Professional Development
Quality professional development improves student learning
What teachers know and can do to help students achieve is what matters in schools today. Their knowledge and skills are impacted by ongoing professional and staff development.
A survey conducted for the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), gave us, for the first time, clear data about ongoing professional development in Kansas. Research and Training Associates, Inc. (RTA) did this survey. Following is a summary of the initial findings.
- Professional development should involve teachers in identifying what they need to learn and in developing the learning experiences in which they will be involved.
- Professional development should be primarily school-based and built into the day-to-day work of teaching.
- Most professional development should be organized around collaborative problem solving.
- Professional development should be continuous and ongoing, involving follow-up and support for further learning, including support from sources external to the school that can provide necessary resources and new perspectives.
- Professional development should incorporate evaluation of multiple sources of information on (a) outcomes for students and (b) the instruction and other processes involved in implementing lessons learned through professional development.
Following is additional information and results. Whether you are a professional thinking about your own staff development, a member of a local Professional Development Council (PDC), or a frequent presenter for your peers, the information from this survey will give you good background data and much to think about.
Support for Professional Development
Professional development does not exist in a vacuum, nor does it happen without conscious support from school leaders. Here's how professional development is supported in Kansas.
- The most uniform support for professional development reported by teachers and principals is the awarding of inservice points for participation. Almost all principals and about 90 percent of teachers indicate that awarding inservice points is a pervasive form of support. All teachers indicate that a written policy on earning inservice points exists.
- Virtually all principals indicate they support professional development through release time from teaching. More than three-fourths of teachers indicate their school has a written policy on release time. However, only half of the teachers indicate that release time is a standard practice in their schools; about half indicate that it sometimes occurs. Teachers in high-poverty schools indicate that release time from teaching for purposes of professional development occurs significantly more frequently than do teachers in low- poverty schools.
- Ninety percent of elementary principals and 84 percent of middle/secondary principals indicate that time is scheduled for study groups or grade level meetings. More than half of teachers indicate that study groups and grade level meetings are standard practice in their schools.
Eighty-five percent of principals indicate that they provide opportunities for on-the-job practice of new skills and follow-up training. More than half indicate that teachers receive support through peer coaching. About one-third of teachers indicate that on-the-job opportunities are standard practice and one-fourth indicate that follow- up training and peer coaching are standard practices in their schools.
- About one-third of elementary schools report that their school has less than $2,500 in professional development funds; another 30 percent of elementary schools has between $2,500 and $5,000. Fewer than 40 percent of middle/secondary school principals report professional development funds in the amount of $5,000 or less. About 30 percent of both elementary and middle/secondary schools report professional development funds in the range of $15,000 to $50,000. Only six elementary schools and one middle/secondary school report professional development budgets in excess of $50,000.
Roadblocks to Quality Professional Development
Absences of support create some of the greatest roadblocks that currently exist, according to Research and Training Associate's (RTA) findings. Here are some highlights:
- The largest roadblock for both elementary and middle/secondary principals is the lack of availability of substitute teachers for release time. Thirty percent of elementary principals and 40 percent of middle/ secondary principals indicate that this roadblock exists to a large extent. Only 10-15 percent of principals indicate that the lack of substitutes is not at all a roadblock to professional development. Fewer than 20 percent of middle/secondary school principals report any other roadblock that exists to a large extent in their schools.
- Eighty percent of principals indicate that the lack of district administrative support for professional development is not at all a problem. Elementary principals are somewhat more likely to report lack of funds as a large roadblock to quality professional development efforts than are middle/secondary principals. About one-fourth of elementary principals indicate that the lack of funds for stipends, for consultants, and for follow-up training poses a roadblock to a large extent.
- The most important and most frequently recommended suggestion for improvement that principals provided is an increase in funding for professional development. About one-third of principals recommend the need for more time for teachers to practice new strategies (enabled by providing more substitute teachers), involving teachers in planning professional development opportunities, and developing a coherent plan for school improvement strategies.
Teaching Practices
Professional development efforts are often focused on affecting changes in teaching practices. Here's what respondents said:
- A majority of teachers in elementary and middle/secondary schools report daily use of practices that reflect traditional approaches to teaching and learning. For about 80 percent of teachers, class time is scheduled by subject/content area.
- Eighty percent of elementary teachers and 57 percent of middle/secondary teachers have students work individually on tasks on a daily basis. Almost 90 percent of elementary teachers and two-thirds of middle/secondary teachers expect their students to raise their hands for permission to speak.
For more than two-thirds of teachers, knowledge and skills are taught in a specific sequence on a daily basis. More than half of elementary teachers report that they present or lecture to their classes on a daily basis; only one-fourth of middle/secondary teachers lecture or present on a daily basis. Only 40 percent of elementary teachers use worksheets to practice skills on a daily basis but almost 80 percent use worksheets at least weekly. Fewer than 15 percent of middle/secondary teachers use worksheets on a daily basis; almost 60 percent use worksheets at least weekly. For about one-third of elementary teachers, ability grouping is a daily feature of their classrooms; almost half of elementary teachers use ability grouping several times a year or less frequently. About two-thirds of middle/secondary teachers use ability grouping several times a year or less frequently.
- Student choice, a key feature of inquiry-based learning and motivational strategies, is a daily feature in 20 percent of elementary classrooms but is almost nonexistent in middle/secondary classrooms. While half of elementary teachers allow student choice on at least a weekly basis, half of middle/secondary teachers allow student choice only several times a year or never.
- One-fourth of elementary teachers and almost half of middle/secondary teachers almost never integrate technology as a teaching and learning tool in their classrooms. Only 30 percent of elementary teachers and 20 percent of middle/secondary teachers describe technology integration as a daily feature of their classroom instruction.
- Both elementary and middle/secondary teachers report daily or weekly use of some practices that reflect research on effective practices. More than one-third of elementary teachers have students work in cooperative groups on a daily basis and three-fourths do so on at least a weekly basis. Only 20 percent of middle/secondary teachers use cooperative groups on a daily basis, but almost 60 percent do so on at least a weekly basis.
- Elementary and middle/secondary teachers report similar assessment practices. One-third of elementary and middle/secondary teachers never use performance-based assessment in their classrooms or only several times a year. About one-fourth of elementary teachers and one-half of middle/secondary teachers almost never use student portfolios in their classrooms. More than 40 percent of elementary teachers infrequently have students assess their own work and more than 60 percent infrequently have students assess peers' work. Fewer than 10 percent of elementary and middle/secondary teachers use paper and pencil tests on a daily basis, but almost half of teachers use tests at least weekly or more frequently. More than two-thirds of elementary teachers and three-fourths of middle/secondary teachers rarely use conferencing strategies with students. Almost two-thirds of elementary teachers and 40 percent of middle/secondary teachers indicate they make observational assessments of students on a daily basis.
- Beginning elementary teachers use performance assessments with similar frequency, as do their peers. Beginning middle/secondary teachers use performance assessments significantly more frequently.
- Purposeful writing is not well entrenched in the daily life of elementary classrooms. Contrasting sharply to the pervasive focus on authentic reading, only one-third of teachers indicate that their students engage in purposeful writing on a daily basis. Twenty-five percent of elementary teachers indicate that students engage in purposeful writing only monthly or less frequently. Opportunities for authentic and purposeful writing occur even less frequently in middle/secondary schools. Only about 10 percent of teachers provide daily opportunities for purposeful writing. More than half of middle/secondary teachers indicate that students are provided opportunities for purposeful writing monthly or less frequently.
Policy Implications
So, now that you know what Kansas educators said about professional development, what can you do with the information? One thing is to advocate for additional support for professional and staff development with legislators, the State Board (which is already VERY supportive), and your local Board of Education.
Another is to work with your local Professional Development Council (PDC) to improve the opportunities available in your district.
Other Points to Consider
- Increase funding for support for professional development.
- Involve teachers in planning professional development opportunities so they have input into the content and quality of professional development.
- Provide all teachers - not just beginning teachers - with greater opportunities for on-the-job practice, follow-up training, coaching, mentoring, and other opportunities for extended, in-depth learning.
- Provide teachers more time for planning and learning new strategies.
- Encourage districts to obtain teacher evaluations of district-sponsored professional development to improve upon the 50 percent of teachers who indicate that district-sponsored professional development opportunities are not responsive to the needs of students or teachers.
Compiled by KNEA President Christy Levings and Director of Instructional Advocacy Peg Dunlap.
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