A Conceptual Framework For

FIRST EDITION – JULY 2009

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR

PLANNING STAFF DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOLS

INTRODUCTION

There are many types of staff development for schools and all have a specific purpose. It is important to be very clear about the expected outcomes from any staff development activity you plan to employ. This conceptual framework describes three broad categories of staff development to help determine which type best meets your expected outcomes.

Experienceis the most basic structure with the lowest level of expectation.
Training has with it the expectation to change practice.
Professional Growthis the most complex type of staff development with the expectation to not only change practice, but also impact student learning.

All three types are viable options for school staff development plans. However, the emphasis should be on Professional Growth because the ultimate outcome of schools is student learning. As school leaders review their plans for staff development they are encouraged to use the framework to determine if they have the appropriate balance of types to meet their goals.

It is also important to acknowledge that Professional Growth may begin with an Experience and often involves various levels of Training, so therefore can cross all types of staff development. These elements become components of Professional Growth when properly scaffolded with the ongoing, embedded staff development structures. This takes careful planning and explicit expectations to ensure Professional Growth occurs.

THREE TYPES OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Experience: This is an opportunity to explore new learning without making any commitment to implementation or change in practice and/or with no expectation of impacting student learning.

Experience produces no movement in practice and no movement in student learning.

Experience Structures- Educators gain experiences in many ways. Some of the most common are listed below:

Conferences

Guest speakers at meetings

Team building activities

Book-study

University courses

Articles

*Summer institutes

*The structures marked may be professional growth, an experience, or training. The designation depends on how the learning is structured, the expectations for changing practice, and the expected impact on student learning.

Training:This type is typically required to carry out management or process tasks. There is a level of expectation that the new learning will change practice in someway, but with no direct link to or measurement of student learning.

Training produces positive movement in practice but no movement in student learning.

TrainingStructures- Training can be delivered through many different venues and in a variety of delivery modes.

Workshops

Seminars

Courses

Independent Study Modules

Facilitated Modules

Face-to-face delivery

Virtual Environments

Professional Growth: There is an expectation that the new learning will be implemented (with appropriate support) in the classroom to change teacher practice. There is also an expectation that this change in practice impact student learning.

Professional Growth produces positive movement in practice and positive movement in student learning.

Professional Growth Cycle-In order to both change practice and impact student learning, the following cycle should be implemented:

Assess: Review of data to identify the need for improved student learning.
Learn: Engage in new learning to meet the need.
Implement: Receive support for implementing new learning.
Reflect: Continually collect data and monitor outcomes of implementation of the new learning to determine if it is meeting the goal.
Assess: Revisit the data to identify further need for improved student learning.

Professional Growth Structures- There are a variety of structures that can be used to facilitate the professional growth cycle. They include:

Professional Learning Community

School-wide teaching/learning initiatives

Topic specific study groups

Book study using a study group format

*University courses

*Summer institutes

Topic specific taskforce

EXAMPLES: APPLYING THE TYPES OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The following is an example of how staff development on one topic can be seen through the three types of staff development. The difference between each type is the expected outcomes in terms of teacher practice and impact on student learning. In order to meet these outcomes scaffolded structures were added to the original plan.

EXPERIENCE:

Scaffolding: None

Outcome: Immediately following the team building exercise faculty members feel like a team.

Expectation for Student Learning: None

Expectation for Change in Practice: None

TRAINING:

The Original Plan: At the opening of school the principal wants to set a warm tone for the school year and decides to coordinate an activity around communication and building relationships. She selects this activity because she believes her teachers often take a combative tone with each other as well as with parents and students. The principal decides to introduce the Whale Done video series and has the teachers talk about the video in small groups.

Scaffolding: She shares with the faculty her desire to see more positive interactions and asks if they would be willing to continue work on this. The entire faculty agrees to continue working with the Whale Done series as a group. On the first staff development day the principal brings in a Whale Done trainer who focuses attention on the three tenets of the programs communication model. Faculty members are trained in the steps to implement the model. The faculty makes a commitment to each other to use the model in working with each other. They also all agree to give permission to be “coached” in the model, which means that each teacher has the right to remind others of the model when their specific behavior does not match the model protocol.

Outcome: Teachers will initiate more positive interactions.

Expectation for Student Learning: None

Expectation for Change in Practice: Deliberate use of the Whale Done strategies for more positive interaction.

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:

Scaffolding: A school leadership team is examining its end of year data and determines that they have a school-wide discipline problem. The principal wonders if this issue is created by poor relationships between teachers and students.

The Original Plan: At the opening of school the principal wants to set a warm tone for the school year and decides to coordinate an activity around communication and building relationships. She uses the Whale Done video series and has the teachers talk about the video in small groups. As part of the group discussion the teachers review student behavior data (discipline referrals) to identify issues. They discover a large number of referrals for inappropriate and disrespectful comments made to teachers. In relating this to the video they watched the teachers decide to delve more deeply into the Whale Done concepts with hopes that, if they improve their communication skills and are able to build relationships, there will be fewer student discipline issues.

Scaffolding: On the first full staff development day, faculty are trained in the steps to implement the model. The faculty also makes a commitment to each other to use the model in working with each other and students. They all agree to give permission to be “coached” in the model, which means that each teacher has the right to remind others when their specific behavior does not match the model protocol. In fact, they pair up and periodically conduct short observations of each other in the classroom to provide feedback about their use of the Whale Done model with students. At monthly team meetings they review student discipline data to monitor their progress toward meeting their goal. If they have students who seem to be having specific behavior problems they may coach the teacher in how to work with the student.

After reviewing the discipline data with all the teams and getting feedback from the teachers, the principal sets up the next staff development day to delve more deeply into one of the parts of the Whale Done program. The entire faculty receives additional training in “redirecting energy.” The teachers recommit to the process and continue their classroom observations and team meetings. At the end of the year they revisit their goal for improved student behavior to see if they met their goal of reducing the number of discipline referrals.

Outcome: Teachers apply the Whale Done strategies in working with each other and students

Expectation for Student Learning: Decrease in student referrals for disrespectful behavior

Expectation for Change in Practice: Deliberate use of the Whale Done strategies for more positive interaction with colleagues and students.