May 31: Last day to save $75 on registration for 2012 Annual Conference in Boston More Info June 30: Board of Trustees nomination deadline More Info July 22-25: 2012 Summer Conference in Denver More Info

Improve the quality of learning in high-poverty schools

By Dennis Sparks

Results, November 2000

Copyright, National Staff Development Council, 2000. All rights reserved.

Earlier this year, the National Staff Development Council committed itself to playing a key role in dramatically improving staff development in schools serving high concentrations of low-income and minority students. The challenges to improved student learning in such difficult circumstances are far more complex than simply inspiring students and teachers to greater efforts through standards and high stakes tests. School culture and school and district leadership practices shape what happens in classrooms between students and teachers and in staff development. If teachers and students in these schools are to thrive, teachers, schools, and school systems each have an essential role to play.

Teacher responsibilities

Teachers are responsible for continuously improving their knowledge and skills so that all students learn at high levels. That requires a willingness to examine various types of data to identify student learning needs and to step out of one’s comfort zone to explore and evaluate new practices. It also requires a willingness to work each day with colleagues to improve lessons, critique student work, and solve the common problems of teaching.

School responsibilities

Teachers as a group are unlikely to exhibit those attitudes and behaviors unless their schools are designed to be learning communities for adults and students alike. That means schools must provide generous amounts of time for professional learning and collaborative work during the school day. Periodically scheduled inservice days are insufficient; time for teacher learning and collaboration must be built into teachers’ daily schedules.

If all teachers are to perform at high levels, principals must serve teachers and students as instructional leaders who keep school activities focused on high levels of learning for all students. These principals regularly visit classrooms, meet with teachers in large and small groups to discuss teaching and learning, alter the daily schedule to provide time for teacher learning, and use faculty meetings for professional development. They also shape school norms to promote an ongoing discussion of teaching and learning and to encourage reflection in using new practices.

School system responsibilities

While some districts have adopted a hands-off approach toward schools in the name of empowerment, school districts must perform a number of critical tasks if all schools are going to meet high standards. School systems must clearly articulate standards for student learning, teaching, leadership, and staff development and establish accountability and incentive systems related to those standards. They must create annual calendars that provide time for professional learning and employ accomplished teachers as mentors and coaches to their peers.

School systems also must provide sustained, intellectually rigorous professional development for principals that enables them to act as instructional leaders in their schools. District offices must provide schools with various types of data regarding student learning and help in using that data in school improvement planning. In addition, district offices must provide schools with resources to conduct professional development at the school site, assistance in designing powerful professional development that focuses on content knowledge and instructional practices, and guidance in evaluating improvement efforts. To provide leadership in all these areas, district offices themselves must be learning communities which advance the knowledge and skills of school board members, administrators, and curriculum specialists.

Teachers who serve our neediest students require powerful professional development grounded in the type of school and school system practices described above. Nothing less will provide these teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to dramatically improve the quality of learning in their schools.