On the Road to Oz, 4 | Professional Development

Matt Elms, a Teacher on Special Assignment at the district office, listens to a student present her portfolio during a site visit to College Park Elementary.

"I am terribly afraid of falling, myself," said the Cowardly Lion, "but I suppose there is nothing to do but try it. So get on my back and we will make the attempt."

The added time and weight of all this training and development can take a toll.

"Teachers have gotten smarter and are using their time more effectively," says Harrison, "but they're also working longer days."

The district compensates teachers at an hourly rate for after-school workshops and provides a small stipend for teachers participating in learning teams. "We recognize how hard it is for teachers at the end of the day," says Harrison. "If there's something we want teachers to participate in, we budget for that."

Teacher Nancy Williams says she often takes advantage of after-school training to improve her practice. She also says that receiving compensation for this time is a nice bonus. "I came from a district where they didn't pay us for this time. Here, they're showing me that they value my time enough to pay me."

Yet, the compensation is small compared to the weight of the task. "All that planning takes a lot of extra time," says Lauderback, "and that can be difficult. Plus, there are the challenges that come along with reform."

Because the standards system is still relatively new, and even states and districts continue ironing out the wrinkles, confusion at the school level can sometimes be dizzying. Lauderback, for example, talks about the ambiguity of some specific grade-level standards and tasks, as well as the challenge of documenting student achievement in areas that are less than clearly defined. She and her colleagues call their Teacher on Special Assignment at the district and try to hash out some of the discrepancies. But while they're attempting to make sense of these puzzles, a dozen more come hurtling their way.

So where does the motivation come from?

"I already see that it's benefiting the kids," says Lauderback. "I see them learning about themselves as learners, and I'm willing to do whatever I can to make that happen."

Other teachers express similar sentiments. After all, helping kids learn is why they chose this profession in the first place.

"The district has provided me with more professional development than I certainly ever got in my certification program," Lauderback says, "and I feel very fortunate to be in this district because of that."

But traveling this yellow brick road is both "rich and pleasant" and "rough and dangerous."

"On one hand," Lauderback says, "I feel empowered in my classroom and school. On the other, I wish the district could provide even more help and more resources."

Lauderback ponders that it might be easier if materials were "finished" at the district level before heading for the classroom. But at the same time, she sees that teacher input and classroom experimentation is necessary to finish the work. In short, she observes, "the reform is ongoing and will never be done."

This state of flux can be agonizing to those who might like to wrap up their training and then get on with their job.

The truth is, professional development in the Edmonds district is job-embedded, and that's one of the underlying lessons Harrison has been attempting to impart. In training new teachers, Harrison describes what a "system" is — for example, the human immune system — and notes that change and challenge and frustration are not necessarily bad things, but natural occurrences in a working system. "We're always working to improve," says Harrison.

The irony is, over the past several years, educators have been working to teach students to value the process as much as the end result. Portfolios, for example, include early drafts as important to charting progress as that all-important final essay. The lesson that teachers are now learning is the same. The journey is as important as the goal.

It's not without difficulty, but this ideological shift is visible in Edmonds.

"When I stop learning, it's time for me to stop teaching," Lauderback says. "We can always improve our practice."

"Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda. "If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country."
"But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried the Scarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer's cornfield."
"And I should not have had my lovely heart," said the Tin Woodman. "I might have stood and rusted in the forest till the end of the world."
"And I should have lived a coward forever," declared the Lion, "and no beast in all the forest would have had a good word to say to me."