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?

Let’s 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 StandardsPrepares 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 (cont’d)

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 dataDemographic dataProgram dataPerception 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?

What has research found regarding traditional forms of professional development?

Fragmented Piecemeal Simplistic Too many topics Lack of focus Lack of school-related learning Don’t 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 reading2. Focus on one or two topics – connect all sessions to

these topics3. Start with the greatest need4. Use a variety of teacher activities 5. Keep track of hours/consider time of year/avoid too

much at once6. All staff receives all training7. Provide a plan for ample classroom

practice/feedback8. 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 participantsExpected outcomes for the professional

development Intended use for the information gained

from the professional developmentResearch

Joyce and Showers (87-88)Staff

Development

Knowledge & Understanding

Ability to Use New Skill

Transfer to Classroom

Theory 90% 25% 5%

Demonstration 90% 50% 5%

Practice and Feedback

90% 90-95% 5%

Peer Coaching or Collegial Support

95-100% 95-100% 90%

Joyce and Showers (2002)Staff Development

Knowledge

(thorough)

Skill

(strong)

Transfer

(implementation)

Theory 10% 5% 0%

Demonstrations 30% 20% 0%

Practice &

Feedback

60% 60% 5%

Peer Coaching or Collegial Support

95% 95% 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

monitoringmonitoring is the is the key to successful key to successful implementation of implementation of

any plan.any plan.

Remember . . .Remember . . .

For further information, For further information, counties should contact the counties should contact the

respective coordinator respective coordinator assigned to the district.assigned to the district.

Contact Information . . .Contact Information . . .