Chapter Five: Professional Development

Summary by Michelle Ellis

Among many other responsibilities, reading specialists are often also expected to provide professional development opportunities to the educators they work with. Rita Bean states that professional development “can be defined as efforts related to improving the capacities and performances of educators” (p.79). While there are many different opportunities for teachers to participate in professional development, much of this professional development happens in the schools with their staff. This can be an extremely effective way to develop teachers’ practices. The focus of this chapter is “specifically on professional development, its value, and the components that are essential if it is to have an impact on teachers” (p. 78). The chapter concludes with tips for creating effective professional development presentations.

Revitalizing the Wasteland

Effective teachers are an essential part of every classroom. Effective teachers must be very knowledgeable about both what they are teaching as well as strategies to improve student performance. In the past, most professional development “has been considered the wasteland of education” (p.80), meaning that while teachers may have had opportunities to learn new ways of doing things, they are generally not given the time or resources to fully implement their training. Fullan (1991) describes an “implementation dip” which states that “if teachers are not given support, new ideas soon disappear because they do not become part of teachers’ repertoire of instruction”. Clearly, professional development that works, and is supported, is vital to give teachers the support they need in order to become effective teachers.

What is Professional Development?

Guskey (2000) identifies seven models of professional development (p. 81);

1. Training
2. Observation/assessment
3. Involvement in a development/improvement process
4. Study groups
5. Inquiry/action research
6. Individually guided activities
7. Mentoring

The author also goes on to mention that there are also different levels of professional development. Theses different levels can range from district-wide, to school-specific, or to only a few teachers becoming involved.

Improving Professional Development

Besides the use of research-based teaching strategies, the National Staff Development Council also ask that professional development for educators also follow standards for professional development. Those standards are; content, context, and process issues (pp. 82-85).

Content: What do teachers need to know and be able to do?

Context: What are the skills and abilities of the teachers implementing the new plan? What is the culture of the school? How do teachers feel about change? What are the needs of the students? What are the available resources?

Processes: What is in place that will help the plan succeed? Some things to consider are; duration, providing feedback, relation to everyday classroom activities, and recognizing ‘expert teachers’ who can help others.

LEADERS: A Professional Development Initiative

An exemplary professional development project, titled “LEADERS” (Literacy Educators Assessing and Developing Early Reading Success) is outlined on pages 85-88. For more information, visit the following website: http://www.education.pitt.edu/leaders.

Guidelines for Developing, Leading, Implemeting, and Evaluating and Effective Professional Development Program

There are six major guidelines outlined in this chapter to help professional development leaders create effective professional development sessions. They are summarized as follows:

1. Know the needs of your audience as well as the goals of the intended professional development.

2. Ensure that the environment in which the professional development is being presented is favorable for participant’s learning to take place.

3. Recognize that adult learning is different from student learning and take this knowledge into consideration when developing your presentation.

4. Professional development attendees should be participating in activities that allow full participation (active versus passive learning).

5. Make sure teachers receive feedback regarding how the implementation is going in their classrooms. Have discussions regarding problems, successes, etc.

6. Use evaluation procedures, such as formative or summative, to decide how the results are working for the teacher as well as in the classroom.