Session Information
01 SES 02 A, The Professional Learning and Development of Leaders: International perspectives on learning to lead - Part 2
Symposium continued from 01 SES 01 A
Contribution
Research on effective professional development has nearly achieved consensus on a set of characteristics that define high quality professional development: collaborative (Cordingley et al., 2005), coherent (Desimone et al., 2002), based on content matter (Garet et al., 2001), focused on instructional practice (Borko, 2004), and sustained over time (Yoon et al., 2007). Less is known or written about the scaling of such efforts to improve educator practice and student outcomes across entire educational systems. Previous research and experience have led the author’s work to focus recently on the development and delivery of “blended” or “hybrid” professional development systems that incorporate both on-line and in-person learning experiences. Such an approach allows participant learners access to high-quality learning content grounded in the research and developed by experts across a number of fields (e.g., early childhood development, foundational literacy, or instructional methods for algebra), while also providing for sustained, collaborative reflection focused on the application of techniques and strategies suggested in the research. Further, such an approach moves away from a conception of professional learning that is measured in seat-time or hours towards an approach to professional development that documents the competencies acquired by participant learner in new areas of knowledge or skill. This paper will illustrate a competency-based approach to instructional leadership development and coaching that is situated within a larger professional development and quality improvement effort among early learning programs that serves upwards of six-thousand Florida teachers each year through online professional development coursework. Program facilitators both develop and certify the knowledge and skills of coaches who in turn provide localized, in-person support to teachers working across Florida’s 67 counties. That local support ensures that teachers completing the online coursework have the opportunity to receive in-person implementation support that fosters the adoption of research-based strategies. Previous research on the approach has demonstrated significant impacts on teacher’s content knowledge, teacher practice, and child outcomes (Rodgers et al., 2017). Future directions for the effort include the creation of virtual learning modules to support coaches and other instructional leaders.
References
Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: mapping the terrain. Educational Researcher, 33 (8), 3–15. Cordingley, P., Bell, M., Thomason, S., & Firth, A. (2005). The impact of collaborative continuing professional development (CPD) on classroom teaching and learning. In Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. Desimone, L.M., et al., 2002. Effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction: Results from a three-year longitudinal study. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24 (2), 81–112. Garet, M.S., et al., 2001. What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38 (4), 915–945. Rodgers, M.K., Leite, W. L., Hagler, N., Zhou, S., He, J., Qiu, Y., Glaser, L., Thorman, A., Reyes, C.,& Hurley, L. (2017). Early Learning Performance Funding Project: Final Evaluation Report 2016-2017. Tallahassee, FL: Florida’s Office of Early Learning. Accessible at: https://lastinger.app.box.com/s/t7zzqfd0fj8vol0asub8dqsouolwbeci Yoon, K.S., et al. (2007). Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, REL 2007-No. 033.
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