Participants from the Walter Johnson and Wheaton clusters had an opportunity to explore ways to prepare students for academic success at the first College Board Building Success Conference, held March 7 and 8.

Principals from Wheaton and Walter Johnson high schools, and Parkland, Tilden and North Bethesda middle schools, selected faculty to represent their schools' social studies or English departments at the two-day workshop, which was conducted by College Board consultants.

The major goal was to explore ways to provide students with the analytical skills fundamental for academic success and eventual Honors and Advanced Placement work.

Participants were able to work on the following areas:

Identify classroom approaches that support understanding.

Develop strategies that encourage students to ask questions and draw inferences.

Learn techniques for critical reading and analytical writing.

Gain a solid grasp of how to construct strong verbal and written arguments.

Explore attributes of classroom with high student engagement.

Determine the best way to assess complex performance.

Practice creating interdisciplinary lessons.

Develop some vertical teaming and vertical articulation with curriculum.

Similar conferences for other schools will be held beginning in the summer.