May or June	Session 17 • 20 minutes–2 hours	Debrief, Reflection, Planning for Next Year

Three options to access the STARI Professional Learning Series

OPTION A:

Teacher License(s)

This license is for a self-paced version of the online series to complete independently or with a small group of colleagues. We believe that the PD is more valuable as a collaborative experience, but we offer this option for districts where scheduling PD is not possible.

A single license to access the online materials is $375.* Quantity discounts apply. see all prices
License duration: 1 year

OPTION B:

Teacher Licenses plus Facilitator

Some teacher teams may prefer an in-person, collaborative professional learning experience, led by a local facilitator. A purchase of 8 or more teacher licenses makes the team eligible to add a facilitator license at a deeply discounted cost.

A facilitator license provides access to a facilitator version of the online series to project to a group of participants for non-commercial purposes. No prior knowledge of STARI is required for the facilitator.

This combination version also provides each teacher individual access to the online series, so they can make up missed sessions, review content, or complete part of the series independently if needed.

Purchase of 8 or more teacher licenses required.** Quantity discounts apply.
see all prices

Facilitator license included for an additional $675.

One printed facilitator guide included.

License duration: 1 year

OPTION C:

Facilitator License

(non-commercial use only)

In some cases, facilitators will lead sessions without teachers having online access at all. This facilitator license provides access to a facilitator version of the online series to project to a group of participants for non-commercial purposes. No prior knowledge of STARI is required for the facilitator.

Facilitator license: $3,000.

License duration: 1 year

One printed facilitator guide included.

These costs do not include costs for printed STARI curriculum materials, texts, etc. The STARI curriculum materials are downloadable online for free or printed copies can be purchased from SERP’s print-on-demand service provider. If you are interested in purchasing texts and/or printed curriculum materials, please contact SERP for more information and to get a quote.

*If you are a teacher paying out of pocket for your own professional development, financial aid is available. Please contact us for more information.

**If you wish to use this option in a school or district with fewer than 8 STARI teachers, please contact us for a quote.

Note:

SERP also offers traditional, two-day, in-person summer institutes, led by a SERP facilitator. If you are interested in this type of PD, email info@serpinstitute.org.

Development of STARI was led by Lowry Hemphill (Wheelock College) through a SERP collaboration with Harvard University and four Massachusetts school districts. The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305F100026 to the Strategic Education Research Partnership as part of the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

The STARI Team