Designing Effective Professional Development for Educators in 1:1 Schools

Elizabeth Byrom, Ed.D.

Jeni O. Corn, Ph.D.July 17, 2008

Session Purpose

• Help 1:1 schools and districts thoughtfully design, implement, and evaluate high quality professional development for their teachers and staff

Session Objectives

• Introduce a professional development (PD) design framework

• Discuss strategies for planning successful PD in schools and districts

• Examine characteristics of high quality PD for teachers

• Review resources for evaluating PD

PD Process

Loucks-Horsely, S., Love, N., Stiles, K., Mundry, S., & Hewson, P. (2003). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

PD Design Framework

• Commit to a vision for the learning process• Analyze data• Set goals to establish benchmarks or milestones to

assess progress toward the vision• Plan the professional learning process• Do implement your PD plan• Evaluate to determine whether and in what ways the

learning process is successful (or not)• Use information from evaluation to inform future

learning processes

Plan for the Learning Process

Questions

• What PD do my teachers need or want?

• Are there any new requirements/standards?

• What do teachers already know?

• What are teachers attitudes/beliefs?

• What PD is already available at school, district, state, universities?

Data Sources

• Needs survey, self-report questionnaires

• Professional development questionnaire

• Computer skills test

• Interviews, structured groups

• Observations

• Student work samples

• Teacher lessons

Plan for the Learning Process

Specific examples of data collection tools• School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA)• Looking for Technology Integration (LoFTI)• Professional Development Questionnaire (PDQ)• Rubrics• Teacher Reflection Logs

Available from http://www.fi.ncsu.edu/1to1/?p=218

Plan for the Learning Process

Benefits of using data to plan PD:• Save costs associated with misdirected or

unnecessary training• Save time designing and developing training

that is targeted and specific• Create buy-in from key stakeholders in the

process

Plan for the Learning Process

Quantitative Data Examples

• Type and number of technology resources being used by teachers

• Number of teacher participants in PD

• Type and number of PD opportunities provided

• Likert-scale surveys – SA-A-D-SD

• Rubrics for technology integration in lessons

• Checklists of technology use

• Observations

Quantitative Data Analysis• Frequencies• Percentages• Distributions• Averages• Statistics

Plan for the Learning Process

Qualitative Data Examples• Open-ended responses to survey items• Staff reflections/logs• Interviews/focus groups• Observations

Plan for the Learning Process

Qualitative Data Analysis• Simple coding• Identifying trends• Support and exemplify quantitative findings

Plan for the Learning Process

Plan for the Learning Process

Data Interpretation: Looking at the handout of results for STNA items and open-ended responses to PDQ•Brainstorm and share out: What does this data tell you about potential PD for the respondents?

Plan for the Learning Process

Data Interpretation• Meet as a team to agree on relevant needs

based on the data• Rank identified needs in priority order• Select the highest priority needs and set your

goals for PD accordingly• Seek professional development outlets to

address selected needs

Implement Effective Professional Development

Thinking about your experiences as a professional development leader or participant – what worked and what didn’t?•Brainstorm and share out: your list of dos and don’ts.

Implement Effective Professional Development

• Have the technology that the staff is being trained on available immediately

• Offer incentives for participation

• Require participants to engage in follow-up activities

• Offer more than technology sessions

• Provide time for out-of-class practice and always provide handouts

• Use experienced trainers

• When grouping workshop participants, make sure that the group has a common interest other than technology

• Develop several professional development strands and offer them to different groups of participants

Sun, Jeff, Heath, M., Byrom, E., Phlegar, J., & Dimock, V. (2000). Planning into Practice. Durham, NC: SEIR*TEC

Implement Effective Professional Development

• Fosters a deepening of subject-matter knowledge, understanding of learning, and appreciation of students’ needs;

• Centers around the critical activities of teaching and learning;

• Engages educators in professional learning communities;

• Is sustained, intensive, and woven into the everyday fabric of the teaching profession.

Collins, D. (1999). Achieving your vision of professional development: How to assess your needs and get what you want. Tallahassee, FL: SERVE Center at UNCG.

Implement Effective Professional Development

• Engages teachers in on-going, extended learning (contact hours plus follow-up)

• Provides access to new technologies for teaching and learning

• Actively engages teachers in meaningful and relevant activities for their individual contexts

• Promotes peer collaboration and community building • Has a clearly articulated and a common vision for

student achievement

Lawless, K. & Pellegrino, J. (2007). Professional development in integrating technology in teaching and learning. Review of Educational Research, 77 (4), 575–614.

Implement Effective Professional Development

• Improve teachers’ knowledge of the academic subjects that teachers teach

• Give teachers, principals, and administrators skills to provide students with the opportunity to meet state academic content standards and student academic achievement standards

• Advance teacher understanding of effective instructional and classroom management strategies

• Include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice

U.S. Department of Education. (2002). No Child Left Behind (NCLB)’s Definition of Professional Development Title IX, Part A, Section 9101 (34). Retrieved April 2, 2007, from http://www.NoChildLeftBehind.gov

Evaluate Professional Development

• Share feedback with those who provided data

• Accept that you are never going to “prove” anything – That’s OK!

• For PD planning purposes, face validity is enough – Does the data make sense “at face value?”

• Look at single data sources and look across data sources

• It’s your interpretation – you know your teachers, students, your technology project, your school the best

• Consider both positive and less positive findings

• Use your results to inform future PD

Evaluate Professional Development

Five Critical Levels of PD Evaluation

Adapted from Guskey, T. (1998). The age of our accountability. Journal of Staff Development. 19(4).