PDF version What Is Effective Professional Development? What Have We Learned About Professional Development? Priciples of High-Quality Professional Development Some Guiding Questions for Selecting Professional Development Activities Lessons from Adult Learning Theory Finding Time for Professional Development What Makes Professional Development Ineffective?
The Northwest
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Commitment to Inclusion at McGhee
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Like many districts, the Jerome School District addresses a variety of topics with its professional development work. Examples include the district improvement plan, curriculum development, basic skills improvement, classroom management, learning styles, and school-to-work programs. Professional development activities can include:
The district has aggressively pursued technology training as a major emphasis of staff development since the fall of 1995. Technology is viewed as the catalyst for helping teachers change the way they teach, which in turn helps change the way students learn, both in content and in development of higher order skills. The district believes technology has a significant impact on the academic and social growth of economically disadvantaged students, and that without technology, these students often have educational experiences that focus on repetition and drill. Technology tools allow students of all abilities to analyze, evaluate, and communicate information. Therefore, the majority of the district’s staff development dollars have been funneled into technology development. To keep the technology program running smoothly, each school has a Building Technology Committee that is responsible for surveying the needs of teachers and designing a plan to meet these building level needs. In addition, a District Technology Committee, comprised of representatives from each building committee and from the community, was organized to oversee the implementation of the program. This committee is divided into four subcommittees: staff development, curriculum, communications/public relations, and evaluation. These subcommittees work with teachers from each building to make district decisions and recommendations for growth. They also help to encourage consistent technology instruction from building to building and grade to grade. To help teachers acquire and maintain their technological skills, the district has developed partnerships with two of the state’s three public universities and with two private colleges. Training agreements with these postsecondary schools have allowed the Jerome School District to organize a "train the trainer" model, using university personnel to train teachers who in turn train their peers. Qualified district personnel have designed course content and have been approved as course instructors. This allows the training to be customized to fit the infrastructure of the district’s system, and to address the specific needs of students and teachers. Most of the teacher training is held in state-of-the-art computer labs in various school buildings throughout the district. Now in the second year of this training model, the district finds that teachers are successful in guiding the practices of their peers. It is important to note that follow-up training is the key to ensuring success with new methods of technology teaching. The district encourages teachers to seek out and create technology-rich lessons, using regular curriculum topics, that improve and otherwise enhance learning. District inservice days provide opportunities for teachers who have made exemplary use of technology to share teaching projects with their peers. This sharing strategy has proven to be particularly valuable to teachers who are fearful or uncertain about the possibilities of teaching with the Internet, electronic research databases, or tools software. When they see what their colleagues have done, it helps them realize what a useful resource technology can be. Each school in the Jerome School District has at least one multimedia computer lab as well as a minimum of one computer in each classroom. More than 75 percent of the classrooms have between three and five computers. The district goal is for each classroom to have a minimum of five computers. The district uses Windows-based machines and, in addition to content-specific software, has adopted Hyperstudio presentation software and Microsoft software programs for teachers and students. An introduction to the tools software (encompassing spreadsheets, databases, word processing, and presentations) began with training in Microsoft Works 3.0. This training progressed as Works 3.0 was upgraded to Works 4.0. Many teachers eventually found the need for the more sophisticated features in the full Microsoft Office Suite software program. Both credit classes and inservice training days are available for teacher training in these software packages. Since the fall of 1995 the district has offered 27 different credit courses in technology. These courses represent approximately 850 college credits earned by more than 82 percent of the district certified staff. Support for the technology training program comes from the district’s general staff development funds. Title II Eisenhower money can also be used for technology training in math and science. In addition, the district has been awarded several large and small grants to supplement training dollars. Some sources of the grant funding are the legislatively approved state competitive technology money, Goals 2000 Technology Funds, National Technology Challenge Grant funds, and State Innovative grant funds. These sources provide supplemental funding vital to the success of the program. District administrators contribute to the success of the technology staff development program with an aggressive "can do" attitude. This attitude was adopted by administrators and teachers with technological savvy who were instrumental in the development and implementation of the program. These teacher leaders have ensured that their peers continue to be trained to integrate technology into the curriculum. Increased attention is currently being placed upon evaluating the district’s technology program. Unofficial and preliminary reports from teachers indicate that students who are engaged in a variety of activities with intermittent computer use and other equipment, such as digital cameras and scanners, stay motivated for longer periods of time when compared to students studying without computers. One evaluative study conducted in an elementary social studies classroom reported that students (experimental group) using computers for writing wrote paragraphs with longer, more detailed sentences than those (control group) who used pencil and paper. In addition, test scores (teacher prepared) in the experimental group were 10 percent higher than scores from the control group. Students in the experimental group used higher-level study and research skills, and demonstrated more collaborative skills, than students in the control group. The district is looking forward to conducting further studies during the fall of 1998. Select teachers will be training with university leaders over the summer to design the studies for fall implementation. The purpose of the studies will be to determine the effectiveness of teaching and learning with technology. It is anticipated that the results of these studies will be available in January 1999. Without continued staff development to build confidence in their teaching strategies, these teachers would not be willing to take the risks required to conduct such evaluative studies. Observed Outcomes
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First, a lead teacher from each elementary school was identified through an intensive application and interview process. To be selected, applicants had to be endorsed by their building principal, demonstrate exemplary teaching characteristics as outlined in the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards national certification requirements, and successfully complete an interview with a group of their peers, administrators, parents, and other school staff. If an acceptable candidate was not found in a school, that school would have gone without a teacher leader; the district was not willing to settle for someone who did not meet all of the criteria. The selected teacher leaders are paid a stipend in addition to their normal salaries. Lead teachers are required to take a six-credit class on literacy support. Most of them hold a master’s degree, and several are affiliate faculty at local universities, where they teach reading and literacy classes. Next, the district hired a teacher intern for each elementary building. The interns, all certified first-year teachers, are paid two-thirds the normal beginning salary because they do not have their own class. Instead, they team teach with the building’s lead teacher. They assume total class responsibilities for only about 20 percent of the school day. During this time, the lead teacher is able to move into other classrooms to provide training, modeling, and technical assistance. To effectively facilitate professional development, all nine lead teachers come together once a month to discuss and plan activities for the coming month. In addition, they meet for two weeks prior to the start of school to plan and coordinate staff development opportunities and strategies—all with improved student achievement as the goal. Though the overall theme for the three-year grant period is literacy, the team of lead teachers designates a different literacy focus at each monthly meeting. Lead teachers provide assistance on an as-requested basis, but have no difficulty keeping busy—they are always in demand. It is emphasized that their role is not that of evaluator, but rather one of peer support. Examples of some of the many activities they conduct with teachers include book studies, watch and guide video lessons, observe and analyze lessons, lesson modeling, team teaching, and focused work with individual students. Sometimes, the lead teachers also conduct whole school trainings. To monitor the model, the teacher leaders collect student achievement data in the fall and spring in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, and math. Conclusions are based on the class assessments in place at each elementary school and on the results from the annual Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Program changes or refinements are rooted in this monitoring process, as well as in the reactions and suggestions from building teachers. The benefits of this professional development program are threefold: (1) teachers benefit from easy access to expert professional development assistance; (2) first-year teachers get an exceptional opportunity to practice under a master teacher; and (3) students who may be more demanding and need extra attention can be in a classroom staffed with two certified teachers. Observed Outcomes
Keys to Success
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