investing in success
Ensure that your initiative is fully supported and funded. Commit to your teachers the necessary resources to make the successful transition you have asked them to make. The video* below illustrates what could happen to your initiative if you decide to cut corners and scrimp on needed support for teachers and principals.
Just as launching a rocket requires enormous thrust to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, your initiative will require the same thrust. Your goal is to escape the gravitational pull of traditional, factory model education - the thrust you need to escape that paradigm is intensive professional development and other supports.
Just as launching a rocket requires enormous thrust to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth, your initiative will require the same thrust. Your goal is to escape the gravitational pull of traditional, factory model education - the thrust you need to escape that paradigm is intensive professional development and other supports.
A successful district initiative aimed at taking your schools into the 21st century requires a certain amount of thrust.
Professional development is not an expense - it is an investment - in your teachers, in your students and in your community. It is no less an option than is purchasing gasoline for your vehicle.
What is effective professional development?
Most professional development today is ineffective. It neither changes teacher practice nor improves student learning. A report from the National Staff Development Council** says it well:
Research suggests that effective professional development abides by the following principles:
Professional development is not an expense - it is an investment - in your teachers, in your students and in your community. It is no less an option than is purchasing gasoline for your vehicle.
What is effective professional development?
Most professional development today is ineffective. It neither changes teacher practice nor improves student learning. A report from the National Staff Development Council** says it well:
Research suggests that effective professional development abides by the following principles:
• The duration of professional development must be significant and ongoing to allow time for teachers to learn a new strategy and grapple with the implementation problem.
• There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.
• Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice.
• Modeling has been found to be a highly effective way to introduce a new concept and help teachers understand a new practice.
While awareness of new ideas may be achieved through large group presentations that approach alone is unlikely to lead to changes in teaching practice. An extended summer institute with follow-up sessions throughout the school year will deepen teachers' content knowledge and is likely to have the desired effect. A two-hour after-school workshop will not achieve that goal.
The most powerful forms of professional development always combine learning strategies. To promote the development of new instructional skills, training must be combined with coaching, study groups, and action research.
Technology provides a vital tool for accessing various means of professional learning. It provides for the individualization of teacher and administrator learning through the use of virtual classrooms, wikis, blogs, and many other Internet-based tools. Technology also makes it possible for teachers to form virtual learning communities with educators in schools throughout the country and around the world.
The blended learning program we offer you includes all the above – and more! We have some very exciting, cutting-edge programs for you.
* From the film, The Right Stuff.
** National Staff Development Council changed its name to Learning Forward.
• There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage that addresses the specific challenges of changing classroom practice.
• Teachers’ initial exposure to a concept should not be passive, but rather should engage teachers through varied approaches so they can participate actively in making sense of a new practice.
• Modeling has been found to be a highly effective way to introduce a new concept and help teachers understand a new practice.
While awareness of new ideas may be achieved through large group presentations that approach alone is unlikely to lead to changes in teaching practice. An extended summer institute with follow-up sessions throughout the school year will deepen teachers' content knowledge and is likely to have the desired effect. A two-hour after-school workshop will not achieve that goal.
The most powerful forms of professional development always combine learning strategies. To promote the development of new instructional skills, training must be combined with coaching, study groups, and action research.
Technology provides a vital tool for accessing various means of professional learning. It provides for the individualization of teacher and administrator learning through the use of virtual classrooms, wikis, blogs, and many other Internet-based tools. Technology also makes it possible for teachers to form virtual learning communities with educators in schools throughout the country and around the world.
The blended learning program we offer you includes all the above – and more! We have some very exciting, cutting-edge programs for you.
* From the film, The Right Stuff.
** National Staff Development Council changed its name to Learning Forward.
