Professional Development Models that Work

1. Professional Development Models that Work Amanda Buice, Science Program Manager Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Director of Innovative Programs and Research Georgia Department of Education

2. Data About Professional Development

3. Professional Development ModelsThe Case of Brockton High School School barriers High student dropout rates, serious discipline infractions, large number of poor and disadvantage students and poor academic performance • 17% of the students are classified as Limited English Proficient • 11% receive special education services • 40% of the students come from families that do not speak English as their first language • 76% of the students come from families in poverty and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch

4. Professional Development ModelsThe Case of Brockton High School The Problem BHS students have an overall failure rate of 44%, a 22% proficiency rate in English Language Arts and a 7% proficiency rate in Mathematics. Action Plan

5. Professional Development ModelsThe Case of Brockton High School • Lessons Learned • School improvement could never be about outguessing the test or preparing by simply providing students with test-taking skills. • Focus on Deeper Learning by identifying • What is being taught, how it is being taught, and how do we know the students are actually learning it? • What do the students need to know and be able to do to be successful on the test, in their classes, and in their lives beyond school? • What resources are available that can be use more effectively? Recognize that it is not likely that any additional staff or resources will be available. • What can be controlled and what can’t be controlled?

6. Professional Development ModelsThe Case of Brockton High School • Lessons Learned • Adoption of a concerted focus on reading and writing in all classrooms with clear rubrics for teachers to use to evaluate and monitor student performance. • Increase amount of class time in which students are actively engage and receive targeted support in the areas where their needs are greatest. • Faculty meetings were used to provide ongoing professional development in literacy instead of time for administrative announcements. • Work with the willing! • Creation of an “Access Center” to provide individualized tutoring to students that is available throughout the school and after school. The Access Center was manned by teachers volunteers and juniors and seniors that were recruited to serve as peer tutors.

7. Professional Development Models Barriers to Overcome High teacher turnover, small size neighborhood schools, and limit amount of funding • Frequent teacher and principal turnover creates barriers to schools’ ability to reap the benefits of their professional development investment. This problem is particularly acute in high poverty, low performing schools. • High teacher turnover tends to decrease curriculum coherence and the quality of instruction. • The small size of many schools often means that there is only one teacher at the school in a given subject area, thus reducing the benefits that come from collective participation.

8. What are the Characteristics of a Professional Development Program that Works? The best available evidence based on professional development programs suggest that the following features of such programs are most effective Active participation of teachers who engage in the analysis of examples of effective instruction and the analysis of student work. Content focus Alignment with district policies and practices Sufficient duration to allow repeated practice and/or reflection on classroom experiences

9. Professional Development Models Barriers to Overcome High teacher turnover, small size neighborhood schools, and limit amount of funding • Frequent teacher and principal turnover creates barriers to schools’ ability to reap the benefits of their professional development investment. This problem is particularly acute in high poverty, low performing schools. • High teacher turnover tends to decrease curriculum coherence and the quality of instruction. • The small size of many schools often means that there is only one teacher at the school in a given subject area, thus reducing the benefits that come from collective participation.

10. Professional Development Models Research-practice Partnership between Northwestern University and a network of Chicago Public Schools • Key Points • The Professional Development Program • engages teachers in professional development of sustained duration • includes quarterly one-day, seven-hour workshops during school days. • provides an accumulation of knowledge and skills for those that participate across multiple years, but each session is also stand-alone such that teachers can join the program at any point. • Uses freely available resources across the widest possible topic areas within the duration constraints • Each participating school is responsible for funding the substitute teacher.

11. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 1: Learning Opportunities for Teachers • School and district administrators should identify current offerings and opportunities for teacher learning. Throughout this process, attention should be paid to the opportunities available for teachers to learn about • approaches for teaching all students • disciplinary content knowledge and practices/skills • pedagogical content knowledge and teaching practices

12. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 2: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Plans to address any inequities across classrooms or schools should be developed with an eye toward policies and practices that will equitable distribute teacher expertise and teacher learning opportunities across the system.

13. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 3: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Design a portfolio of coherent learning experiences that attend to teachers’ individual and content-specific needs in partnership with professional networks, institutions of higher education, cultural institutions and other community organizations.

14. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 4: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Design a portfolio of coherent learning experiences that attend to teachers’ individual and content-specific needs in partnership with professional networks, institutions of higher education, cultural institutions and other community organizations. It is critical to support teachers’ opportunities to learn how to connect with students of diverse backgrounds and experiences and how to tap into relevant funds of knowledge of students and communities.

15. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 5: Learning Opportunities for Teachers District personnel and school principals, in collaboration with teachers and parents, should identify the specific learning needs of teachers and develop a multiyear growth plan for their teachers’ learning that is linked to their growth plan for students’ learning Consider the following questions: In light of the school’s/district’s science goals for their students, what learning opportunities will teachers need?

16. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 5: Learning Opportunities for Teachers • Consider the following questions: • In light of the school’s/district’s science goals for their students, what learning opportunities will teachers need? • What kinds of expertise are needed to support these learning opportunities? • Where is that expertise located (inside and outside of schools)? • What social arrangements and resources will enable this work?

17. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 6: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Using a variety of assessments/measures designed to provide the kind of concrete feedback necessary to support teacher and program improvement, school principals, in collaboration with teachers and school partners, should regularly consult data from such sources as teacher observations, student work, and student surveys or interviews to assess progress on the growth plan.

18. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 7: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Consider both specialized professional learning programs outside the school and ongoing opportunities for teachers’ learning embedded in the work day. School and district leaders will need to develop policies and practices that provide the necessary resources (fiscal, time, facilities, tools, incentives).

19. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 8: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Develop internal capacity while seeking external partners with the necessary expertise. Recommendation 9: Learning Opportunities for Teachers Create, evaluate, and revise policies and practices that encourage teachers to engage in professional learning related to their teaching area.

20. Recommendations for Professional Development Programs Recommendation 10: Learning Opportunities for Teachers The potential of new formats and media should be explored to support science teachers’ learning when appropriate.

21. References National Research Council. (2015). Science Teachers’ Learning Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts. Committee on Strengthening Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum, The Board of Science Education. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. McGee, S., Nutakki, N. (2017). The Impact of Adapting a General Professional Development Framework to the Constraints of In-Service Professional Development on the Next Generation Science Standards in Urban Settings. Journal of Urban Learning Teaching and Research, 77-88. Noguera, P. (2017). Taking deeper learning to scale. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.