This document summarizes Carolyn Starkey's presentation on evolving professional development for educators in the 21st century. It discusses how PD is becoming more social and focused on collaboration skills. It also describes Alabama's continuum for teacher development, which was revised to also apply to school librarians, in order to promote librarian leadership roles and strengthen relationships between librarians and other educators.

1. Releasing Your Inner Leader Spinning 21 st -Century Standards-Driven Evaluations and Professional Development into Stronger School Relationships Carolyn Starkey Librarian, Buckhorn High School New Market, Alabama [email_address] Knowledge Quest Webinar February 13, 2012

2. Carolyn Starkey has been in education for 23 years, the last 13 related to school library media. She served as the library media specialist at Sloman Primary School for seven years, obtaining her certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in library media in 2003 while there. After a 4 ½ year stint as Assistant Professor of Library Education Media at Alabama State University, Carolyn is currently serving as a school librarian alongside Wendy Stephens at Buckhorn High School and completing her dissertation in instructional leadership/instructional technology at the University of Alabama. Her other professional commitments include positions as Co-Chair of the Children's and School Library Division of the Alabama Library Association, Editor of ASLA‘s The Alabama School Librarian , and Chair of ISTE's Media Specialist Special Interest Group newsletter committee. She also serves as a member of American Association of School Librarians' Publications Committee and NCATE Coordinating Committee and has recently taken on a Co-Manager position of the AASL blog. Carolyn is a frequent conference and professional development presenter on a wide range of topics in school librarianship, technology, and online learning. New areas of interest include the integration of the Common Core State Standards into school libraries and the implementation of the EDUCATEAlabama for Librarians formative performance assessment system. Carolyn served as a member of the EDUCATEAlabama for Librarians review committee and has presented on this topic over a dozen times in 2011 and 2012. Biography Carolyn Jo Starkey

3. Professional Development “ Simply put, professional development is evolving into something new and inspiring in the twenty-first century.”

4. Lyrical Vocabulary of PD

5. 21 st -Century PD “ Professional Development is becoming more relevant, more reflective, and, most importantly, more social.”

6. Socially United Groups Give rise to a collective intelligence: Bonds members into a more ordered society This collective intelligence: Senses its own needs and those of the stakeholders Generates choices to satisfy those collective needs Anticipates the consequences of those choices Makes choices that best serve the well-being of those affected by those choices Learns from the consequences of those choices

7. Predictors of Group Intelligence

8. Predictors of Group Intelligence Woolley and her team discovered that social sensitivity – measured using a test in which participants had to identify another person's feelings by looking at photographs of their eyes – was by far the most important factor.

9. Predictors of Group Intelligence The team also found that groups in which members took turns speaking were more collectively intelligent, as were groups containing a majority of women. Woolley thinks this may be because the women had higher levels of social sensitivity than the men.

10. Predictors of Group Intelligence Woolley says that selection processes used to form groups in the workplace may need to be re-evaluated, shifting the focus from individual intelligence to collaboration skills.

11. Professional Development

12. Alabama School Library Association Summer Conference 2011 Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook, AL June 13, 2011 and 4 th Annual Library Symposium Alabama Educational Technology Conference 2011 Birmingham, AL June 14, 2011

13. A Condensed History

14. January 17, 2006 “ The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching shall examine, recommend, and work to implement laws, policies, and practices affecting teachers and teaching effectiveness to ensure student success in Alabama. The commission shall promote the aggressive recruitment, preparation, support, retention, and growth of qualified, skilled teachers in order to raise student achievement in Alabama.” 1

15. November 27, 2006 “ The first recommendation of the Commission is the immediate adoption and statewide implementation of the Alabama Quality Teaching Standards (AQTS) . The crafting of the standards emerged from a research and literature relating teacher qualities to student achievement. Each of the five standards focuses on variables associated with increased student achievement.” 2

16. March, 2007 AQTS Adoption Standard 1—Content Knowledge Standard 2—Teaching and Learning Standard 3—Literacy Standard 4—Diversity Standard 5—Professionalism

17. May, 2009 Adoption of EducateAlabama Process A group of stakeholders, comprised of Alabama instructional leaders and educators, worked diligently in 2009 to develop the EDUCATEAlabama process .

18. 2009-2010 School Year Pilot Program The pilot program took place statewide. Instructional leaders and educators received training to implement the process through a series of online training modules.

19. Continuum of Teacher Development

20. Continuum of Teacher Development What is the Continuum? The AQTS constitutes the foundation of the teaching profession while the Continuum is a tool used to guide educator reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting for professional learning and growth.

21. Continuum of Teacher Development What is the Continuum? The Continuum articulates a shared vision and common language of teaching excellence to guide an individual’s career-long development within an environment of collegial support.

22. Continuum of Teacher Development What is the Continuum? The Continuum is based on two assumptions: (1) that growth in professional practice comes from intentional reflection and engagement in appropriate professional learning opportunities and (2) that a teacher develops expertise and leadership as a member of a community of learners focused on high achievement for all students.

24. How does EducateAlabama fit into the Continuum? EDUCATEAlabama is a formative system designed to provide information about an educator’s current level of practice within the Alabama Continuum for Teacher Development.

25. How does EducateAlabama fit into the Continuum? EDUCATEAlabama uses verbiage aligned to the Teacher Development Continuum to demonstrate levels of performance at the Emerging, Applying, Integrating, or Innovating level (as defined in the Continuum) and not numerical ratings.

26. How does EducateAlabama fit into the Continuum? EDUCATEAlabama is used to set expectations, goals, and plans for teacher professional growth.

27. The Continuum: A Closer Look

28. The Continuum: A Closer Look Organizationally, the Continuum is structured around five standards and five levels of practice.

29. The Continuum: A Closer Look Standard 1—Content Knowledge: To improve the learning of all students, teachers master the disciplines related to their teaching fields including the central concepts, important facts and skills, and tools of inquiry; they anchor content in learning experiences that make the subject matter meaningful for all students. Standard 1

30. The Continuum: A Closer Look Standard 2—Teaching and Learning: To increase the achievement of every student, teachers draw upon a thorough understanding of learning and development; recognize the role of families in supporting learning; design a student centered learning environment; and use research based instructional and assessment strategies that motivate, engage, and maximize the learning of all students. Standard 2

31. The Continuum: A Closer Look Standard 3—Literacy: To improve student learning and achievement, teachers use knowledge of effective oral and written communications, reading, mathematics, and technology to facilitate and support direct instruction, active inquiry, collaboration, and positive interaction. Standard 3

32. The Continuum: A Closer Look Standard 4—Diversity : To improve the learning of all students, teachers differentiate instruction in ways that exhibit a deep understanding of how cultural, ethnic, and social background; second language learning; special needs; exceptionalities; and learning styles affect student motivation, cognitive processing, and academic performance. Standard 4

33. The Continuum: A Closer Look Standard 5—Professionalism: To increase the achievement of all students , teachers engage in continuous learning and self improvement; collaborate with colleagues to create and adopt research-based best practices to achieve ongoing classroom and school improvement; and adhere to the Alabama Educator Code of Ethics and federal, state, and local laws and policies. Standard 5

34. The Continuum: A Closer Look Individuals who are at the Pre-Service and Beginning level of practice work within the context of supported and guided internship or induction experiences. Pre-service teachers engage in ongoing learning in classrooms and clinical settings. Through multiple and varied opportunities for guided practice in preK-12 settings, they receive ongoing formative feedback that enables them to reflect on their individual teaching practices and how those practices affect student learning. Teacher candidates emerge from the pre-service experience with the requisite knowledge and skills to assume full-time positions in the profession. With full responsibility for classrooms and as teachers of record, beginning teachers work to internalize and apply what they have learned about teaching. They develop a working knowledge of academic standards and assessments. They reflect on teaching practices and their impact on student learning. Beginning teachers rely on ongoing assistance from mentors and experienced colleagues for support and guidance. Pre-Service and Beginning

35. The Continuum: A Closer Look At the Emerging level of practice, teachers draw upon ongoing assistance and support from a mentor and other experienced colleagues to expand and enrich their knowledge and skills. These teachers utilize teaching theories and episodic classroom experiences to adjust and modify instruction. Emerging teachers become increasingly self-directed and independent in their professional practice, which is focused on their classrooms and each student therein. Emerging

36. The Continuum: A Closer Look At the Applying level of practice, career teachers operate at high levels of autonomy, internalizing and applying what they have learned about effective teaching. Utilizing their heightened awareness of students’ academic and behavioral patterns, career teachers anticipate students’ learning needs and responsively contextualize classroom experiences, both in the moment and in instructional planning. Career teachers systematically collect and use data to demonstrate the impact of their teaching on student achievement. They build upon varied professional learning opportunities to enhance personal practice while working collaboratively with colleagues to advance student learning. Applying

37. The Continuum: A Closer Look At the Integrating level of practice, accomplished teachers cultivate the classroom as a community of learners in which students are engaged and motivated. They skillfully adjust practice in response to various contexts. Their highly developed skills and self-efficacy enable them to integrate complex elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to maximize student engagement and learning. Their students consistently demonstrate increases in learning and achievement. Teachers at the Integrating level are also leaders among peers; they collaborate reflectively in learning communities to move classroom and schoolwide practices forward through aligned professional learning. Teachers at this level of practice guide apprentice and intern teachers, mentor beginning teachers, coach peers, assume leadership roles, and otherwise work to guide and develop colleagues. Integrating

38. The Continuum: A Closer Look At the Innovating level of practice, teacher leaders are consistently creating in all areas of teaching and learning. They facilitate the complex integration of teaching and learning among teachers at all levels of practice and continue to innovate in their own teaching to support increases in student learning and achievement. Innovating teachers initiate and provide leadership for collaborative learning communities that are engaged in such activities as enhancing curriculum, developing innovative instructional delivery techniques, and fostering positive learning cultures in a variety of educational settings. Leaders in the school, district, and local community, teachers at the Innovating level often lead professional learning and classroom-based research activities, write for professional print-based and electronic journals, or otherwise contribute to the broader education community. Innovating

39. Revision of the Continuum to Reflect Librarians’ Practice

40. Revision of the Continuum to Reflect Librarians’ Practice Why did this revision take place?

42. Revision of the Continuum to Reflect Librarians’ Practice Who did the revision?

44. Revision of the Continuum to Reflect Librarians’ Practice How was the revision accomplished?

46. Librarian Leadership Roles in the Final Document

86. How the Continuum Promotes Leadership for Librarians Draws school librarians into the limelight of PD leadership Consolidates the library’s place as a focal point of learning in the school Strengthens relationships with classroom colleagues and instructional leaders on all levels of the collaborative

87. How the Continuum Promotes Leadership for Librarians These strengthened relationships can only result in dynamic school library programs for all stakeholders.

88. My Advice Look for opportunities to be an incubator of c-factor promoting abilities both within yourself and within other librarians. It can only be good for our profession and for education.

89. Session Resources