PD in the News is a periodic e-newsletter from NSDC, compiled by Hayes Mizell, NSDC distinguished senior fellow.
May 2009
3/31/09 United States
Study: Student Achievement Goes Up When Teachers Work Together
“Schools get better student achievement results when teachers work in teams to identify student learning problems and cooperatively develop instructional solutions. That is the conclusion of a study on teaching improvement programs published in the May issue of
The Elementary School Journal. The study, by researchers from UCLA, Stanford, and Pearson (a publisher of educational resources), followed school improvement programs in 15 low-performing schools. Nine of the 15 schools implemented an improvement program involving regular meetings of grade-level teacher groups. The remaining six schools implemented other school improvement programs.
Schools using the teacher groups saw significant improvement in student test scores, surpassing district averages after five years. In contrast, the other six schools in the study saw no significant improvement in student achievement. The successful improvement plan involved teacher teams that met regularly to discuss student learning problems. The teams devised possible solutions to the problems, which teachers then tried out in the classroom. Teams continued to tweak the solutions until they could see that students were improving.
The teacher teams were guided in each school by an instructional leadership team (ILT) made up of teacher representatives, a reading coach, the school principal, and a researcher. ‘The intent was to get teachers to put aside for two to four hours per month their individual work and concerns to work as a team and solve an academic problem they agreed their students shared,’ says lead author Ronald Gallimore, from UCLA. 'When teachers persist until they see tangible effects on student learning, they converge on more effective practices and commit to continuous instructional improvement. If the key conditions are in place, and teams are provided 25 hours of instruction-focused meeting time per year, schools can expect gains in student achievement.’
In order to succeed, the authors say, teams need stable settings in which to collaborate, supportive administrators, trained peer facilitators, and a protocol that guides but does not prescribe instructional improvement. The ultimate goal of this type of improvement program is to help teachers see that their instructional techniques can have tangible impacts on student learning. The message to teachers: ‘You haven’t taught until they’ve learned.’
The article appears in a special issue of
The Elementary School Journal focused on improving teacher education.”
http://snipurl.com/gzoxu
4/23/09 Iowa [editorial]
Give Teachers Time to Plan, Collaborate
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan clearly understands the importance of having a great teacher in every classroom. Asked during an interview with The Des Moines Register's Opinion section on Monday whether it's pie in the sky to call for that, he replied, ‘It's not pie in the sky. It's critical... There is nothing more important than getting the great teachers and the great principals in every classroom and every school.’
But it's not as clear whether America's new chief school reformer - who is scheduled to visit the University of Northern Iowa on Friday - is as focused on a key change that would help all teachers become more effective, no matter how well they know their subject matter.
Teachers need a good deal more time to work together to figure out how to best deliver instruction. That includes designing lessons, identifying students who need help overcoming problems, and then providing them with extra help. Duncan acknowledged teachers need this sort of time: ‘Any great teacher is part of a team, and any great team needs the time and ability to work together, to take stock on a continual basis of what is working and what is not.’
Pressed on how much time teachers need to work together, however, he shied away from being specific or conveying a sense of urgency about changing this. ‘I don't think there's any magic number,’ Duncan said. ‘That will vary subject by subject and grade by grade.’ There's some truth to that, but teachers clearly need more time for planning, collaborating with colleagues and on-the-job training.
To see how inadequate that time often is now, look at the school district that serves Cedar Falls, home to UNI. Teachers in grades seven through 12 typically have a 45-minute prep period daily, said Superintendent David Stoakes. That's for using the restroom, answering parent e-mails, meeting with students, marking papers and planning. In other words, it's not much time for all that should be done. And not all teachers in a department have the same prep period, hindering collaboration. In addition, high school and junior high teachers participate in six full days of professional development a year. But that's it. ‘Any other collaboration time is what they do on their own in the late afternoon or early evening,’ Stoakes said.
Compare that to the Viikki Teacher Training School in Helsinki, Finland, where Deputy Editorial-Page Editor Linda Lantor Fandel interviewed secondary teachers last fall. Finland is a top-performing country on the Program for International Student Assessment. Teachers said they typically teach 20 to 26 hours a week, and then spend the remainder of the week marking papers, planning lessons and working with colleagues.
President Obama has rightly emphasized that U.S. students must be better prepared to compete in a global economy. Changing the structure of the education system so that teachers have more time to work outside classrooms is one basic step.”
http://snipurl.com/h0a4s
4/24/09 United States
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Using ARRA Funds to Drive School Reform and Improvement
(The following is an excerpt from a guidance document posted by the U.S. Department of Education)
“This document includes framing questions for decision making and examples of potential uses of funds to improve educational outcomes from early learning through high school. It is intended to spark ideas about how districts and schools might use ARRA funds, particularly those available under the SFSF, Title I, and IDEA Part B programs.
Districts generally have up to two years to obligate these funds. While many school districts may need to use a portion of their ARRA funds to save jobs, every district and school should be considering how to use these funds to improve student outcomes over the next two years and to advance reforms that will have even longer- term impact…
Increasing teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution of effective teachers …
- Redesign teacher professional development and school schedules to ensure that teacher learning opportunities are sustained, job-embedded, collaborative, data-driven, and focused on student instructional needs.
Help teachers master relevant content knowledge, especially for middle and high school teachers in hard-to-staff subject areas, such as math and science.
Provide intense professional development over two years and additional training to highly effective teachers who will be able to serve as expert instructional leaders and coaches in the future.
- Support new teachers in their first two years on the job through induction programs that include structured mentoring, teacher networks, and extensive professional development.
- Provide professional development for special education and general education teachers on evidence-based school-wide strategies in reading, math, writing, science, and other subject areas, and positive behavioral supports to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.”
http://snipurl.com/gzqbm
4/09 United States
Realigning Resources for District Transformation: Using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds to Advance a Strategic Education Reform Agenda
(The following is an excerpt from a 13-page report prepared by the Center for American Progress and Education Resource Strategies.)
“Redefine professional development - Chronic teacher turnover plagues many school districts, but high-quality induction combined with ongoing access to expertise around improving instruction can improve retention of effective teachers. One-time funds might allow districts to build the necessary professional development capacity. Yet new investments in professional development only make sense in the context of a shift away from the “one-shot work-shops” that still characterize professional development efforts in many districts. Isolated, faddish workshops lacking an authentic, embedded connection to the instructional challenges facing teachers persist because the paradigm for professional development has yet to shift from the notion of professional development as something that is “done to” teachers and leaders to a vision of professional development as the shared responsibility of learning communities and part of their everyday work.
This collaborative vision of professional development should build the capacity of the school staff to meet students’ needs. Training might focus on strategies for teaching English Language Learners or special education students. It might also prepare teachers to take on new roles and responsibilities within the learning community, such as serving as coaches, data analysts, or master teachers. Sometimes efforts to introduce school-based models through expert coaches do not outlast changes in leadership or tight budgets because the “coaches” are provided as “add-ons.”
Schools often lack a companion vision of how to sustain support for new and struggling teachers or ensure expert instructional leadership is embedded in the school long after the “coaches” are gone.
One-time funds could be used to explore how to reallocate resources to support a new professional development paradigm, one featuring school-based teacher induction and expert support for teams, for instance. One-time funds could also be used to develop an array of expert resources that school-based teams could use to guide their professional learning. In addition, funds could pay for start-up support to implement new models well—in supporting the transition to a culture focused on results. With start-up funding, districts could ensure that structures, protocols and accountability for results are clearly defined and widely understood—especially by the school leaders who will implement them. Teachers and leaders might receive stipend dollars to study and develop such models.
Finally, in order to sustain this vision, states and districts will need to integrate the new ways of organizing and new roles for teacher leaders into standard resource allocation models, teacher career paths and compensation schemes. One-time funds could be devoted to exploring how to do this.”
http://snipurl.com/gzr3i
4/28/09 Milwaukee, WI
Stimulus to Fund Teacher Training
“South Milwaukee School District officials recommend federal stimulus money be spent on professional development for teachers, a move they feel will have an effect even after the funds run out. ‘The whole purpose of what we saw the stimulus money to do was to build our institutional growth, our institutional capacity, so that when this money goes away, we're stronger,’ said Jennifer Sielaff, director of personnel, administrative and legal services.
The district will receive $1.04 million over two years. Sielaff, who presented the proposal to the School Board on April 22, recommended allocating $245,000 over two years to hire a writing and reading coach who would work with all grade levels. That person would work with teachers, helping them improve and modeling teaching strategies in the classroom. At the elementary level, the coach would focus on Blakewood Elementary School, and provide some of the resources the other schools get annually through Title I grants.”
http://snipurl.com/h03hd
4/23/09 Arizona
[Program] Links Teachers, Business
“A chance for schools to connect Arizona academic standards with industry's comes online this summer as the Partners Advancing Student Success (PASS) workshops are made available for teachers in Yuma for the first time. PASS programs already in operation last year in Phoenix, Prescott and other state locations will be held in Yuma and Scottsdale this summer.
PASS integrates job skill requirements into classroom lesson plans...For a $25 commitment fee, teachers will receive 45 hours of professional development skills. The program is open to all levels of teaching from kindergarten to 12th grade and all content areas… After the summer session concludes, teachers and business leaders will reconvene Oct. 24. Teachers will present the units they have planned for students to connect academic standards with workplace skills standards... Jeanine Rhea, Hampton Suites general manager and a program participant, said businesses should do whatever they can to support PASS. ‘We have to help our own, we can't always rely on public funding,’ Rhea said. ‘These teachers need to understand what their students need in order to raise them to level of the business world so they can better prepare them.’
Linda Jones, a Kofa High School math teacher who will participate in the workshop, recalled the four years she spent getting a master's degree while a single mother but she is still searching for professional development programs. She said that summer is an opportune time to take advantage of PASS and the price is affordable.”
http://snipurl.com/h0895
4/8/09 Warrick County, IN
Schools Reluctantly Accept Mandate
“Warrick County Superintendent Brad Schneider voiced his opposition to a decision recently made by the Indiana Department of Education to remove professional development days and parent/teacher conferences from the 180-day school calendar. His opinions were met with applause from those in attendance at Monday’s school board meeting.
The state’s mandate is one that newly-elected Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett, has instituted. Bennett’s reasoning, according to Schneider, is to increase the amount of instruction that students receive during the school year. ‘I would suggest increasing instructional time by reducing the incredible amount of time we spend testing and testing and retesting our kids,’ Schneider said.
The action came before the board because the school corporation needed to amend the 2009-10 school calendar to reflect the new mandate. Schneider said that the teachers will find a way to make the mandate work. Typically, the school calendar sets aside six days for professional development and two days for parent/teacher conferences. During those times, students would attend school for only half a day, allowing it to count towards the 180-day requirement. Schneider said he has no idea how the teachers will conduct professional development and parent/teacher conferences now. ‘One theory, I guess, is to have substitute teachers, but that’s obviously a less than ideal situation,’ said Schneider. ‘We are going to have a discussion with our teacher’s association to try to find the best way to go. Everyone understands how important professional development is.’”
http://snipurl.com/h3q7k
4/9/09 Fulton, MO
Schools Review Early Release Program
“Now that Fulton Public Schools' first year of early-dismissal Wednesdays, the Fulton School Board reviewed how effective the new program has been. Bartley Elementary Principal Connie Epperson gave the board a summary of several surveys from throughout the year in which staff rated the relevance of the professional development achieved on those early-release days, the net gain of that professional development and the overall experience.
Going through each building in the district, Epperson concluded the program was a success, although there are some kinks to work out. ‘We learned there are several things we need to improve,’ she said. ‘First of all, don't over-schedule (referring to pulling some teachers out of their regular professional development for things such as eMints training); our scope was a little too big - we need to focus in on a few things and work with more diligence and thoughtfulness. ‘Our teachers got a lot out of professional development ... they came out with a lot of positive results.’
Epperson also answered several concerns that arose when early-release days first were proposed in Spring 2007, including programming for students after school, loss of instruction time and the safety of children going home early.
‘I feel we had good student programs in place. I can say without question it was very successful,’ she said. ‘As for lost instruction time, we added days into the calendar.’
Epperson was especially proud of the transportation department's efforts to ensure student safety. ‘I will applaud our transportation department. If they're concerned about a parent not being home, they're calling back to the bus barn to find out where they are,’ she said. ‘Our bus drivers were conscientious and making sure students were left in a safe environment.’
http://snipurl.com/h3oy1
4/15/09 Danvers, MA
Schools Partner with Rec. Dept. for Early Release Relief
“The School Committee Monday night approved next year’s school calendar with nine early release days, taking out the sting for parents by partnering with Danvers Recreation Department to provide after-school programs. Teachers will use the early release time for professional development and a chance to exchange ideas with their colleagues. After many hours of meetings and rewrites, the finished product addresses the concerns that were raised by parents about making provision for their youngsters when parent work schedules or commitments are disrupted...
Jason Verhoosky, youth program coordinator and community liaison for DanversCares, will be the coordinator of the programs, Ambrozavitch said.
Verhoosky comes to town from the North Shore Music Theater, where he worked on children’s programming and education. ‘Jason will ensure that each site has a trained adult activities coordinator with added support from high school students,’ Ambrozavitch said. ‘Jason’s expertise will also assist us in diminishing the overhead costs to the program. ‘Jason Verhoosky is a nice fit at no extra cost,’ she said, adding Verhoosky has volunteered his services.
The Recreation Department has agreed to provide onsite programming at each of the five elementary schools at a nominal cost per student. The key to its success is the fact that programs are to be held after school but onsite, Ambrozavitch said…’The program will be activity-based with a mix of physical education, artistic and academic offerings during each two-hour block, from dismissal at 1:15 on, to 3:15 p.m., on the early release days,’ Ambrozavitch told the School Committee.
‘A successful program will need to register a minimum of 10 students per site.’ ‘We’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to accommodate any number of kids who register,’ Marshall said, adding the program will cost between $10 and $12 per session. ‘We’re trying to keep the cost at $10 with a possible discount for families who sign up for all nine days. We’re also looking for a way to offer subsidies for the kids whose families can’t afford it. We’re looking for partnerships with organizations or businesses.’
http://snipurl.com/h3hvj
4/23/09 Washington, DC
6 Wednesday Closings Proposed to Spread Out Teacher Training
“D.C. public schools would be closed on six Wednesdays between September and March for teacher training under the 2009-10 academic calendar proposed yesterday by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. School officials said they are working with the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop alternative programs for students for those days.
This week, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) named a top Rhee deputy, Ximena Hartsock, to head the department. Hartsock was responsible for summer, after-school and Saturday school programs.
District children would have the same number of classroom days -- 180 -- under the plan. But the calendar would shuffle and expand ‘professional development’ time for teachers, addressing a longtime complaint by District educators that the school system is not committed to helping them improve their skills. The schedule would move spring break from the week of March 23 to the week of March 29, aligning it more closely with vacations in the region's other school districts. It also would eliminate Emancipation Day as a school holiday, a move proposed in Fenty's 2010 budget and awaiting D.C. Council action.
Rhee said in a statement yesterday that the changes are the product of input from parents and teachers…Under the current calendar, the eight days set aside for teacher development fall in periods when schools are closed in August, December and June. Teachers have long sought ‘job-embedded’ training, with development days more closely linked to classroom time. The change addresses an issue in contract talks with the Washington Teachers' Union.
The teachers have asked the school system to increase the resources it invests in professional development to expand their repertoire of classroom skills. In a poll of 400 WTU members this month for the American Federation of Teachers, 80 percent listed better professional development, training and mentoring as the initiatives that could best improve the quality of teaching in the District.
http://snipurl.com/h3jge
4/28/09 Chicago, IL
Board Member Criticizes Teaching Proposal
“A Community Unit District 300 school board member lashed out at teachers Monday over a proposal that would enable them to teach less but spend more time improving their lessons. The proposal would more than double the amount of time teachers at all three district high schools spend on professional development from the current 13.5 hours to 30 hours each year.
Board member Monica Clark was skeptical of the plan, calling it an excuse for teachers to spend less time teaching.
‘I don't think it has to do with professional development. I think it has to do with professionalism toward their career,’ Clark said. ‘There is no professionalism.’
Board member Chris Stanton was met with whispers of affirmation from the audience when he defended teachers, saying, ‘I don't agree with a blanket statement that all teachers are nonprofessional.’ But Clark accused Stanton of twisting her words and said she did not characterize all teachers as unprofessional.
Hampshire High School Principal Chuck Bumbales, responding to Clark's concerns, said contract issues and extracurricular activities made it impossible for him to schedule staff development outside of regular school hours. ‘That's truly not an option running a comprehensive high school,’ Bumbales said. The board did not vote on the plan Monday but may do so next month.
The proposal, supported by the principals of Dundee-Crown, Jacobs and Hampshire high schools, would allow all freshman biology teachers, for example, to meet during early-release days and share lessons plans and teaching strategies. ‘We have to create opportunities for our teachers to teach each other reading strategies,’ Jacobs Principal Michael Bregy said at Monday's board meeting, calling reading an area where all of the district's high schools are struggling. Although all three high schools failed to meet state standards last year, they also recorded gains in every subject tested on the ACT.”
http://snipurl.com/h05ms
4/20/09 Ft. Worth, TX
Cowgirl Museum Scores Teacher-Training Status
“Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame has landed approval from the Texas Department of Education as a Continuing Professional Education Provider. The status establishes the Cowgirl Museum as an official educational venue, providing workshops for certified teachers from kindergarten through high school. The workshops will equip teachers, in turn, with required continuing-education credits while acquainting them with the pioneering figures enshrined at the museum — personalities essential to the history of Texas.
The Cowgirl’s professional-development programs will provide classroom-lesson plans, as well. Teachers may inquire about attendance with a call to 817-509-8961. Programs due to launch during the summer include A Walk Through Time – A Walking Tour of the National Cowgirl Museum; Writing through the Museum, concerning literary aspects of the cowgirl tradition; How to Measure a Horse & Other Math Concepts; and Texas Women Who Made a Difference.”
http://snipurl.com/h35vo
Other News of Interest
- In Indianapolis (IN), a newspaper reported that the superintendent will recommend 300 teacher layoffs, but “as many as 120 could be hired back with federal stimulus money as a professional development cadre that teaches classes while groups of other teachers get training.” http://snipurl.com/h34oo
- In St. Louis (MO), a newspaper reported that the superintendent would recommend increasing the number of school-based instructional coaches from 90 to 136 so every
school would have two coaches. The coaches would “bolster the professional development of teachers.” The average salary of each coach would be $75,000 and that would bring the total cost to about $10.2 million.
http://snipurl.com/h36r3
Everybody’s Talking About Professional Development:
“A.D.: We don't have enough teachers today who are experts in math and science. This is not just high school, it's also fifth, sixth, seventh grade.
What can the federal government do to change that situation?
A.D.: A lot. We have very significant resources that can go to professional development, that can go to sending folks back to universities to get endorsements in math and science. As you know, I'm pushing hard to pay math and science teachers more. We need to give them professional opportunities to build skills when they don't have them. In Chicago, we sent hundreds and hundreds of teachers back to get endorsements. I think we also have to think about compartmentalization in the middle school level, getting folks that really know the content. We have a national shortage, and we need to think differently about how we close that gap.
With regard to professional development, a new report concluded that we are still predominantly doing spray and pray. Why is it, after so many years and so many studies about what constitutes good professional development, that it's still not happening?
A.D.: I think that's the easy way out, and people tend to do what they've always done. This goes back to getting endorsements and acquiring the content knowledge. It's going to require a change in culture.
What can the federal government do to change that culture?
A.D.: We are going to put an unprecedented amount of money on the table to encourage folks to think differently about these things and give them the resources to do it.”
- Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, in an interview published in
Science magazine.
http://snipurl.com/h3n8v
“Helping new teachers is crucial, but equally important is equipping experienced teachers with the latest methods, strategies and best practices. President Obama has thrown down the gauntlet, urging schools to take a closer look at under-performing teachers, which Golden Apple applauds, but there needs to be a greater focus on continuing education and professional development for teachers in general.
Practicing teachers need support, just as practicing physicians and lawyers do. And an area of critical importance for professional development is with technology, the Internet and digital media.”
- Dom Belmonte, executive director of the Golden Apple Foundation, in a magazine’s opinion column.
http://snipurl.com/h3mcz
“Every teacher that is passionate about what he or she does should strengthen and improve the teaching profession.
I know that by growing through professional development, my students will ultimately benefit.”
- Marquita McCullum, Laurel (MS) School District Teacher of the Year; she teaches English at Jones Middle School.
http://snipurl.com/h04ja
“A recent teacher curriculum workshop put on by district administrators gave me hope of getting the retooling necessary to meet the needs of my kids. The room was packed. At least 60 teachers showed up for three hours of additional instruction after putting in a full day in the classroom.
But as the workshop began, it became apparent that the teachers in the training knew more about the curriculum than the two supervisors and three instructional specialists. The presenters asked the teachers what they felt their professional development needs were. Teachers were at a loss for words because we were hoping the administrators would share with us where the curriculum was going and how the state and federal standards were changing.”
- Ann K. Crowley, a Detroit school teacher and part of a reform group called Detroit Children First, in a newspaper commentary.
http://snipurl.com/h35fd
Compiled and disseminated by:
Hayes Mizell, Distinguished Senior Fellow, National Staff Development Council
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