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Why Do We Need

Professional

Development?

NESA Leadership Conference

Doha, Qatar

Thomas R. Guskey

For help or additional information:

Thomas R. Guskey

College of Education

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY 40506

Phone: +1-859-221-0077

E-mail: Guskey @ uky.edu

Twitter: @tguskey

Web: standardsbasedgrading.org

Professional development’s “harshest critic and

most passionate supporter.”

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Criticism:

Most educators

plan professional

development like

Alice!

“Cheshire Puss, would you

tell me, please, which way I

ought to go from here?”

asked Alice.

“That depends a good

deal on where you want

to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat

Alice was on an adventure.

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Professional development is a journey!

Journeys have a

destination!

“No improvement effort

in education has ever

succeeded in the absence

of significant professional

development.”

Professional development is

essential to improvement!

Guskey (2000)

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New research considers

teachers’ effectiveness

over their careers.

Not all teachers

get better over

the course of

their careers…

but some do!

Source:

Kraft, M. A., & Papay, J. P. (2014). Can professional

environments in schools promote teacher development?

Explaining heterogeneity in returns to teaching

experience. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,

36(4), 476–500.

Papay, J. P., & Kraft, M. A. (2016). The myth of the performance plateau. Educational Leadership, 73(8), 36-42.

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What accounts for

these differences in

teacher development?

A strong professional environment!

Elements of a strong

professional environment

1. Supportive principal leadership

2. School culture characterized by trust

3. Consistent order and discipline

4. Opportunities for peer collaboration

5. Fair teacher evaluation process with

meaningful feedback

6. Effective professional

development!

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Change is complicated!

“Those teachers who

demonstrate a strong

ability to raise student

achievement on tests

aren't necessarily the

ones who best develop

students' academic

behaviors and mindsets.” Papay & Craft (2016)

The best professional development is

purposeful, intentional, research-based,

and practice-oriented.

Idea #1: Students differ in their learning style?

(Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic)

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We must differentiate

instruction based on

students’ individual

learning styles!

Truth: 1. “Research into the 13 most popular models of learning

styles shows there is insufficient evidence to cater teaching

techniques to various learning style.” (Coffield, 2004).

2. “At present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify

incorporating learning styles assessments into general

educational practice” (Pashler, 2008).

3. “The idea that students learn differently depending on their

personal preference for visual, auditory or kinesthetic cues

is just a myth.” (Howard-Jones, 2014).

4. “Learning styles do not work, yet the current research

literature is full of papers which advocate their use. This

undermines education as a research field and likely has

a negative impact on students.” (Newton, 2015).

5. All people learn in fundamentally similar ways.

Examples:

TED Talks Video Games

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Idea #2 Aspects of behavior, effort, & responsibility

should be included in students’ grades.

Three Types of Grading Criteria:

1. Product (Achievement) How well have students mastered specific learning goals?

2. Process (Behavior) Have students displayed skills that enable learning?

3. Progress (Improvement) How much have students gained?

For effective communication,

product, process, and progress must be reported separately!

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Focus on improving student learning!

The Key to Improvement?

A Committed

Professional

Development

Team!

1. What makes

an effective

professional

development

team?

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Consider your BEST and WORST

education team experiences:

1. What was the focus?

2. Who led the team?

3. What made the best work?

4. What made the worst fail?

Traits of Effective Professional Development Teams

1. Confidence that all students can succeed

(Mastery orientation)

2. Shared sense of purpose (why)

& positive attitude toward change (what)

3. Commitment to research-based decisions

4. Willingness to disagree but commit

1. Mastery Orientation

Do we believe that ALL

students can learn well and

we have strong influence

on their learning success?

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Mastery

“We are expressing the view that, given

sufficient time and appropriate help,

95% of students can learn to a high level

of mastery. We are convinced that the

grade of ‘A’ as an index of mastery can,

under appropriate conditions, be achieved by up to

95% of the students in a class.”

Benjamin S. Bloom (1968)

2. Shared Purpose

Why are we are making

these change, and

what improvements will it bring?

Do we have a positive attitude about change

and believe we can get better?

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Are we ready to share our reasons for change

with all stakeholders?

Are we confident in our ability to succeed?

3. Respect

& Support

Do we honor & respect

the perspectives of

ALL team members?

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The most meaningful success comes from teamwork!

“Blind” exchange

Marvin Prentice

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4. Willingness to disagree, but commit

We honor all perspectives, but commit to one direction.

We consider ALL perspectives to identify

potential problems and criticisms.

Commit to a common purpose and direction!

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2. What issues

must be addressed

prior to

implementation ?

Important Issues

1. Gain support from all levels of leadership,

especially building principals.

2. Include volunteers; no mandates.

3. Decide purpose before procedures

- Reach consensus on “Why.”

4. Address the non-negotiables

5. Plan for ongoing support

“The most powerful lever for school improvement

is a knowledgeable and skillful school principal.”

(wallace-foundation.org/knowledge/center)

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Momentum Killing

Statements 1. We’re going forward slowly in this.

2. We're proceeding with guarded

optimism.

3. We think we’re doing the right thing.

4. We’re moving ahead cautiously,

gathering data as we go.

5. We’ve not yet made plans to expand

implementation.

1. We are confident this is better for our students.

2. We have studied this thoroughly and are ready

to move forward.

3. We planned carefully and considered many

options.

4. We are committed to improving communication

between schools and families.

5. Our goal is to help ALL our students succeed!

Momentum Enhancing

Statements

Start with volunteers and build support!

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Purpose before Procedures!

Why before What!

Plan ongoing support!

The more complex the change,

the more vital the support!

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You want this!

Not this!

3. What problems

can be

anticipated?

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Don’t create bookkeeping nightmares

for teachers!

Change is a natural and recurring process that is essential to

all learning environments.

For help or additional information:

Thomas R. Guskey

College of Education

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY 40506

Phone: +1-859-221-0077

E-mail: Guskey @ uky.edu

Twitter: @tguskey

Web: standardsbasedgrading.org