Targeting Professional Development At Student Success
by Ceri B. Dean and Fran Mayeski

New standards for students are changing what and how we expect teachers to teach. As a result, new professional communities are appearing all across the McREL region.

Jascha Heifetz' violin professor told him that if he practiced hard, someday he would play well enough to teach others. And after years of performing in concert halls all over the world, Heifetz finally decided he was ready to teach at UCLA.

Unlike Heifetz, most teachers do not spend years "performing" before they begin their teaching careers. They learn to become competent and effective teachers on the job. And for that, they need continuing professional development.

In this article, we explore how some of the states and districts in the McREL region are providing teachers with the kind of professional development that leads to the creation of a professional community concentrated on improving student achievement.

Professional development activities in the region center on:

• increasing teachers' knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy;
• engaging teachers in activities that help them reduce the gap between goals for student achievement and students' actual performance; and
• developing infrastructure to support teachers' learning.

Knowledge of Subject Matter And Pedagogy

Like many other states around the country, each of the seven states in McREL's region has curriculum frameworks or content standards. In some cases, states developed them; in others, districts developed them. These frameworks and standards introduce new content, suggest new instructional approaches, or both. The problem arises when teachers are expected to teach this new material without ever having had the opportunity to learn it themselves as students, or when they must teach in ways that they have never been taught.

States and districts throughout the region are providing teachers with professional development opportunities so they can meet these new expectations. The following examples are of how teachers in this region are acquiring the new knowledge and skills they need.

In Kansas, educating students to become effective problem solvers is an important goal of the state's standards. But mathematics teachers' previous instructional experience with problem solving was limited, usually to "contrived" word problems that appeared at the end of the chapter in the text. Since the concept of problem solving in the state's curriculum documents is considerably more complex, teachers had to improve their own understanding of problem solving before they could successfully teach problem-solving skills to their students.

How should professional development activities be framed so that teachers could build such knowledge? In Manhattan, Kansas, teachers devoted an hour-and-a-half every other week to examining student work, learning about problem-solving strategies they could teach their students, developing a plan for teaching the strategies across grade levels, and discussing their classroom experiences in actually teaching the strategies. And they were rewarded for their efforts. Female students' problem-solving scores on the Kansas Mathematics Assessment Test jumped 41 percent (49.6 to 70.17) and male students improved by 3 percent (53.55 to 55.37) over a three year period. Equally important, students now enjoy problem-solving more, persevere in their efforts, and use their problem-solving skills in other content areas.

Curriculum frameworks frequently require teachers to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment, another skill in which many teachers do not have a lot of experience. In South Dakota, a collaborative team of staff from the state department of education, Technology and Innovations in Education (TIE), and the Black Hills Consortium is conducting a year-long series of two-day seminars for teachers and administrators in three regions of the state. The seminars help participants understand the rationale behind standards from national and state perspectives and how to tie local standards and curriculum to larger reform goals. Working in small groups, participants discuss their beliefs about what is important for students to learn and how to design curriculum that reflects their beliefs.

Curriculum frameworks and standards shift the instructional emphasis from what is taught to what is learned. There is usually a strong emphasis on using research-based, inquiry-oriented, and hands-on instructional practices. For teachers who themselves were taught to find the answer in textbooks, these new instructional practices can be a challenge. Professional development, then, must provide teachers with experiences in using research, methods of inquiry, and learning by doing.

Technology, in particular, is an area in which many teachers need to raise their comfort level. To help its teachers learn such skills, one district in Colorado took a comprehensive approach by passing a technology bond issue that included designated funds for professional development. The district used the funds to develop "teacher-friendly" courses on navigating the Internet, provided software demonstrations and give-aways, offered technical support to help teachers plan for and use technology to enhance their lessons, and designed and implemented an evaluation component to ensure that it met its goals. Teachers were also able to buy personal computers at a special price, which allowed them to practice and learn at home at their own pace. This comprehensive approach gave teachers an appreciation for the new technology. Now they are using it with confidence across the curriculum. As one teacher put it, "I feel rejuvenated. The Internet has opened a whole new world. Now the computer is an instructional tool, rather than the object of instruction."

In Gillette, Wyoming, the middle school's project-based science program incorporates not only the use of technology, but also cooperative learning groups, a facilitative teaching style, alternative forms of assessment, and the expectation that students will take responsibility for their learning. All of this posed a new way of teaching for many teachers in the district. To build teachers' knowledge and skills in these innovations, the district hired a consultant who mentored two teachers for a year. The following summer, the district introduced all middle school teachers to the technology and the new teaching techniques. The consultant continued to make bimonthly visits to the school to coach teachers, answer their questions, and facilitate discussions about the changes they were seeking in student learning.

Teachers say they could never go back to the old way of teaching. The new approach has given them a better understanding of how students learn science. It has also raised their expectations of students, based on what they have seen students produce as evidence of their learning. Additionally, the program has fostered increased cooperation between mathematics and science teachers. In one instance, mathematics teachers used data that students generated in science class as the basis for lessons in data analysis and statistics.

The new program was not formally evaluated for changes in student achievement, but teachers anecdotally report that their students' quality of work is better and that they "seem to like science more."

The preceding examples show how some teachers are acquiring new subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills to improve student learning. In the next section, we see how professional development is changing to help teachers narrow the gap between the goals that states and districts have for students and student performance.

Analyzing the Gap Between Goals and Achievement

States in the McREL region have defined standards for what students should know and be able to do and are beginning to hold students accountable for meeting those standards. But before they can fully implement their standards, teachers need an important new skill. They need to be able to analyze gaps between the goals of instruction and students' achievement of those goals.

The need for such a skill comes up over and over in the research on professional development. From their synthesis of that research, Hawley and Valli (1995) identify a key principle in the design of effective professional development programs: that is, the programs be "driven, fundamentally, by analyses of the differences between goals and standards for student learning and student performance."

This principle differs radically from most current professional development practices in the region, which tend to be unfocused or focused on teachers' needs and goals instead of on broader student learning standards. The new nature of professional development gives teachers opportunities to learn how to assess student performance "by doing, reading, and reflecting; by collaborating with other teachers; by looking closely at students and their work; and by sharing what they see" (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995).

The examples that follow illustrate several ways in which teachers, schools, and districts in the region have revised their professional development efforts to better attend to these skills. Educators in the McREL region who are seeking ways to make their professional development programs more responsive to the emphasis on analyzing the gap between goals and achievement, may benefit from information about these programs.

In Lawrence, Kansas, each semester the school district funds several building-level instructional skills teams to lead the effort to improve student achievement. Each group, made up of six or seven teachers and the school principal, determines its own scope of work depending on which of its school goals it wants to address. For example, if the team decides that it wants to make improved reading achievement its priority, it might study different strategies for teaching reading. It would work together on specific instructional skills for at least a semester -- reading research and best practice articles related to instructional strategies in reading, practicing the strategies in their classrooms, discussing their experiences, examining student work, and observing and coaching each other. When the group has mastered a particular skill or strategy, its members often become specialists or mentors who other teachers can call on for assistance.

In North Dakota, groups of teachers who earlier had participated in developing reading and writing frameworks set out to develop reading and writing assessment items. The intent was for the state to use these items, in multiple choice, short answer, and performance task formats, to assess students' language arts knowledge and skills against the state's curriculum framework.

The groups met for 10-11 days over a year and a half. Learning about the issues of reliability, validity, and bias were high on their agenda. By closely examining student work, reflecting on what they had learned as a member of the group, and discussing the issues with others, they learned to write assessment items that elicit responses that better demonstrate student competence in achieving the standards and benchmarks. Their process for working together allowed them to develop new skills and knowledge in assessment, curriculum, and instruction and to form a learning community that is willing and able to share its knowledge beyond the original group.

According to Judith Warren-Little (1996), "A school organized for teacher learning would promote the systematic study of teaching and learning... by supporting the individual and collaborative investigation of selected problems and questions that arise in teaching..." Action research offers one way to engage teachers in such a process and an audience for sharing their results.

Action research involves teachers in collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of examining student learning and their own teaching. Here is an example of how one teacher in Nebraska used it. This teacher presented his students with a new hands-on method for learning fractions. Later, he asked them to use this method in an assessment of students' skills. Information from the assessment gave him insight into students' thinking and especially about the misconceptions they had developed about fractions -- misconceptions that he was able to then correct.

According to a teacher in Kansas, action research made her more analytical and data-driven. She now seeks out solid evidence that her teaching is making a difference in student performance. Similarly, a teacher in Wyoming attests to the power of action research at both a personal and professional level. "I gained a great deal from having the opportunity to be a part of this [action research on alternative assessment]... I had previously done a lot of reading about alternative assessments, but never had the time or courage to actually make the necessary changes... I [now] feel more comfortable with alternative types of assessment, and have become more of a partner in learning, not only an instructor. I am anxious to share ideas with other teachers. I'm excited about planning for next year using what I have learned from this study" (Tyrrell & Walker, 1994).

The above examples demonstrate that, as teachers focus on analyzing the gap between goals for students and student achievement, the kind of professional development that is most useful to them is closely aligned to the learning goals they expect their students to achieve. In order for them to have such professional development, however, supportive policies and practices must be in place at the building, district, and state levels.

Infrastructure to Support Teachers' Learning

A professional development system is "an integrated whole: a cohesive framework for professional growth within which a variety of learning activities, people, resources and policies are connected" (The Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and the Islands, 1989.) But finding the time and money for professional development continues to haunt districts and states across the region.

There was a time when professional development was considered a "frill." Not so any longer. Professional development is increasingly being recognized as the key to successful reform (Richardson, 1997). "Every dollar spent on improving teacher quality resulted in improved student performance, found one study" (Darling-Hammond, 1996).

Missouri has proven its commitment to professional development. The state designates that one percent of the monies allocated for education be spent on professional development that helps schools meet the objectives of their school improvement plans. With additional funds, it established and maintains nine Regional Professional Development Centers that serve as resource centers, provide leadership training for teachers, assist districts with their school improvement processes, and develop activities that directly support state reform initiatives. The state also set aside money for the "Success Leads to Success" grant program. This program seeks out and disseminates information about best instructional practices and programs and encourages educators to establish school-to-school networks for exchanging practical information and tips.

In their study of education reform, O'Day, Goertz, and Floden (1995) found that "allowing schools and districts to reconfigure schedules to provide time for collaboration and learning is possibly the most cost-efficient means of providing at least some of the time required" for teachers to learn how to improve student achievement. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (1996) reinforced its finding with the recommendation that teachers receive "at least 10 hours per week for collegial work and learning within the school and at least two days per year of additional professional development time, supported by reallocations of staff and the redesign of responsibilities."

The Thompson School District in Colorado is one example of a district that is taking steps to enact the commission's recommendation. The district sets aside one half-day each week throughout the school year. During this time, teachers participate in district, building, or subject-area professional development activities that are aligned with their professional growth plans. In the summer, teachers attend a five-day institute where they develop curriculum and plan for the coming year. According to the district, its money is well-spent because the teachers see a direct connection between their professional development activities and improved student achievement. In addition, teachers are more professional, work more collaboratively, and interact more effectively with parents.

In their article on policies that support professional development, Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin note that there has been a "shift from policies that seek to control or direct the work of teachers to strategies intended to develop the capacity of schools and teachers to be responsible for student learning" (1996). This is certainly true in North Dakota, where state guidelines for professional development aim to give school personnel information on effective professional development, not dictate their strategic planning efforts (North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board, 1996).

Some states, Wyoming and Kansas are two in this region, are making professional development part of their accreditation process. Their policies require districts and schools to plan, provide, and evaluate professional development against student performance. Other states, such as Colorado, highlight standards for educators (Colorado Department of Education, 1994). These standards clearly define what constitutes excellence in teaching. Implicit in them is the maxim that developing professionally is part of a teacher's responsibility (Danielson, 1996). Although many state policies are in the early stages of development, they signal that those in positions of power are beginning to understand that teacher learning is key to improved student learning. Conclusion Throughout the McREL region, schools, districts, and states are acknowledging that "[w]hat teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn" (National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, 1996). The professional development activities they have taken on -- strengthening teachers' knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy, engaging teachers in activities that reduce the gap between goals for student achievement and student performance, and developing infrastructure to support teachers' learning -- are directly targeted to the creation of professional communities that can make improved student achievement possible. These communities have the power to produce results.

References

Colorado Dept. of Education (1994). Standards for Colorado educators. Denver, CO: Author.

Danielson, C. (1996). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Darling-Hammond, L. (1996). What matters most: A competent teacher for every child. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(7), 193-200.

Darling-Hammond, L. & McLaughlin, M.W. (1995). Policies that support professional development in an era of reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(8).

Hawley, W.D. & Valli, L. The essentials of effective professional development: A new consensus (unpublished manuscript): Univ. of Maryland.

Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (1995). Student achievement through staff development: Fundamentals of school renewal. (Second ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman.

Warren-Little, J.W. (1996). Organizing schools for teacher learning. Presented at AERA Invitational Conf. on Teacher Development & School Reform.

National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (1996). What matters most: Teaching for America's future. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Newmann, F.M. & Wehlage, G.G. (1995). Successful school restructuring: A report to the public and educators by the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools - University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Education, Center for Education Research.

North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board (1996). Professional development guidelines: Effective practices. Bismarck, ND: Author.

O'Day, J., Goertz, M. & Floden, R. (1995). Building capacity for education reform. CPRE Policy Briefs, RB-18.

Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement in the Northeast and Islands (1989). Building systems for professional growth: An action guide. Andover, MA: Author.

Richardson, J. (1997). Policies that support staff development can help improve student learning. The Developer, 1(4).

Tyrrell, J. & Walker, K. (1994). Alternative science assessment to create student based reports of learning to parents. In A. Kleinsasser, E. Horsch & D. Wheeler (Eds.), Innovation in isolation: Collaborative classroom research focused on mathematics and science performance assessments. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.