RSA#4 - Content-Focused PD through Online Communities

RSA#4: Content-Focused PD through Online Communities

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           Assimilation of online communities within education is increasing.  Teachers are finding more opportunities to explore the Internet and become involved with other communities outside their schools because they offer active learning environments unrestricted by time (Duncan-Howell, 2010).   As schools develop online communities, it is essential to have an online forum for teachers to post, communicate, and share content.  “Online communities may offer teachers personalized content and access to continuous and collaborative learning” (p. 326). 

           In a study conducted by Cynthia B. Vavasseur and S. Kim MacGregor (2008), they organized an on-going professional development for both teachers and principals to interact both in face-to-face and online contexts.  The two participating schools were surveyed to identify the concerns and needs of technology implementation within a classroom.  Teachers were put into content-related groups.  Each group participated in face-to-face meetings twice a week during their regular team time.  In addition to the face-to-face meetings, the teachers and principals would participate in weekly online discussions based around the face-to-face meetings using Blackboard Courseware Management System (Vavasseur & MacGregor, 2008).   The participants were responsible to post and respond to questions and scenarios.  As the professional development was conducted, Vavasseur and MacGregor began to see positive results through the online forum.  “Teachers provided moral support and encouragement to one another in their use of technologies” (p. 527).   Participants also began to share experiences as they began to implement technology into their classrooms.  To demonstrate the importance of the development, principals were also involved.  Depending on the leadership and relationship established there were positive and hesitant feedbacks from their involvement.   As a result of this study, the online community “provided an opportunity for teachers to increase communication with their fellow teachers and principals” (p. 533).  In addition, some feedback was included that suggested broadening the online community beyond the school building to include others from different schools. 

           As schools and administration begin to implement more staff development, they should consider the use of both face-to-face and online forums.  Online forums allow teachers to connect and communicate that normally do not have the opportunity to do so.  In addition, online forums can engage, motivate, and support teachers as they begin to implement a change within their classroom.  Online forums can continue conversations beyond the school day and allow for access during available times for teachers.

References:

Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 324-340.

Vavasseur, C. B., & MacGregor, S. (2008). Extending content-focused professional development through online communities fo practice. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 40(4), 517-536.

RSA #3 - Process of Teacher Development

Article Link:
http://www.cord.org/uploadedfiles/HarwellPaper.pdf

The chapter by Sun, Heath, Byron, Phlegar & Dimock (2000) outlined the planning stages of professional development implementation within schools.  They begin with establishing a survey system to detail where teachers rate their needs and their skills they have.  Within this step, creators of professional development need to design and implement professional development that is meaningful for teachers by offering both content and process.  The plan must take “into account a range of needs and circumstances, not just a list of workshops” (Sun, Health, Byron, Phlegar, & Dimock, 2000, p. 104).  As the role of the coordinator, they also need to establish the timeframe of implementation as well as determine technology competencies.  Once these steps have been established, the coordinator needs to determine the best model for the professional development.  The authors identify and describe various models (Workshops, Learning Teams, Online, etc.) that could incorporate professional development for teachers.   The chapter further discusses a framework and strategies for developing professional development. 

 In the article Teacher Professional Development: It’s Not an Event, It’s a Process by Dr. Sandra H. Hawrell, she states that “providing teacher profession development changes teacher behaviors in ways that lead to improvement in student performance” (p. 1).  She states that in order to improve student achievement and performance, districts and administrators need to provide “high-quality teacher professional development to learn new strategies for teaching to rigorous standards” (p. 2).  The article further identifies important factors in establishing this high-quality teacher professional development by administration support, context of professional development beneficial to the changes in education, and teacher belief systems align with the changes and standards.  Dr. Hawrell also identifies the need for strong content within the professional development and “should always address identified gaps in student achievement” (p. 4).  The content of professional development “should center on subject matter, pedagogical weaknesses within the organization, measurement of student performance, and inquiry regarding professional questions that are relevant” (p. 4).  The process should be “designed around research-documented practices that enable educators to develop the skills necessary to implement what they are learning” (p. 5).

Professional development needs to be a yearlong process rather than a series of one-hit wonders.  As districts survey, design, and implement professional development that impacts student achievement, they need to ensure that the professional development is conducive to teacher’s needs and goals that will allow them to experience success within their classroom.  When establishing professional development, it should not be considered a task but rather a route that will and can greatly impact both teachers and student achievement.  The methods of professional development should be created and implemented with teacher skills and knowledge. There should be a survey to assess the needs of the teachers then determine the mode(s) of professional development.  In addition to the professional development, there needs to be a time for questions and evaluation of the effectiveness of the professional development.

References:

Harwell, S. (2003).  Teacher professional development: It’s not an event, it’s a process. Retrieved from http://www.cord.org/uploadedfiles/HarwellPaper.pdf

Sun, J., Heath, M., Byron, E., Phlegar, J., & Victoria, K. Chapter 4: Professional development planning. Retrieved from http://www.seirtec.org/P2P.html

RSA#2 - Professional Development incorporated into Teacher Study Groups

Article Link:

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The article, “Teaching Teachers: Professional Development to Improve Student Achievement,” discusses the changes and effectiveness in incorporating professional development within school environments.   As the article suggests, professional development, when conducted in an effective manner, can be successful for both classroom teachers and students.  However, “to be effective, professional development must provide teachers with a way to directly apply what they learn to their teaching” (p. 2).   Professional development must focus and align with subject-matter content and teachers, provide opportunities for “real work experiences,” provide sufficient time, and provide reliable evaluating systems that will demonstrate the impact and provide feedback for everyone (p. 4).

Stanley (2011) researched the positive and negative impact of collaborative teacher study groups to help foster professional development.  While her focus was incorporating music teachers, her study can be applied to the inclusion of all teachers.  Stanley examined elements and groups characteristics that include: the length and quality of participant’s commitments to the group; content-area knowledge and pedagogical skills; teacher roles; the group’s mechanism, structure of conversations, and school support (p. 74).  Upon her research, Stanley found that “professional development in teacher communities can be rich and effective when it honors the expertise of its members” and addressees the elements and characteristics of the included teachers (p. 77).   When value is misplaced or respect is not established, professional development and teacher communities are ineffective. 

            While comparing these articles, the authors have valid points and applications towards implementation within a school.  However, for both to be successful and effective, administrators and teachers must “buy-in” and allow for changes within their practices.  Both professional developments and teacher groups must focus on specific skills and/or strategies, allow for honest conversations, experience school support, and have the ability to assess effectiveness for both teachers and students.  Although these ideas are ideal for an effective school, it is the commit and value that is established by both the administration and teachers to make it a success. 

American Educational Research Association (2005). Teaching teachers: Professional development to improve student achievement. Research Points: Essential Information for Education Policy, 3(1), 1-4.

Stanley, A. (2011). Professional development within collaborative teacher study groups: Pitfalls and promises. Arts Education Policy Review, 112(2), 71-78. doi:10.1080/10632913.2011.546692

RSA#1: Online Professional Learning Community

Article Link:
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            Linder, Post, and Calabrese (2012) outline the essential components for a successful application of DuFour’s model of “Professional Learning Communities” (PLC). Throughout the article/study they state that PLCs must be “site-based, ongoing, collaborative professional development” (p. 13). Each author worked with different group of teachers to establish a PLC within three schools with each a different focus. Success of the their case study was due to time given to devote towards their profession development, appropriate guidance by each facilitator, numerous resources for guidance, and the commitment of the participants to read, meet and follow-up on responsibilities. The success and impact of PLCs can allow “teachers to feel a sense of camaraderie with colleagues, connection to their schools, and ownership for the content of the workshops” (p. 15). In conjunction, the other provided article by DuFour (2011) discusses the impact of having everyone involved. In order to for PLCs to be effective it is essential for participation for all different groups within a school community. In order to support PLCs in an educational environment, schools must “embed professional collaboration in the routine practice of the school” and ensure that school structure is designed for collaboration (p. 58). It has been found necessary for schools to include everyone in collaboration, to not allow “opt-out” options, provide a set structure, set time, and support from administrators to teachers.

            In an article, Hughes-Hassel, Brasfield and Dupree (2012), it discusses the value and effectiveness of involving school librarians. As technology and education continue to develop, it is important to involve all members of a school but also to look at school librarians as more as “information specialists, staff developer, teacher and collaborator, critical friend, leader, researcher, learner and student advocate” (p. 31). The authors outlined an example of each category and effect from different schools as how they used their librarian. However, the involvement and effectiveness of librarians varied based on school environments and structure.  The inclusion of the librarians helped to form connections for both teachers and students.  In some schools, librarians were seen as partners in the learning process and assisted with the switch to Common Core.  “This benefits the students, and builds stronger teacher and school librarian partnerships, thus strengthening the prospect for future collaboration (p.33).  However, in some schools, scheduling conflicts and responsibilities hindered the process of establishing well-developed PLCs.   However, the authors acknowledged, “many of the obstacles can be overcome through persistent, assertive, and confident advocacy with district and school-based administrators, teachers, and parents” (p. 37).  They also stated that in many cases the librarians should assert themselves into the various roles of a PLC.  The authors suggested that one way to begin the process would be by partnering with one teacher and model collaboration (p. 33).  In conclusion, they found that, “school librarians can and are performing a variety of roles as members of PLCs” (p. 37).

              These articles were interesting when comparing them to some of the current environments. Although some schools allot time for PLCs, they don’t always have full staff involvement (some “opt-out”) with no consequences.  Some schools offer collaborative opportunities, but not always full school support and follow through.  In addition, schools don’t always have those taking initiatives to become involved in various forms.  After evaluation of the articles, school environments have holes and steps that are missing and need to be filled successfully to effectively establish PLCs that positivity effect student learning and teacher collaboration.  One specifically would be collaboration and involvement of librarian, but also additional leadership from administration. Unfortunately, many view them as their own entity and not apart of their community.  Librarians need to become more assertive and become more involved within each grade level.  They need to create and seek colleagues with ideas to establish the communication and to begin to form DuFour’s model of a Professional Learning Community.

DuFour, R. (2011). Work together but only if you want to. Kappan, 92(5), 57-61.

Hughes-Hassell, S., Brasfield, A., & Dupree, D. (2012). Making the Most of Professional Learning Communities. Knowledge Quest, 41(2), 30-37. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.cucproxy.cuchicago.edu/ehost/detail?sid=71c31b49-5004-4138-bd68-d935460dee99@sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=124&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zODQxOTIzOSZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU=

Linder, R., Post, G., & Calabrese, K. (2012). Professional learning communities: Practices for Successful Implementation. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, (Spring), 13-22.