Designing a High Quality Professional Development Program

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Designing a High Quality Professional Development
Program

• Carrie R. Nagel
• National Reading First Technical Assistance
  Center
• 2nd Annual National Reading First Conference
• July 2005

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• This presentation is an adaptation of a
  presentation given by María Elena Arguelles,
  Ph.D., University of Miami, at the 1st Annual
  Reading First Conference, 2004.

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• Professional development serves as the bridge
  between where prospective and experienced
  educators are now and where they will need to be
  to meet the new challenges of guiding all
  students in achieving to higher standards of
  learning and development.
• (U.S. Department of Education,
  1995)

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Influencing Change

• Professional Development that is
• Grounded in the curriculum of instruction
• Connected to several elements of instruction
• Extended in time
• Consortium for Policy Research in Education

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Where do I begin?
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Identifying Needs

• Identify Reading First PD priorities based on
  teacher needs and results from early reading
  assessments. Your RF PD opportunities should
  focus on those established needs.
• In general a PD plan progresses in a logical
  sequence of training that begins with an
  understanding of the scientifically based reading
  research and program-specific training and
  continues with on-going and more in-depth
  training and support.

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Reading First Professional Development Plan

• SBRR
• Instructional materials, programs, and strategies
  that are based on scientifically based reading
  research
• Intervention and supplemental programs
• Use of assessment data to inform instruction and
  meet the needs of all students, especially
  struggling readers

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SBRR

• Scientifically based reading research
  (SBRR)sessions that provide participants with a
  general knowledge and understanding of the
  research base on which Reading First was built.
• Scientifically based reading instruction
  (SBRI)sessions that translate the research into
  practice and describe what SBRR looks like in the
  classroom.

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Program Specific

• Program-specific Sessions that enable teachers
  to implement all parts of the reading program
  core, supplemental, and intervention effectively.
• The initial training prepares instructional staff
  to
• teach the lessons
• become familiar with the programs organizational
  structure and components.

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Program-Specific Training

• The initial training ideally occurs at the
  beginning of the 1st year of implementation of a
  new program
• Provide a minimum of three to four days for
  program-specific training on the use of the core
  reading program,
• Negotiate for publisher provided professional
  development days
• Follow up with on-going training
• Ex Create model lesson demonstrations
• Ex Provide Lesson Planning sessions

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Program Specific

• Intervention and Supplemental Programs
• Ideally occurs after the core program training
• All teachers need a general understanding of how
  the supplemental and intervention programs relate
  to the core program.
• Intervention training typically occurs for a
  smaller number of teachers and specialists,
• Scope of training is contingent of the design of
  the intervention.

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Assessment PD

• Assessment for instructional decision-making
  prepare educators to administer early reading
  assessments and use that data for differentiating
  instruction, planning professional development,
  and problem-solving.
• Ideally the screening and progress monitoring
  assessments training would occur at the beginning
  of the year
• On-going training will be needed in using data to
  inform classroom instruction

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PD in Assessment

• Staff should know
• The assessment protocol (e.g., how to mark
  student errors)
• How to record data
• How to interpret the results
• How to adjust instruction based on results

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Assessment PD

• Training in the administration of diagnostic and
  outcome measures will occur later in the year
• Although all teachers and specialists may not
  administer all of the assessments, it is
  important all educators have an understanding of
  the valuable information obtained from each
  measurement and how it can inform instruction.

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Other PD

• Ongoing support coaching, grade-level meetings,
  and other ongoing learning opportunities that
  provide follow-up to the content presented in
  initial training sessions and enhance
  implementation.
• Intervention strategieshelp teachers to provide
  additional, targeted instruction to accelerate
  the learning of struggling readers.

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Ongoing Support

• Teachers are more likely to implement new
  practices well if they receive support while
  trying them in the classroom.
• Ongoing support includes
• Sessions during which additional lessons and
  techniques are demonstrated
• Opportunities to practice techniques in role-play
  situations and
• Time for teachers to work together and with
  reading experts, such as coaches, consultants or
  other reading leaders.

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Ongoing Support

• Effective coaches and expert consultants not only
  observe teachers practices and offer guidance
  and feedback, but also
• demonstrate lessons,
• help create solutions to instructional problems,
• help teachers group students and plan for
  interventions,
• assist teachers in using assessment results to
  inform instruction.

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Reading First Training

• Attending Reading First professional development
  sessions is critical for teachers
• Encourage attendance by
• Providing adequate release time
• Stipends
• Support of Administration
• Arrange make-up sessions for approximately
  10-20 of teachers, including new hires

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Effective Professional Development

• Encourage collective participation of groups of
  teachers from the same grade level to foster
  collegial networks.
• Limit the size of sessions (approximately 20
  participants) so that feedback can be given to
  teachers as they practice.
• Program-specific training should continue in
  subsequent years. Training should focus on
  helping teachers refine skills.
• Provide teachers opportunities to visit and
  observe in classrooms where the program is being
  implemented with fidelity and children are
  succeeding in reading.

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Follow-up Sessions and Ongoing Support

• The change process takes time and requires
  ongoing support.
• Researchers estimate that 25 teaching episodes of
  using a new strategy are needed before teachers
  transfer the new strategy into their teaching
  repertoire.

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Coordinate State, District, and Local
Professional Development

• SEA and LEA professional development should be
  thoughtfully coordinated so that efforts are not
  duplicated and training at the different levels
  does not compete for time or offer contradictory
  messages.
• Determine the topics and schedule of the district
  and state level professional development
  offerings before finalizing a school plan.

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Provide Professional Development for Local
Leadership

• Administrators in RF schools should attend PD
  that will enhance their ability to lead for
  reading success. The training should include all
  elements of how to plan, implement, and manage a
  comprehensive reading initiative.
• Principals are strongly encouraged to attend
  program-specific PD so that they know what
  teachers are expected to do in the classroom.

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Planning the Logistics of Professional Development

• After examining your student and teacher data,
  identifying goals and determining the amount of
  time available, prioritize training needs and
  select the top priorities as your focus.
• It is better to focus on a few well-defined
  needs, rather than trying to superficially
  address multiple topics.

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Planning the Logistics of Professional Development

• Explore existing professional development
  materials and packages. Utilizing existing
  materials can minimize the time and effort spent
  creating professional development sessions and is
  an effective method of addressing a training need
  at a minimal cost.

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Planning the Logistics of Professional Development

• Ask professional development vendors if online
  training is available. Online training can be
  cost effective and makes training more accessible
  to rural areas.

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Planning the Logistics of Professional Development

• When budgeting for professional development,
  consider all related expenses including meeting
  location, presenters fees and travel, training
  materials, and teacher stipends.

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Planning the Logistics of Professional Development

• Consider videotaping the most important
  professional development sessions and national
  experts who may not be available in the future.
  This will allow you to more easily train new or
  absent teachers after the initial training.

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Train the Trainers

• Utilizing a train the trainers model can be
  cost effective. To do so, identify a cadre of
  outstanding teachers or coaches who can serve as
  trainers. Invest in additional training for this
  group and then have them train teachers.

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Key Questions to Ask when Planning Professional
Development

• What are our goals?
• What does our student data and needs assessment
  reveal about our training needs?
• Are the selected topics for training aligned with
  the districts RF plan and SBRR?
• Who is our target audience?

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Key Questions to Ask when Planning Professional
Development

• How much has been allocated in the budget for
  training? Are there sufficient funds to cover all
  related expenses?
• How does this training align with existing
  professional development opportunities?
• How can other stakeholders be involved in the
  implementation of the plan?
• How many presenters are needed?

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Key Questions to Ask when Planning Professional
Development

• Are the presenters qualified to conduct the
  sessions? Do they have knowledge of RF goals and
  SBRR?
• Where and when will the session(s) be held?
• What materials are needed? How much is needed?
• How will new or reassigned teachers have access
  to the information after the initial training?

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Evaluating Your PD

• WHY?
• To learn how to improve the effectiveness
• To verify teachers are learning the intended
  knowledge
• To adjust the level of difficulty and focus

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Evaluating Your PD

• Level 1 Teacher reactions
• Level 2 Teacher learning
• Level 3 Organizational support
• Level 4 Classroom implementation
• Level 5 Student outcomes
• Guskey (2000)

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Teacher Reactions

• Topics to Investigate
• Content
• Process

• How to Use Information
• Adjust and refine
• Identify unserved groups
• Provide quality control
• Learn about the environment

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Teacher Learning

• Topics to Investigate
• Teacher knowledge
• Teacher skills
• Teacher attitudes and beliefs

• How to Use Information
• Clarify rationale
• Define next steps
• Refine training

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Classroom Implementation and Support

• Topics to Investigate
• Frequency of strategy use
• Fidelity of implementation
• Are all components being implemented
• Teacher concerns

• How to Use Information
• Additional training
• which components have achieved degree of
  competency and regularity

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Sample Teacher Survey Items
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Evaluate Classroom Implementation

• How to Get Information
• Hallway walks
• Classroom observations
• Lesson plans
• Teacher concerns
• Teacher surveys
• Student work

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Student Outcomes

• Topics to Investigate
• Student proficiency and knowledge
• Engaged learning
• Student beliefs and attitudes

• How to Gather Information
• Progress monitoring tools
• Classroom assessments
• Outcome measures

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Make small changes guided by a grand vision

• Incremental changes must be guided by a grand
  vision that sees beyond the walls of individual
  classrooms or buildings, and focuses clearly on
  learning and learners.
• Guskey Peterson, 1996

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• For more information please contact
• Carrie Nagel
• nagelc_at_rmcarl.com
• Have a wonderful day!