Published: 2019-02-09 07:11 |
Category: Projects | Tags: action research, brainstorming, edst676, pd, professional development
Running PD for an entire district is a challenge. The biggest gap I see is knowing how or when teachers actually use what they've learned in a session or a series of sessions. We have automated systems in place, but it doesn't give us information on the effectiveness of our instruction.
We coach our teachers to check for understanding and watch for application of learning with their students, yet this is something I have not done well with the teachers I work with. Granted, I work with all five secondary buildings (and teachers in general with my partners), so geography and time are a challenge in gathering and collating the right kind of information.
I'm interested in what kinds of supports we provide will help teachers actually use what they've learned. We run several programs, but which ones are the most effective at engaging and enabling our teachers to make changes to their teaching? What kinds of environments or availabilities are the most helpful to the staff?
Homing In
I haven't defined a specific question yet, but several I'm thinking about include:
- How long do teachers wait before implementing training they've received from the district?
- What professional development structures or systems best enable teachers to implement skills or strategies learned in professional workshops?
- How does student engagement or learning change as a result of a specific instructional change by a teacher after attending a training event?
- What are the reasons teachers do not put strategies or systems in place after a workshop?
- Do professional development workshops make an impact on day to day instruction by the teaching staff?
My main concern is that several of these questions are very subjective. Measuring the result - either quantitatively or qualitatively - will be difficult and rely on select groups of teachers self-electing an evaluation tool. We already send a basic implementation survey to teacher three weeks after an event, so my intent is to go through all of those records and begin to identify the response rate as well as the most common responses for implementation vs non-implementation by teachers. I'm also hoping to gain some candid insight on the state of our professional learning opportunities from teachers' perspectives.