Designing School Level Professional Development

Overview Assessing prior knowledge of professional development Defining professional development Designing professional development plans Investigating formats and models of sustained professional development Monitoring and leadership roles

What is Your Professional Development IQ? Lets take a quiz…..

What is professional development? Professional development is the process of improving staff skills and competencies needed to produce increased educational achievement for students by creating a new classroom culture.

West Virginia Board of Education Professional Development Goals Title IX of No Child Left Behind National Staff Development Council Standards for Staff Development

What are the standards for professional development recommended by the National Staff Development Council? Context Standards Process Standards Content Standards

Context Standards Organizes adults into learning communities Requires administrators to guide continuous instructional improvement Requires resources to support learning and collaboration

Process Standards Uses disaggregated data to determine priorities for professional development Uses multiple sources to evaluate effectiveness Prepares educators to apply research to decision making Designs learning strategies appropriate to intended goal Applies knowledge of human learning and change Provides educators with skills to collaborate

Content Standards Prepares educators to create safe and supportive learning environments Challenges educators to set high expectations for all students Increases educators content knowledge Provides educators with research-based instructional strategies

Content Standards (contd) Prepares educators to use a variety of classroom assessments to guide instruction Provides educators with skills to involve parents appropriately

The Planning Process

Questions To Be Considered For Planning Met AYP? Identified for school improvement? Met additional performance measure? All teachers highly qualified? Percentage of staff that received high quality professional development? If the school has met AYP and is NOT identified for improvement, what indicators would support a need for continuous school improvement?

Comprehensive Data Driven Needs Assessment Categories of Data Student achievement data Demographic data Program data Perception data

Long Range Planning for Professional Development

What is the main purpose of long range professional development?

... to align teacher learning with student achievement goals and objectives.

What has research found regarding traditional forms of professional development?

Fragmented Piecemeal Simplistic Too many topics Lack of focus Lack of school-related learning Dont measure change in instructional practice Lack of integration with classroom practice Passive role of teachers Lack of financial support

Considerations Before Planning Personnel Schedule Incentives Measurement criteria Facilitation Budget Location and facilities (retreat setting) Approval or veto Commitment Trust Knowledge

Guidelines for Developing Professional Development Plans 1. Keep teachers reading 2. Focus on one or two topics – connect all sessions to these topics 3. Start with the greatest need 4. Use a variety of teacher activities 5. Keep track of hours/consider time of year/avoid too much at once 6. All staff receives all training 7. Provide a plan for ample classroom practice/feedback 8. Scaffold instruction for teachers

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 1: Focus on students and student performance - Topics of workshops - Activities - Standards - Informal assessments - Evaluation of students work

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 2: Teachers Need to be Involved - Study groups - Needs assessment - Informal data analysis - Grade level teams

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 3: Professional Development Needs to be School-Based - In-school coaches - Class observations - Class feedback - Demonstrations and model teaching

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 4: Teachers Need to Solve Problems Collaboratively - Grade level teams - Analysis of student work and data - Collaborative decision-making about content

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 5: Professional Development Needs to be Ongoing and Supported - Same presenter over time - Coaches working directly with teachers/follow-up meetings - Micro-teaching with peers - Practice teaching with feedback - Ongoing support from the principal

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 6: Teachers Need Theoretical Understanding - Competent presenters - Books,articles to read - Topics for workshops,study groups - Learning spaced out over time - Follow-up in the classroom - Coaches with theoretical knowledge

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 7: Professional Development Must Be Part of a Comprehensive Change Process - District-level support - Addressing barriers to implementation - Adequate resources - Sufficient time to learn, plan and implement new practices

Research-Based Guidelines for Professional Development Guideline 8: Avoid Fads - Appropriate and relevant materials - Topics related to student learning - Readings, related to coursework, workshop, and study group learning - FOCUS on instruction - Stay focused for 3-5 years - Avoid presenters with pre-packaged presentations

Formats and Models for Sustained Professional Development

Considerations Current knowledge level of participants Expected outcomes for the professional development Intended use for the information gained from the professional development Research

Joyce and Showers (87-88) Staff Development Knowledge & Understanding Ability to Use New Skill Transfer to Classroom Theory90%25%5% Demonstration90%50%5% Practice and Feedback 90%90-95%5% Peer Coaching or Collegial Support % 90%

Joyce and Showers (2002) Staff Development Knowledge (thorough) Skill (strong) Transfer ( implementation) Theory10%5%0% Demonstrations30%20%0% Practice & Feedback 60% 5% Peer Coaching or Collegial Support 95%

Long Range Planning for Professional Development Robby Champion suggests that professional development be planned in a three to four year period which permits professional development to be differentiated and delivered in four levels: Awareness Developmental Transfer Institutionalization

Once completed a draft plan should be evaluated based on the following... National Staff Development Council standards State initiatives Content standards and objectives Research based practices Student learning goals Staff needs and preferences District/school calendar and master schedule

monitoring is the key to successful implementation of any plan. Remember...

For further information, counties should contact the respective coordinator assigned to the district. Contact Information...