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

Time for adult learning must connect to student learning

By Joellen Killion
RESULTS - May 1999

Some states and districts have been fortunate enough to receive increased time allocations for professional development. Yet, they rarely receive more funding to support staff development opportunities. Once a decision has been made to provide the time, districts and schools must decide how to use the time productively and how to do so without other major costs. More of what we have been used to in staff development, one-shot workshops or isolated events disconnected from the schoolís or district's goals, will not produce results for students nor provide the intellectually stimulating learning experiences educators are demanding.

How can the time be used best to impact teacher and student learning? And, how can we use this gift without additional allocations of financial resources? Schools can consider a number of very powerful learning experiences. Here are some examples of low-cost, powerful, engaging, and intellectually stimulating staff development options that can occur within the school day and that promote high levels of collaboration among educators.

Examining Student Work

Teachers usually assess student work in isolation. If groups of teachers who teach at the same grade level or the same content area come together with examples of their studentsí work, examine the work together, discuss strengths and weaknesses of the work and draw from one another ways to address identified problems, both teachers and students benefit. This collective examination of student work is replacing more traditional forms of staff development in schools and districts across the country.

Examining teacher work

Examining student work is a safe precursor to examining teacher work. When teachers gather with samples of their lessons, assessments of students, rubrics, or unit plans, they find it challenging and stimulating to have a group of professional colleagues serve as critical friends to review and analyze their work. This process is similar to doctors discussing patient cases with one another. While initially intimidating, this process quickly becomes a meaningful and intellectually rewarding experience for teachers.

Developing authentic assessments

Teachers find it rewarding to have time with colleagues to develop classroom-based assessments to measure student progress toward standards. As states and districts move toward the implementation of standards-based education, teachers need new ways to conduct formative and summative assessments of their students. Assessment decisions such as how to make assessment more authentic, how to define levels of proficiency for particular levels of development, how to provide appropriate feedback to students, and which exemplars to share with students that best demonstrate what "good work" on the assessment looks like are some of the many decisions teachers must make when they design classroom-based performance tasks. These decisions obviously impact what is taught to students and are best made collaboratively by teachers.

Other forms of low-cost staff development include action research and whole school or small study groups. These approaches to job-embedded, collaborative educator learning are appropriate ways to use early release time or inservice days. Each of these options can be used independently or in combination with each other. Each can be used to stimulate collaboration among teachers, provide challenging learning experiences, and connect teacher learning with student learning.