Aligning Observations and In-service Professional Development Prek-3rd

Jason DownerMay 9, 2012

Students’ Academic &

Social Development

Elements of Classrooms Influencing Learning

How?

PROCESS

Implementation

Relationships

Academic & Social Interactions

What? Who? Where?

STRUCTURE

Curriculum

Standards

Materials

Training and Education

Effective Teaching through Interactions

CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

Observations across 4,000 Classrooms

Measures of Effective Teaching

• Observations, student ratings, and value-added models (VAM) show teachers are key to student learning

• Measures of effective teaching that are linked to student outcomes can and should become the targets of professional development

Actual scores for 7500 lessons.

Framework for Teaching (Danielson)

6

Uns

atisf

acto

ry Yes/no Questions, posed in rapid succession, teacher asks all questions, same few students participate.

Basic

Some questions ask for student explanations, uneven attempts to engage all students.

Profi

cien

t

Most questions ask for explanation, discussion develops/teacher steps aside, all students participate.

Adva

nced All questions high quality,

students initiate some questions, students engage other students.

Traditional Teacher In-Service Training

• Until recently, most PD consisted of workshops:– Designed to provide new information– Transmission-oriented – One size fits all– Not typically connected to teachers’ practice– Districts waste PD money. Spend between $2500

and $9,000/teacher/year. No evidence of impacts.

• Maximizing the benefits of any curriculum or other classroom intervention requires a significant investment in professional development

• High quality in-service training is:– Sustained– Intensive– Classroom-focused– Research-based– Aligned with measures of effective teaching

Effective Teacher In-Service Training

Coaching Impacts on Instructional Support

Concept Development Quality of Feedback Language Modeling0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

Eff

ect

Siz

e

*

*

*

***p<.001

• Adopt measures of effective teaching with established links to student outcomes

• Set standards for use of PD funds

• Align with measures of effective teaching

• Evidence of impact

• Meet current best practices

Policy Implications