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The Evolution of Professional Learning

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  NSDC balloon HistOfAmerEd

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Brandt 1969: Ronald Brandt, who later
became executive editor of Educational Leadership, organizes the first gathering of staff developers in Minneapolis.		 2Kids
hands 1968: Benjamin Bloom outlines the principles of "mastery learning," emphasizing that "all students can learn well."




 
Top issues in STAFF DEVELOPMENT
  • Individual development
  • Individualizing staff development
  • Continuing education for administrators
  • Funding sources
  • Laboratory training risks and results

1964: The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.

1965: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides federal funds to help low-income students, part of President Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty.

1966: The landmark Equality of Educational Opportunity report (commonly known as the Coleman Report) finds that student achievement is influenced more by a student's and school's socioeconomic circumstances than by school quality.

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1970: Betty Dillon-Peterson, then a staff developer in Lincoln, Neb., organizes the first conference on staff development in Racine, Wis. This initial group of 17 representatives of urban school districts from around the country later formed the National Staff Development Council.
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1978: NSDC is incorporated and chartered as
a nonprofit organization in Ohio.

golfer 1973: In The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, Malcolm Knowles' theory of andragogy emphasizes that adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for decisions. Adult learning programs should follow these assumptions:
  • Adults need to know why they need to learn something;
  • Adults need to learn experientially;
  • Adults approach learning as problem solving; and
  • Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value.
1976: Robert Houston examines the role of the "school-based teacher educator," describing the role this person can play in school staff development and identifying 20 competencies an SBTE should have.

1978: In the RAND Change Agent Study, Paul Berman and Milbrey McLaughlin cite strong leadership, high motivation, involvement of teachers, and long-term support as necessary for institutionalizing implementation.

 

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1972: Title IX bans sex discrimination in educational institutions.

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JSD



1980: The first issue of Journal of Staff Development is published. Theme: Secondary school staff development programs.





Early 1980s: Pat Zigarmi is NSDC's executive secretary.






1984: Dennis Sparks becomes part-time NSDC executive director as well as editor of Journal of Staff Development.

 



Sparks 1988: NSDC Executive Director Dennis
Sparks is now a full-time employee, as is newly hired Associate Director Stephanie Hirsh.		 Early 1980s:
  • Madeline Hunter's theory of "mastery" teaching describes eight sequential steps for every teacher to follow in any given lesson.
  • Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers suggest that coaching, following initial training, will result in much greater transfer than training alone.
1982: Ron Edmonds identifies the Correlates of Effective Schools after searching for successful schools dominated by poor and minority students:
  • Instructional leadership;
  • Clear and focused mission;
  • Safe and orderly environment;
  • Climate of high expectations;
  • Frequent monitoring of student progress;
  • Positive home-school relations; and
  • Opportunity to learn and student time on task.

1982: Judith Warren Little's study of the school as a workplace and the organizational characteristics conducive to continued "learning on the job" lays the groundwork for future quantitative study.

1983: Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences impacts thinking about teaching and learning.

1983: Georgea Mohlman Sparks analyzes research about staff development and recommends that organizers examine the context, content, and process of staff development programs to make them truly effective.

guskey 1986: Thomas Guskey describes the process of teacher change, particularly through staff development programs:
  • Professional development;
  • Change in classroom practices;
  • Change in student learning; and
  • Change in teachers' attitudes and beliefs.
His model says significant change in teacher attitudes and beliefs occur primarily after they gain evidence of improvement in student learning.

1987: Many districts embrace strategic planning for educational programs, including staff development.

hord Hall 1987: Shirley Hord and Gene Hall present the Concerns-Based Adoption Model as a sophisticated way to understand the change
process and how participants experience it. Their model provides ways for practitioners and policy makers to label change process phenomena, to take positive action in facilitating change, and to predict effects.

1987: In Educating the Reflective Practitioner, Donald Schon argues that professional education should be centered on "reflection-in-action," which allows for continued learning throughout one's career.

Joyce 1988: Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers offer a rationale for staff development based on the goal of student learning, describing how to organize teaching, schooling, and curriculum
to accelerate student learning and the aptitude to learn further. This lays the foundation for the future work of school-based coaches.
loucks 1989: In an article in Journal of Staff Development, Dennis Sparks and Susan Loucks-Horsley describe five major models for developing teachers: individually guided, observation/assessment, involvement in a
development/improvement process, training, and inquiry (individual or group).
 1980: President Jimmy Carter appoints Shirley Hufstedler as the first U.S. Secretary of Education.
NationAtRiskCover
1983: A Nation At Risk calls for sweeping changes in public education and teacher training.





1987: The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards begins and works to define what accomplished teachers should "know and be able to do."







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1989: The first National Education Summit focuses attention of the nation's top politicians on the state of American education.

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1991: NSDC launches its first Academy for Staff Developers.



1994-96: NSDC releases the Standards for Staff Development for three grade levels: elementary, middle, and high school.
Money Clock
1995: The NSDC Board of Trustees encourages school districts to dedicate at least 10% of their budgets to staff development and that at least 25% of an educator's work time be devoted to learning and collaboration with colleagues. The board also recommends using job-embedded learning in a comprehensive staff development program and integrating staff development into systemwide strategic and school improvement planning.
1996: The NSDC Board of Trustees says results-driven, standards-based education requires results-driven, standards-based staff development. The board also recommends that staff development begin by assessing student learning needs.
technology 1997: The NSDC Board of Trustees recommends that school
districts allocate at least 30% of their technology budgets to teacher development related to the use of the new technology.		 1990: Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson point to the principal's important role in shaping school culture, describing different school culture models and how principals can and should foster strong school communitites.
5thdiscipline senge 1990: In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge provides a framework for a revolutionary management philosophy based on building a "learning organization" using
"systems thinking" as the primary tenet. This philosophy underscores that mental models - the attitudes or beliefs one holds - drive actions.

1991: Thomas Guskey identifies a multifaceted approach to evaluate staff development programs using such factors as improvement in student outcomes, content and quality of the staff development program, and organizational climate and culture.

1991: Michael Fullan describes the importance of structured staff development initiatives in The New Meaning of Educational Change.

1992: Time for Reform examines the need to create time for school staff to participate in developing a vision, setting goals, formulating plans, training, and exchanging experiences.

1994: Thomas Sergiovanni explains in Building Community in Schools why a sense of community is vital to any school's success and shows teachers, parents, and administrators how to rebuild it.

1994: William Sanders describes the "value-added" method of evaluating the impact an individual teacher has on student achievement.

1994: In Journal of Staff Development, Dennis Sparks describes a "paradigm shift in staff development" due to results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism. This paradigm shift is essential for creating learning communities where teachers and administrators collaborate with peers, researchers, and students to make sense of the teaching/learning process.
murphy 1995: Carlene Murphy summarizes the work of wholefaculty study groups as an effective mechanism for school improvement and staff development.

1995: Michael Huberman asserts that teachers have different aims and different dilemmas at various moments in their professional lives, and thus different professional development needs as well.

1995: Fred Newmann and Gary Wehlage conclude that student learning can meet high standards if students have three kinds of support:
  • Teachers who practice authentic pedagogy;
  • Schools that strengthen professional community; and
  • Supportive external agencies and parents.
1996: Thomas Guskey and Dennis Sparks describe the importance of linking staff development to improvements in student learning.

1996: The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education says in Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning that continuous professional development is essential to helping students achieve to high standards and that the teaching profession must take responsibility for making that happen.

1996: Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers examine the evolution of peer coaching, identifying the key components to any successful peer coaching program.

1996: Richard Elmore's study of three restructured elementary schools finds that organizational structure is not the defining influence on teaching and learning. Instead, teachers' beliefs, understandings, and behaviors have a greater link to student learning outcomes.

1996: What Matters Most: Teaching For America's Future describes the impact of well-trained teachers on student achievement, and says school reform cannot succeed unless it focuses on creating conditions in which teachers can teach and teach well.

1997: Shirley Hord defines a "professional learning community," summarizing its characteristics and reviewing the research literature supporting this concept as a valuable way of increasing both student and staff learning.
NewVision 1997: In A New Vision for Staff Development, Dennis Sparks and Stephanie Hirsh describe the new paradigm for staff development: results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism.


Elmore 1997: Richard Elmore describes the process and outcomes of the school reform efforts of District #2 in New York City, which successfully used staff development as the driving force for improved student achievement.

1997: Richard Ingersoll examines the issues of teacher shortages and teacher turnover, especially among newer teachers, and finds that turnover is high among new teachers but that induction programs can help reduce turnover.

1998: In a Journal of Staff Development article, Thomas Guskey presents a five-level model for effective program evaluation:
  • Participant reactions;
  • Participant learning;
  • Organizational support and change;
  • Participant use; and
  • Improvements in student learning.
ProfLearningComm 1998: In Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement, Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker describe the steps required to effectively build and sustain a professional learning community in a school.


1999: How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School
examines the research behind the learning process, exploring how students and teachers learn and how schools should change based on this research. brain

1994: Goals 2000 requires states to develop clear and rigorous standards for student learning as a necessary step in improving student achievement. Goals 2000 also led the U.S. Department of Education to define its principles for professional development.
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1996: The U.S. Department of Education's National Awards Program for Professional Development recognizes schools and districts with model professional development programs that lead to increased student achievement.

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2000: NSDC adopts a Staff Development Code of Ethics.
Standards 2001: NSDC releases its revised
Standards for Staff Development as a single set of standards applicable to all grade levels.

2003: NSDC publishes Innovation Configuration maps for NSDC's standards. The IC maps from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model are published to enable practitioners to get mental images of what NSDC's standards look like in practice.

PowerfulDesignsBook 2004: NSDC publishes Powerful Designs for
Professional Learning, providing step-by-step assistance on using 21 strategies widely used in effective professional development programs.

2005: NSDC launches its summer conference aimed at teacher leaders.
Hirsh
2007: Stephanie Hirsh becomes NSDC's executive director on July 1, 2007.
FullanBookCover Fullan 2001: In Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan describes five reasons change occurs and the impact of each on effective educational leadership:
   
  • Moral purpose,
  • Understanding change,
  • Developing relationships,
  • Knowledge building, and
  • Coherence making.
Killion WhatWorks_BookCover
2002: Joellen Killion and NSDC release "What Works," a series of reports on assessing effective professional development programs and the best practices of results-based programs.

2003: A study of Chicago elementary schools by Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider examines how relational trust among teachers, students, parents, and principals can positively influence school reform.
 
Top issues in PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
  • Linking professional learning to student learning
  • Providing time during the work day for professional learning
  • Expanding the use of school-based coaches
  • Expanding the opportunities for teachers to collaborate
  • Adjusting to expectations of No Child Left Behind
  • Evaluating the impact of professional learning
  • Improving leadership development
 
  		2001: No Child Left Behind ushers in an era of stringent accountability for schools and student achievement as well as an emphasis on scientifically based educational practice.
measure

2007 and Beyond:

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