Systemic Job-embedded Professional Development

1. Systemic Job-embedded Professional Development Putting Theory into Practice

2. Essential Questions • How do you know what kind of professional development is needed? • What does it mean to have job-embedded professional development? • Why is job-embedded professional development important? • How can this work? • What role does building level leadership play? • What considerations should be made when implementing a job-embedded model?

3. District Free & Reduced

4. Who we are, change over time: District Ethnicity District ELL Growth

5. Why Change the Way We Do Professional Development? Looking at our rapidly changing demographics, we knew that we must change. Some schools were changing more rapidly than others, but all were changing. We began to search for new ways to meet the needs of our students.

6. Research Our research led us to believe that increased student-to-student interaction and increased use of academic language would benefit all of our learners. We needed classroom strategies that our teachers could use to achieve that goal.

7. Choices Our search led us to an updated model of the Gradual Release of Responsibility. The update includes a collaborative phase in which students work together to learn new concepts. The entire model involves student-to-student interaction as the responsibility for learning is gradually released from the teacher to student. 7

8. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” Collaborative Learning “You do it together” “You do it alone” Independent Learning STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY Gradual Release of Responsibility Instructional Model

9. Resources for Professional Development

10. Defining Job-embedded Professional Development • Job-embedded professional development provides learning opportunities through individual or collaborative activity and is conducted during the school day. The emphasis in job-embedded options is on teacher inquiry, discussion, planning, reflection, decision making, and use of data. • Douglas Fleming

11. A Second Definition • Job-embedded professional development is learning that occurs as educators engage in their daily work activities. It can be both formal and informal and includes but is not limited to: discussion with others, peer coaching, mentoring, study groups and action research. • Holly Galloway

12. Long-term, sustained 60 hours • Follow-up • Classroom coaching • Based on student learning • needs • 5. Curriculum, instruction, • content knowledge, assessment • Plan for support of • implementation • Collegial support and learning • Aligned with school’s curriculum, • textbooks, assessments • Active learning • Collective participation Improved Student Achievement High-Quality Professional Development

13. High quality professional development begins with a focus on student needs and student learning. It is results-based It is job-embedded It connects educator learning to student learning It ties individual learning to team learning

14. Professional DevelopmentOutcomes in Terms ofEstimated Percent of Participants Joyce and Showers Research • Professional Development Elements Knowledge Level Skill Level Transfer to Practice Theory 10% 5% 0% + Demonstrations 30% 20% 0% + Practice 60% 60% 5% + Collegial Meetings and/or Coaching 95% 95% 95%

15. High quality professional learning is school improvement. School improvement is high quality professional learning.

16. The Seven-Step Process for Planning Results-Based Professional Development—Pathway to Increasing Student Achievement

17. Why is Job-embedded Professional Development Important? • Complaints of the disconnect between professional development and work in the classroom • Best suited to adult learners • Transfer of learning is greatly increased • Research shows a greater impact on student achievement

18. Considerations When Implementing Job-embedded Models • All principals must be knowledgeable and involved • Instructional Facilitators create a leadership team that distributes and reinforces the learning on-site at the building level • Communication and trust are critical • This is not linked to teacher evaluation in any way • The purpose is transparent and understood by all • The time was made available for Peer Study Teams (PSTs) to meet beyond the 200 minutes of required weekly plan time, but still within the school day.

19. Important Attributes of Job-embedded Professional Development • Reflection • Collaboration • Immediate application to the classroom • Immediate feedback from peers • Tightly coupled to the real work of the classroom • Takes theory and puts into context of practice

20. A Working Model in Springdale • Training with administrators • Training of trainers • Trainers deliver curriculum to all teachers • Peer Study Teams (PSTs) • Case Studies • Evaluation

21. Site-based and Centralized Professional Development • Centralized professional development • District determines needs for professional development • District offers broad-based professional development for all teachers • Establishes common language across the District • Site-based professional development • Principal determines needs for professional development • Each school tailors professional development to the needs of that school • Establishes common language across the school • Combination of site-based and centralized professional development • The school and the District provide professional development based on needs of students and teachers • Establishes common language at schools and across the District

22. Building Level Benefits to Job-Embedded Professional Development Pre-K through 12th Grade we have: • Common language • Common strategies (i.e. Think-Pair-Share) • Common approaches • Common systems of delivery • Teachers • Students AND • Increased collaboration!

23. As building leaders, it is critical that we: • Show we value the professional development • We participate in the training • We support our trainers, our “agents of change” • We monitor progress, as well as share success: • Individual students • Individual teachers • Grade levels • trainers

24. Distributed Leadership • Facilitators • Content experts in reading, math, or ESL • Attend all trainings • Facilitate all Peer Study Team (PST) Sessions • Become a resource to members of the team • Use peer coaching skills and strategies • Teachers • Skills in specific strategies (“positive deviance” by Joan Richardson)

25. TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” Collaborative Learning “You do it together” “You do it alone” Independent Learning STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY Gradual Release of Responsibility Instructional Model

26. TRAINER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson Guided Instruction “We do it” Collaborative Learning “You do it together” “You do it alone” Independent Learning TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY Gradual Release of Responsibility Instructional Model for Professional Development

27. The Key Element of Peer Study Teams: Transfer • History of professional development indicates that there has been limited impact in the classroom based on the traditional model of professional development • Best practices learned must be transferred to the classroom with fidelity in order to have an impact

28. Insight Into Transfer • How People Learn: Brain, Mind Experience and School - National Research Council • Novices versus Experts • When learning something new, we are all novices, even if we are gifted! • “Understanding expertise is important because it provides insights into the nature of thinking and problem solving.” (p.31)

29. Gaining a Deep Understanding of Transfer • “Processes of learning and the transfer of learning are central to understanding how people develop important competencies.” (p.51, National Research Council) • “Assumptions about transfer accompany the belief that it is better to broadly ‘educate’ people than simply train them to perform particular tasks.” (p. 51 National Research Council)

30. Elements that Promote Transfer • Begin with a high degree basic knowledge of the concepts and skills required (Direct instruction with targeted book studies that support the learning) • Provide teachers time to learn as well as time to process information (PST time) • Engage teachers in deliberate practice that includes feedback (PST time) • Note: “Transfer is affected by the degree to which people learn rather than memorizing a set of facts or fixed set of procedures.” (p. 55, National Research Council)

31. Levels of Transfer • Level 1: Imitative use • Level 2: Mechanical use • Level 3: Routine use • Level 4: Integrated use • Level 5: Executive use

32. Two More Transfer Elements • Motivation to learn • Learners are motivated when they see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others. ( p. 61) ( student selection of a struggling learner or an ELL) • Reflective practice: Metacognition (thinking about your thinking); evaluating the outcomes within the PSTs • “Seizing opportunities to reflect individually, in partnerships, and in group situations within an atmosphere of trust, individuals, groups, and schools learn how to become a continuously growing and learning professional community.” (p. xv York-Barr)

33. Arkansas Department of Education Supporting High Quality Professional Development: A Pathway to Improved Student Achievement

34. Professional development in Arkansas is purposeful, connected and sustained to support adult learning resulting in high student performance. VISION

35. Thank You Copies of this presentation and handouts may be accessed and downloaded at http://www.springdaleschools.org/ProDev.aspx We gratefully acknowledge Deborah Coffman of the Arkansas Department of Education for the use of several slides in this presentation.