Raising The Bar for Synagogue School Education 

A recent think tank on synagogue school education for synagogue leaders was the latest in a series of educational programs sponsored by the Lorraine & Jack N. Friedman Commission for Jewish Education (CJE), in its effort to develop and nurture synagogue schools with teachers of excellence in Palm Beach County.  Since 2006, the CJE has been engaged in a process to enhance synagogue school education in the greater Palm Beaches.

This initiative has been made possible with the help of a grant from the Mandel Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, and additional funding from the List Family Scholar Endowment of the Friedman Commission for Jewish Education.  The think tank featured a presentation by Prof. Jack Wertheimer of the Jewish Theological Seminary on his paper, “Synagogue Schools That Work.” 

Three schools were initially selected to take part in the Synagogue School Enhancement Initiative (SSEI)- a multi-year pilot program designed to effect positive change in the schools. In each synagogue, a leadership group that included the rabbi, the president, senior lay leaders, and the religious school director, met regularly to develop a shared vision and agreed upon outcomes for the school. At the end of the first year, the CJE, whose Executive Director, Steven Schauder, is a Mandel Jerusalem Fellows graduate, convened the leadership groups to address shared educational challenges. The implementation strategy that emerged from the educational visioning process was based on evaluation in several areas, including: school culture, structure and curriculum; ongoing professional development programs for teachers; strategies for lay and professional leaders to work together to achieve meaningful participation in synagogue life as learning communities; and strategies to shift the synagogue’s institutional focus to a community focus.

A major outcome of the pilot project was the development of intensive and ongoing professional development training in two schools. Seventeen faculty members earned certification after participating in a two-year program for supplementary schools that included a course on “Theory and Practice of Curriculum Design” as well as a course on “Using School-Wide UbD (Understanding by Design)*

Curriculum Development to Improve Teaching Skills and Build & Sustain a Professional Learning Community.”  The 60-hour program was designed by CJE Assistant Executive Director Lynne Lieberman.  

 “We were able to learn, practice, and apply the concepts taught through this strategy in our classrooms . . .”  noted one of the teachers. “Being able to focus on the enduring understandings and the essential questions takes the hit or miss method of instruction out of the picture. . . . I am finding the children so much more engaged and happy about learning.”

A unique feature of SSEI has been its focus on using CJE lay leaders to mentor synagogue lay leaders.  “This initiative has given our synagogue lay leaders the framework within which to speak directly with our teachers, our youth, their families, and our clergy about goals for education and the outcomes we are seeking,” notes Linda Fayne, the Education Vice President of Temple Beth David, one of the SSEI sites.  “In asking us to ‘dream our best dream,’ our group has taken on a very large, challenging and far-reaching endeavor to better educate our teachers and thus ‘raise the bar’ for synagogue school education…. It has given our teaching staff a renewed sense of pride and purpose, and a greater satisfaction with what they accomplish here.” 

“SSEI has had a significant impact on the Greater Palm Beach Jewish community and the CJE,” summarizes Steven Schauder. “The process has created stronger linkages between synagogues and each other and between synagogues and our local Jewish community. It has also significantly raised the profile of the importance of meaningful Jewish education for children in synagogue settings.”

*UbD - Understanding by Design: A registered trademark Teaching Method developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.

For more information about the program see: www.cjepb.org