Identifying Needed Resources
Designing effective PD strategies involves anticipating and preparing for influences that may undermine efforts to implement strategies consistent with the design principles discussed in this step in the KEYS-CSI process. Possible obstacles to effective PD, many of which are shaped by local conditions, include the inability to secure all of the resources needed to maximize the effectiveness of the PD plan, such as the need for more time, expertise, money, staff motivation, and administrative support.
Time for Collaborative Learning
Good PD requires that teachers have opportunities to learn together over time. There are a number of ways to find time within the school day, week or year. These include:
• Double existing planning time in alternate days
• Schedule common planning time around non teaching time
• Combine classes to create larger classes to free up some teachers, e.g., for physical education
• Combine classes on an ad hoc basis to free up a teacher to visit or otherwise bring back knowledge to the team or school
• Create learning activities that do not require the presence of certified teachers
• Early release days once a week or twice a month
To learn more about alternative ways to find time for professional learning, CLICK HERE. [link 6j]
Expertise
Does the school have access to the expertise it needs to develop new knowledge and skills? It desirable to find needed expertise in one’s own school or district so that the support needed for continuing learning will be available over time. Some schools and districts invest in the development of selected individuals’ expertise on particular topics so that they can serve as learning resources. Specially trained coaches and National Board certified teachers can be important in-house resources.
As with the content of professional development, it is not always easy to know if university faculty or professional trainers who are being considered as providers of the learning opportunities that make up professional development are really knowledgeable. Too often, style trumps content expertise…have personality and group process skills, will travel. Some questions that can be asked are:
• What evidence is there that the trainer knows material in depth?
• What do people who have worked with the provider say about what they were able to put in place as a result of the experience?
• Is there any continuing support for implementing what has been learned?
Money
The most common needs for money have to do with the three needs above—making time for learning by hiring substitutes or paying teachers extra for extra time, learning resources and equipment, and paying consultants. The quest for money to support PD usually starts with the pursuit of district funding or grants from local foundations and organizations. While this makes sense, looking for possibilities to reallocate funds now being used for less essential professional development activities and for other purposes may be productive.
Motivation of Participants in Professional Development
When there are very different levels of commitment to the new direction among those who are responsible for its success, this will show up in the level of effort invested in professional development. Some of the reasons why members of a school staff may not be motivated to participate enthusiastically in planned professional development activities include:
• Lack of agreement that new approaches are needed (“the problem, if there is one, is rooted elsewhere….”).
• Beliefs that support for implementing new strategies will not be adequate.
• Conflicting demands on teachers time.
• Concern about the capacity to be successful with the new skills to be learned (“I was never good at….”).
• Past experience with “time-wasting” professional development.
Some studies find that teachers are, overall, skeptical about the usefulness of much of the professional development they have experienced. If this is the case in your school, it could undermine motivation to invest in new professional development activities. Indicator 4.1 (Professional development directly improves teaching in this school) examines beliefs about the impact of your school's professional development program on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes of teachers and other staff. Specifically, this indicator assesses beliefs about how well your school's professional development has helped teachers to deepen understanding of subjects taught, make changes, understand students, and align teaching with accepted standards.
Leadership Support
Securing needed resources and dealing with possible difficulties in maximizing the effectiveness of professional development is where leadership—from administrators but also from teacher leaders--comes in. School leaders can work with recalcitrant or doubtful staff members, district support can be generated and potential conflicts with district policies may not be those in which district leaders are invested, and new resources can be added or current allocations of funds and time commitments can be changed. The point is that making the resolution of difficulties in implementing the professional development plan and securing needed resources as part of the planning process is important to ensuring the effectiveness of both professional development and the proposed school improvements. If potential difficulties in effectively implementing the original design for professional development cannot be dealt with, the initial plan may need to be revised.
To learn more, CLICK HERE [link 6L]
Time for Collaborative Learning
Good PD requires that teachers have opportunities to learn together over time. There are a number of ways to find time within the school day, week or year. These include:
• Double existing planning time in alternate days
• Schedule common planning time around non teaching time
• Combine classes to create larger classes to free up some teachers, e.g., for physical education
• Combine classes on an ad hoc basis to free up a teacher to visit or otherwise bring back knowledge to the team or school
• Create learning activities that do not require the presence of certified teachers
• Early release days once a week or twice a month
To learn more about alternative ways to find time for professional learning, CLICK HERE. [link 6j]
Expertise
Does the school have access to the expertise it needs to develop new knowledge and skills? It desirable to find needed expertise in one’s own school or district so that the support needed for continuing learning will be available over time. Some schools and districts invest in the development of selected individuals’ expertise on particular topics so that they can serve as learning resources. Specially trained coaches and National Board certified teachers can be important in-house resources.
As with the content of professional development, it is not always easy to know if university faculty or professional trainers who are being considered as providers of the learning opportunities that make up professional development are really knowledgeable. Too often, style trumps content expertise…have personality and group process skills, will travel. Some questions that can be asked are:
• What evidence is there that the trainer knows material in depth?
• What do people who have worked with the provider say about what they were able to put in place as a result of the experience?
• Is there any continuing support for implementing what has been learned?
Money
The most common needs for money have to do with the three needs above—making time for learning by hiring substitutes or paying teachers extra for extra time, learning resources and equipment, and paying consultants. The quest for money to support PD usually starts with the pursuit of district funding or grants from local foundations and organizations. While this makes sense, looking for possibilities to reallocate funds now being used for less essential professional development activities and for other purposes may be productive.
Motivation of Participants in Professional Development
When there are very different levels of commitment to the new direction among those who are responsible for its success, this will show up in the level of effort invested in professional development. Some of the reasons why members of a school staff may not be motivated to participate enthusiastically in planned professional development activities include:
• Lack of agreement that new approaches are needed (“the problem, if there is one, is rooted elsewhere….”).
• Beliefs that support for implementing new strategies will not be adequate.
• Conflicting demands on teachers time.
• Concern about the capacity to be successful with the new skills to be learned (“I was never good at….”).
• Past experience with “time-wasting” professional development.
Some studies find that teachers are, overall, skeptical about the usefulness of much of the professional development they have experienced. If this is the case in your school, it could undermine motivation to invest in new professional development activities. Indicator 4.1 (Professional development directly improves teaching in this school) examines beliefs about the impact of your school's professional development program on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes of teachers and other staff. Specifically, this indicator assesses beliefs about how well your school's professional development has helped teachers to deepen understanding of subjects taught, make changes, understand students, and align teaching with accepted standards.
Leadership Support
Securing needed resources and dealing with possible difficulties in maximizing the effectiveness of professional development is where leadership—from administrators but also from teacher leaders--comes in. School leaders can work with recalcitrant or doubtful staff members, district support can be generated and potential conflicts with district policies may not be those in which district leaders are invested, and new resources can be added or current allocations of funds and time commitments can be changed. The point is that making the resolution of difficulties in implementing the professional development plan and securing needed resources as part of the planning process is important to ensuring the effectiveness of both professional development and the proposed school improvements. If potential difficulties in effectively implementing the original design for professional development cannot be dealt with, the initial plan may need to be revised.
To learn more, CLICK HERE [link 6L]