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School Leaders on Staff Development

What should school leaders consider when planning professional development for staff members? The Oregon Department of Education asked that question of district and school leaders participating in the State Action for Educational Leadership Project, a leadership initiative funded by the Wallace Foundation.

Here’s the response, synthesized from nearly 240 surveys:

Always

1. Provide relevant, teacher-driven staff development with reflection and checkpoints throughout the year
2. Be aware of your audience and their past experience, as well as the history of the school and community
3. Listen to what people want and need
4. Focus on instruction techniques that have been proven effective
5. Include relevant, meaningful, and fun staff professional development opportunities
6. Bring in a highly qualified trainer to lead professional development activities that empower staff to reflect, practice, and implement change
7. Be open to staff ideas and opinions
8. Provide adequate time for reflection, adjustment, and implementation
9. Be sure that staff development is structured around the principles of adult learning, relevance, follow-up, and choice
10. Align short-term strategies to long-term goals and continually elicit feedback

Never

1. Expect staff to do something that you’re not willing to do
2. Forget the importance of being a good listener and person who understands the complexity of school climate
3. Hold a staff development activity that isn’t relevant on a Friday afternoon
4. Rely on fantastic staff development alone to bring about change
5. Begin without the end in mind
6. Underestimate the staff’s ability to contribute to its own professional development and yours
7. Proceed without providing adequate time and resources for collaboration
8. Forget the importance of food or chocolate in professional development activities
9. Talk dow n to your audience; rather, treat them with respect and epitomize perseverance
10. Make offensive comments for the sake of humor; it can result in losing the group’s attention and trust