Supporting and Sustaining Professional Development

1. Supporting and Sustaining Professional Development Wednesday October 22, 2008 ESA Region 5 Workshop ESA Region 5 Workshop

2. Contact Information tim.mitchell@k12.sd.us http://tm026.k12.sd.us http://chamberlain.k12.sd.us ESA Region 5 Workshop

3. Presentation Outline Section 1 Learning is the Work Section 2 Research Section 3 Making it Work Section 4 Professional Learning Communities ESA Region 5 Workshop

4. Section 1 Learning is the Work ESA Region 5 Workshop

5. Theme “Building Capacity Focused on Results” Michael Fullan-2008 AASA NCE ESA Region 5 Workshop

6. Learning is the Work “Good is the enemy of great, and that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great” Jim Collins ESA Region 5 Workshop

7. Learning is the Work Accenture Tiger Woods ad: “relentless consistency 50%; willingness to change, 50%” ESA Region 5 Workshop

8. Learning is the Work “Educational change depends on what teachers do and think—it is as simple and complex as that” Fullan ESA Region 5 Workshop

9. Learning is the Work “Why does knowledge of what needs to be done so frequently fail to result in action or behavior that is consistent with that knowledge” Pfeffer & Sutton ESA Region 5 Workshop

10. Learning is the Work Most organizations already have all the knowledge they need to improve, they simply do not implement what they already know ESA Region 5 Workshop

11. Learning is the Work The best way to improve a school or district is by developing the people within it ESA Region 5 Workshop

12. Section 2 Research ESA Region 5 Workshop

13. McREL's Taxonomy Consider these four types of knowledge when you are planning professional development: Declarative-What do they need to learn? Procedural-How will they apply it? Experiential-Do they know why it’s important? Contextual-When will they use it? ESA Region 5 Workshop

14. McREL's Taxonomy Declarative knowledge- participants will leave with new knowledge about district/school-level effective professional development practices associated with increased student achievement. Procedural knowledge- participants will be introduced to tools and processes that help develop district/school-wide effective professional development practices associated with increased student achievement. ESA Region 5 Workshop

15. McREL's Taxonomy Experiential knowledge- participants will understand why it is important to emphasize the use of district/school-wide professional development practices associated with increased student achievement. Contextual knowledge- participants will be asked to implement district/school-wide professional development practices associated with increased student achievement during the 2008-09 school year. ESA Region 5 Workshop

16. Balanced Leadership-Six Areas of Superintendent Responsibilities • Collaborative goal-setting process • Non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction • Board alignment with and support of district goals • Use of resources to support the goals for achievement and instruction • Monitoring goals for achievement and instruction • Defined autonomy: Superintendent relationship with schools ESA Region 5 Workshop

17. Balanced Leadership Developing a Master Plan to coordinate professional development activities of the district so that all directly relate to district goals Providing professional development for board members ESA Region 5 Workshop

18. New Research-South Dakota South Dakota public school districts that are the most innovative and those that have the ability to sustain school reform and organizational change have greater professional development capacity. ESA Region 5 Workshop

19. Conclusions Most South Dakota public school district superintendents perceive themselves as highly innovative on an individual innovativeness survey. ESA Region 5 Workshop

20. Conclusions Public school district superintendents that perceive themselves as innovative are found in public school districts with larger enrollments, greater financial resources, greater professional development capacity, and teachers with more years of teaching experience. They are more likely to be female. ESA Region 5 Workshop

21. Conclusions There exists a strong positive relationship between innovative public school district superintendents and innovative public school districts. Respondents in this study perceive that leadership capacity is needed for a public school district to be innovative and organizational capacity is needed for a public school district superintendent to be innovative. ESA Region 5 Workshop

22. Recommendations for Practice Leadership is critical in innovative public school districts and that resources are needed by public school districts to develop leadership and organizational capacity to sustain innovation. Policy makers should note that investment in building capacity in leadership and organizational capacity is a critical factor in fostering innovation. Public school district superintendents need to consider the importance of building their own leadership capacity through professional development, securing advanced degrees, and establishing intra-personal networks through memberships in professional organizations. ESA Region 5 Workshop

23. Recommendations for Practice Funding is critical in innovative public school districts and resources are needed to sustain the teaching staff, to provide professional development activities to build leadership capacity, and to provide professional development activities to build organizational capacity. ESA Region 5 Workshop

24. Recommendations for Practice Public school district superintendents’ with higher educational degrees and a greater involvement in professional organizations perceive themselves as more innovative. Public school districts, policy makers, and federal agencies need to invest in life long learning for public school district superintendents and provide the resources to join professional organizations. ESA Region 5 Workshop

25. Recommendations for Follow-Up “The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive”-M. Fullan • Love your employees • Connect peers with purpose • Capacity building prevails • Learning is the work • Transparency rules • Systems learn ESA Region 5 Workshop

26. Section 3 Making it Work ESA Region 5 Workshop

27. Making it Work Planning professional development challenges even the best educators because they must strike a balance between taking a systemic approach and allowing flexibility. ESA Region 5 Workshop

28. Chapter 5-Tallerico How to Develop Focus • Develop a Framework • Use the Framework to communicate and for decision making • Provide structure to keep focus on goals ESA Region 5 Workshop

29. Chapter 6-Tallerico Enable the Culture-Lessons Learned • Map out successive steps toward desired results • Understand the concerns • Tailor support for those concerns • Sustain supports long-term ESA Region 5 Workshop

30. Chapter 7-Tallerico Use of Resources-TIME • Schedule common planning time • Reduce teacher contact time w/students • Bank teacher contact time w/students • Buy additional time • Make a “Stop Doing List” • Take a “HARD” look at current time utilization ESA Region 5 Workshop

31. Chapter 7-Tallerico Use of Resources-MONEY • Focus on fewer goals • Link external funds to goals • Serve fewer teachers • Advocate assertively within your district/school • Use existing time wisely • Set priorities and be creative ESA Region 5 Workshop

32. Steps to Making Professional Development Work • Gather and analyze the data and identify gaps in student learning • Set student learning goals and align school improvement efforts with those goals • Define instructional strategies that address learning goals. • Identify what staff need to know and be able to do in order to implement new strategies • Define professional development initiatives and develop an action plan • Create professional development evaluation plan ESA Region 5 Workshop

33. Step 1-Data Retreat Four categories of data are needed: student achievement demographic program perceptions Annual Data Retreat-August Faculty Mini-Data Retreat-September ESA Region 5 Workshop

34. Step 2-Goal Setting Gathering and analyzing data enables you to identify areas of improvement and determine gaps between current reality and goals. Focus is critical to success, and so is alignment. Aligning school improvement goals is an important prerequisite for making professional development work. ESA Region 5 Workshop

35. Chapter 1-Tallerico Big picture, school-wide data analysis to link PD with school improvement priorities Smaller scale-improve one lesson, assessment, or student product at a time You must: identify gaps in student learning and derive adult learning targets from those needs ESA Region 5 Workshop

36. Step 3- Strategies Once student learning goals are defined, you must determine what instructional strategies teachers might use to help students achieve them. What does the research indicate about how students best learn this content or accomplish this goal? ESA Region 5 Workshop

37. Step 4- Implement New Strategies What do staff need to know and be able to do in order to implement this instructional strategy? What are teachers’ current competencies? What theory, knowledge and skills do staff need? ESA Region 5 Workshop

38. Step 5-Initatives & Action Plan Instructional Leadership **Personal Professional Growth Plans** Preservice/Inservice/Days Built into Calendar Summer Retreats & Workshops After school Workshops Tuition Reimbursement Program Masters Degree Program National Board Certified Teachers National Convention Attendance Early Release/Late Start Faculty Meetings ESA Region 5 Workshop

39. Chapter 3-Tallerico PD Models • Individually Guided • Collaborative Problem Solving • Observation & Assessment of Teaching • Training • Action Research ESA Region 5 Workshop

40. Chapter 4-Tallerico Effective Practices • Active engagement learning strategies • Relevance to current challenges • Integration of prior experiences • Attention to learning style differences • Focus on subject matter knowledge and pedagogy • Collective Participation • Coherence • Duration of learning activities and follow-up ESA Region 5 Workshop

41. Step 6-Evaluation Five levels of evaluation: 1) impact on student learning outcomes 2) participants’ use or implementation 3) organizational support and change 4) participants’ learning 5) participants’ reactions to experience ESA Region 5 Workshop

42. Chapter 2-Tallerico Five Levels of Evaluation • Teacher reaction • Teacher learning • Organization support and change • Teacher use of new knowledge • Student learning outcomes ESA Region 5 Workshop

43. Section 4 Professional Learning Communities ESA Region 5 Workshop

44. Change in Schools “I wonder how many children’s lives would be saved if we educators disclosed what we knew to each other" Roland Barth (2001) ESA Region 5 Workshop

45. The Three C’s of Community Building Confront the Brutal Facts Communication (Effective) Collaboration ESA Region 5 Workshop

46. CSD 7-1 Vision We believe that the most promising strategy for achieving the mission of the CSD 7-1 is to develop our capacity to function as a professional learning community. We envision a school district in which staff: • Unite to achieve a common purpose and clear goals; • Work together in collaborative teams; • Seek and implement promising researched-based strategies for improving student achievement on a continuing basis; • Monitor each student’s progress; and • Demonstrate a personal commitment to the academic success and general well-being of all students ESA Region 5 Workshop

47. Confront the Brutal Facts Working in teams we should: Focus substantially-though not exclusively on assessed standards. Review simple, readily available achievement data to set a limited number of measurable goals in the lowest scoring subjects or courses and target specific standards where achievement is low within that course or subject ESA Region 5 Workshop

48. PLCs The most promising strategy for sustained substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community. The path to change in the classroom lies within and through professional learning communities. Rick DuFour Presentation ASCD Pre-conference, 2004 ESA Region 5 Workshop

49. Three Critical Questions (PLCs) Exactly what is it we want all student to learn? How will we know when each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills? What happens in our school when a student does not learn? ESA Region 5 Workshop

50. PLCs The question confronting most schools and districts is not “What do we need to know in order to improve?” but rather, “Will we turn what we already know into action?” ESA Region 5 Workshop