Deborah L. Sylvester

Knowledgeable Staff Development Teacher with a solid background in fostering effective instruction through a focus on equity, restorative justice practices and an adherence to the tenets psychological safety.

• Employs elements of psychological safety (inclusion and learner safety, growth mindset) in staff and collaborative team meetings
• Engages staff in equity and instructional rounds using the Cycle of Coaching framework
• Facilitates focused conversations about disaggregated student performance data during collaborative team planning meetings
• Assists teachers in planning for multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression, based on identified student needs and preferences

• Develops clear, concise agendas for staff development, CPS, and collaborative team planning meetings and trainings
• Models equitable practices, language routines, engagement and restorative justice strategies during meetings and classroom visits
• Plans for, encourages and support staff engagement in Professional Learning Communities
• Gathers and analyzes formal and informal data to improve instruction and to develop professional learning plans

• Incorporates elements of psychological safety during collaborative team planning to encourage risk taking
• Employs instructional/language strategies during meetings
• Utilizes a variety of coaching stances with coaches to improve student outcomes

• Develops resources and processes that enable the continuous gathering, reviewing and analysis of school data as well as the identification of next steps during ILT, staff and collaborative team planning meetings
• Fosters an examination of scoring rubrics as a means of matching instruction to learning standards
• Norms conversations about race/racism and cultural/linguistic biases
• Designs and analyzes evaluations to collect data and feedback from staff trainings and meetings to inform future professional development.

• Antiracist Instructional Leadership, 2025
• Critical Friends Group, 2023
• Trauma-Informed Teaching, 2020
• Co-chaired Restorative Justice/PBIS Committee
• Restorative Justice Practices, 2019 - 2020
• Crisis Prevention and Intervention, 2019 and 2020
• Operationalizing Equity 102, 2016
• Operationalizing Equity 101, 2015
• Leading for Equity, 2015
• Elevating the Black Male, 2015
• Facilitative Leadership, 2014
• Observing and Analyzing Teaching I, 2013

• Elicits guidance from and works cooperatively with instructional specialists
• Plans and facilitates professional development meetings aligned to the School Improvement Plan, including MCPS required trainings and initiatives
• Assists in the development of Master Schedule to permit for weekly team planning
• Supports the smooth operation of the school