The need for professional development for educators and how a district can foster effective change.

1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
a prescriptive need.

2. WHY SHOULD WE MAKETHE INVESTMENT?
builds employee confidence (in
themselves and others)
direct effect on student
achievement (positive or negative)
increases retention; aids in
succession
without it, teacher improvement
is limited and so is targeting
student gains

3. –Hayes Mitchell, Learningforward.org
"Professional development is the only strategy school
systems have to strengthen educators' performance
levels."

4. THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORMS OF PD...
extends, is continuous over time
includes feedback as a focused
component
is content specific
includes multiple modalities of
learning
based on student performance data
(Zepeda, 2012)

5. THE GUSKEY GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESS
1. Recognize change as both an individual and organizational process
2. Think big, but start small
3. Work in teams to maintain support
4. Include procedures for feedback on results
5. Provide follow-up, support, and pressure
6. Integrate programs
(Guskey, 1995)

6. RECOGNIZE CHANGE AS BOTH AN
INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS
"We cannot improve schools without improving the skills and
abilities of the professional educators within them (Guskey,
1995)"
Principals and teachers are primarily responsible for
implementing change and initiatives -- so train them to do so.
The focus of change must be the organization and the individuals
within to be effective.
(Guskey, 1995)

7. THINK BIG, BUT START SMALL
"There is no easier way to sabotage change efforts than to take
on too much at one time (Guskey, 1995)."
Change should be addressed in PD gradually, in components, over
time.
Professional Development should be developed and based
around the long-term goals of the school and district.
(Guskey, 1995)

8. WORK INTEAMSTO MAINTAIN
SUPPORT
Combat isolation and with collaboration and shared
responsibility.
Involve staff, students, all stakeholders when possible
Set norms and expectations for teamwork and collaboration.
Two-way feedback between developers, administration, and
participants.
(Guskey, 1995)

9. INCLUDE PROCEDURES FOR
FEEDBACK ON RESULTS
Participants of PD need feedback on their efforts of
implementation and effects.
Feedback obtained from students via formative and summative
assessment data -- performance tasks, writing samples,
demonstrations, etc..
"New practices are likely to be abandoned; however, in the
absence of any evidence of their positive effects (Guskey, 1995)."
(Guskey, 1995)

10. PROVIDE FOLLOW-UP, SUPPORT,
AND PRESSURE
Provide support for the problems that arise in the initial stages of
change.
Guskey (1995) calls for 'encouragement, motivation, and
occasional nudging' to add pressure to initiate change.
Form positive habits from PD to sustain change and professional
practice.
(Guskey, 1995)

11. INTEGRATE PROGRAMS
As the pendulum of programs and initiatives swings, "this pattern
of constant yet unrelated, short-term innovations not only
obscures improvement but evokes cynicism (Guskey, 1995)."
New innovations must be integral to present practice and
strategy.
Combine frameworks and initiatives for sustainability and
coherence
(Guskey, 1995)

12. RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE FORTHE NOW
effective, continuous, driving achievement

13. JOB-EMBEDDED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Builds capacity by…
not requiring the scheduling of
additional time
Promotes immediate use and
application
Promotes needed
engagement level of adult
learners
(Zepeda, 2012)

14. Combats the ‘that will never work
in my room’ mentality
Elicits ongoing support
Easily supports teacher
mentorship
Promotes teacher leadership
Supports a collaborative culture of
professional learning and feedback
DEMONSTRATION CLASSROOMS

15. STUDY GROUPS/LEARNING CIRCLES
Is continuous and incremental
Fosters the sharing of new ideas
and strategies
Builds an atmosphere of blameless
contribution
Acts a support group for new
initiatives
Easily supports district desired
change and frameworks

16. Used intermittently to support
sustenance
• Mentoring: ongoing relationship
• Coaching: set time/period
Goals are developed according to
school/district needs and personal
professional growth
Structured psycho-social
interventions
COACHING/MENTORING

17. FORMAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATIONS
Presents the unified vision of
school/district
Sets expectation of follow-
through of the participates
Ease of monitoring practice
correlation to information
presented
Demands more capacity of time,
funds, and human capital

18. EVALUATING FOR EFFECTIVENESS
measuring our return on investment

19. 10% of budgets should be
dedicated to staff development.
25% of teacher’s time should be
dedicated to collegial
collaboration.
30% of technology budget should
be dedicated to teacher
development.
On average a district spends 1% -
3% on professional development.
According to Hayes Mizell of
LearningForward.org
(Mizell, 2010)

20. HOW DO WE KNOW PD IS EFFECTIVE?
Simply stated, it has a positive impact on student achievement
There are three levels of results (Mizell, 2010)
1. Educators learn new knowledge and skills from participation
2. Educators use what they learn to improve teaching and
leadership.
3. Student learning and achievement increase as a
result of teacher learning/participation
(Mizell, 2010)

21. HOW DO WE ENSURE WE REACH LEVEL 3?
Classroom observations
• Observe for implementation and fidelity of strategy
• Incorporate use of initiatives into teacher evaluations
Continued feedback and monitoring of student results
Set expectations and foster a culture of continuous learning and
application

22. REFERENCES
Guskey,T. R. (1995). Results-oriented professional development: In Search
of an Optimal Mix of Effective Practices. Unpublished Paper.
Mizell, H. (2010).Why Professional Development Matters. Learning Forward.
Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/docs/default-source/pdf/
why_pd_matters_web.pdf.
Zepeda, S. J. (2012). Professional Development: What works. Larchmont, NY:
Eye on Education.