Session Information
10 SES 09 D, Teacher Educators: Identity and Professional Development Needs
Paper Session
Contribution
Abstract
This paper situates in the literature of determining the effectiveness of teacher professional development programs. Two frameworks were developed to measure:
1) the effectiveness of teacher professional development and 2) implementation fidelity. The first framework was developed in the form of a checklist by using the principles of providing teacher professional development effectiveness. The second framework was developed to investigate the extent of how teacher implemented knowledge gained from the teacher professional development in their classroom.
This presentation will present the process of developing the frameworks and the results of utilizing the frameworks. Implications for teacher education will be discussed.
Introduction
Teacher professional development (TPD) is an important element for successful teaching career, because it provides an opportunity for teachers to develop themselves professionally, leading to greater achievement of students. Thus, several European countries and others throughout the world have provided various professional development for their teachers (European Commission, 2009; Eurydice, 2008). Like other countries, Thailand has also provided various TPD programs for teachers. Especially in 2017, the government developed an initiative, Teacher Professional Development Institute (TPDI), to provide, manage, and monitor TPD programs at the national level. In so doing, educational institutions submitted TPD curricula to TPDI to be approved and teachers can select TPD programs based on their interest to participate from the central database. After this institution was launched, questions about the effectiveness of those approved programs remained unanswered. This creates chaos about the legitimacy of the TPDI. Also, it has been pointed out that those programs did not fully succeed because of teacher’s inability to put what they had learnt from the programs into real situations. This is because there was no evidence to recommend the effective of professional development and there was no follow up or any support after the professional development programs were implemented (Borko 2004; Thongtew, 2007). In addition, there was very little empirical research has been conducted to support this view (O’Sullivan, 2002).
The concept of following up after teacher professional development is called implementation fidelity. Implementation fidelity is defined as the degree to which an intervention or program is delivered as intended. By measuring the implementation fidelity, it gains a better understanding of how and why an intervention works or not, and the extent to which outcomes can be improved (Carroll et al, 2007). In addition, Meyers and Brandt (2015) argued that measuring the implementation fidelity is an important component of any program evaluation includingthe teacher’s professional development.
To date, tools to evaluate the effectiveness of TPD and implementation fidelity are scant. As a result of this paucity, this study attempts to develop framework to determine these two important aspects of TPD. This study made a potential contribution to the field of TPD and the implementation fidelity since there is little research on the implementation fidelity after the TPD programs are implemented. This paper developed and implemented the frameworks to measure the effectiveness of existing TPD programs and implementation fidelity.
Research Questions
This study attempted to answer two questions: (1) To what extent do the existing TPD programs conform with the effectiveness of TPD structure? (2) To what extent do Thai English teachers implement knowledge from the professional development in their classrooms?
Method
Methodology To develop the framework to determine the effectiveness of TPD, the principles of effective TPD (e.g., Hunzicker, 2011) were reviewed. The framework consisted of the five elements of effective PD: supportive, job-embedded, instructionally focused, collaborative, and ongoing. This framework was used as a checklist in which I particularized indicators in each element. The framework was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the TPD programs, approved by the Teacher Professional Development Institute (TPDI) in Thailand. This study focused on the TPD programs for English teachers because currently Thailand has "underqualified" teachers of English working in schools. Especially in primary schools, the teachers, who have to teach English, need to increase their English proficiency, English teaching competence, learning from more experienced colleagues in order to help them be more confident in their English as a teacher. Hence, most of them are non-English majored (Chaiyaphum Primary Educational Service Area Office 2, 2016). Out of 1,460 approved courses, there were, 111 courses provided for English teachers. All were used to analyze the effectiveness. After the analysis, it was found that there were 11 courses aligned with the effective professional development. Then, I purposefully selected the participants who enrolled these 11 TPD programs to conduct the implementation fidelity study in order to determine the degree they implemented knowledge gained in the TPD programs in the classrooms, by using classroom observations, interviews, and teacher diary to collect the data. Three of them are volunteer to participate this study and are allowed from their school directors. To determine implementation fidelity, I adapted the five dimensions from Dane and Schneider (1998) as a framework to measure how teachers deliver their knowledge gained from the TPD into classrooms. The dimension was called the APPLE element. A refers to whether the program service or an intervention was delivered as it was designed. P means program unique which elements of program are essential: without it the program will not have its intended effect. P participant responsiveness refers to the extent to which students are engaged by and involved in the activities and content of the program. L lively of delivery refers to the atmosphere in classroom where teacher delivered their knowledge gained from the professional development. E exposure or dosage means the number of implemented sessions, length of each session, or the frequency with which program techniques were implemented.
Expected Outcomes
Expected outcome/ Results Out of 1,460 approved courses, there were only 11 approved courses align with the effective TPD principles: supportive, job-embedded, instructionally focused, collaborative, and ongoing. The most important element of TPD but it was not found in the rest is the ongoing element. The result implied that the designers of the TPD program should realize to combine the ongoing element into their programs for the effectiveness. In addition, this framework is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of TPD because its reliability. The other framework, APPLE element, gave a big picture of each participant implemented their knowledge into classroom. I will provide more information for each element of each participants in the presentation. However, I have learned from using this framework: getting to know participants background and TPD programs they participated were need. Without both factors, I cannot determine exactly the degree of their implementation. The framework also has a limitation of how to classify P: program unique because it was very board and need a particular way to address the occurrence.
References
References Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational Research, 33(8),3. Carroll, C., Patterson, M., Wood, S., Booth, A., Rick, J., & Balain, S. (2007). A conceptual framework for implementation fidelity [Electronic version] Implementation Science. DOI: 10.1186/1748-5908-2-40. Dane, A., & Schneider, B. (1998). Program integrity in primary and early secondary prevention: Are implementation effects out of control? Clin Psychol Rev. 18: 23-45. European Commission (2009). Key Data on Education in Europe. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Eurydice (2008). Levels of Autonomy and Responsibilities of Teachers in Europe. Brussels: Eurydice. Hunzicker, J.L., (2011). Effective professional development for teacher: a checklist. Professional development in Education Vol. 37, No. 2, April 2011, 177-179. Meyers, V.C., & Brandt, W.C. (2015). Implementation fidelity in education research: designer and evaluator considerations. New York. O'Sullivan, M.C. (2002). Effective follow-up strategies for professional development for primary teachers in Namibia. Teacher development, 6(2). Thongthew, S. (2007). Future prospect of citizenship education for elementary school students in Thailand: /Delphi survey result. Oita: Oita University.
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