Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics (3rd Edition)
Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics, coauthored by WestEd’s Susan Mundry and Katherine Stiles with other colleagues in the field, is one of the most widely cited resources in professional learning for mathematics and science educators. For several years it has remained a highly regarded reference for improving professional practice and student achievement.
With an inspiring blend of theory and practical wisdom, this new and expanded edition demonstrates how to design professional development for teachers that is directly linked to improving student learning. Presenting an updated professional development planning framework, the book reflects current research on professional development design, underscores how beliefs and local factors can influence the professional development design, illustrates a wide range of professional development strategies, and emphasizes the importance of:
- Continuous program monitoring
- Combining strategies to address diverse needs
- Building cultures that sustain learning
This book is published by Corwin and is included in WestEd’s resource library with permission. To purchase, visit the publisher web site.
Digital Professional Learning for K–12 Teachers: Literature Review and Analysis
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world of education has had to abruptly pivot to relying heavily on digital methods of delivery. For teachers, much of their professional learning has gone digital as well. To help those in charge of developing and delivering teacher professional learning online, this knowledge brief produced by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center summarizes themes from an informational scan of research on digital professional learning.
The information here is meant to assist professional learning developers and facilitators as they draw on existing materials and transition them to digital modes of delivery, building new learning experiences for an online environment. Though much has been written and researched about best practices for traditional (i.e., face-to-face) teacher professional learning, less has been studied about digital professional learning for teachers. Many sources reviewed for this brief were written by authors outside the United States, and much of the information looks specifically at rural areas, which have had to deal with issues of isolation prior to the current pandemic.
The literature reviewed for this brief suggests that attention to the following themes can be leveraged to build and deliver effective, timely, and meaningful professional learning for educators:
- Community-building
- Customization
- Extension of learning
- Effective facilitation
- Learning modalities
- Motivation
Teacher Evaluation and Professional Learning: Lessons From Early Implementation in a Large Urban District
This study examines the alignment between teacher evaluation and teacher professional learning.
REL Northeast & Islands researchers examined the alignment between teacher evaluation and teachers’ subsequent professional learning in a large urban school district.
The researchers examined the types of professional learning activities teachers participated in, whether or not the reported activities aligned with what evaluators had prescribed, and whether teacher evaluation ratings improved from one year to the next.
Key Findings
- Teachers received written feedback on their instruction from evaluators across all standards of the evaluation rubric
- Teachers participated in more professional activities for the instruction-based standards than for the non-instruction-based standards
- For all standards, less than 40 percent of teachers participated in all the activities their evaluator recommended
- Each prescription provided by the evaluators to the teachers tended to include one or two recommended professional activities, and more of these activities were professional practice activities — such as independent work to improve instruction — versus professional development activities, such as courses or workshops
Read a summary of this report and view the infographic.
CenterView: Mix It Up — Blended Strategies for High-Impact Professional Learning
Teachers desire high-impact professional learning that involves peer collaboration, problem solving and knowledge sharing. However, this type of professional learning isn’t always possible to maintain, especially for teachers who are isolated by geography or content area.
This CenterView issue highlights blended professional learning, a promising and robust strategy for engaging teachers in professional learning that is relevant, interactive, and sustainable.
Through blended professional learning, teachers:
- Build collegial relationships in face-to-face sessions
- Deepen their instructional practice with online activities that support continued learning and collaboration
- Receive support as they change their practice to implement today’s rigorous college- and career-readiness standards
Education organizations across the nation, such as those in the Teacher Practice Networks, are using blended professional learning to reach teachers in isolation and foster professional communities for tackling instructional challenges.
CenterView: Teachers Leading the Way – Teacher-to-Teacher Professional Learning
Teacher leaders are positioned to help other teachers reflect on their practice, try new pedagogical approaches, and work through instruction-related struggles — ultimately, leading to a change in instructional practice. In order to be effective in their new leadership roles, however, teacher leaders need support in developing leadership skills and require site-level conditions that foster teacher-to-teacher professional learning.
This CenterView issue looks at how teacher leaders are enacting teacher leader-led professional learning and what school administrators can do to support and sustain this impactful approach to improving teaching and learning.
Learn about:
- Teacher leader-led professional learning designed to integrate face-to-face learning, virtual learning, and coaching
- Vignettes of teacher leader-led professional learning in action
- Site-based conditions that enable teacher leaders to facilitate effective professional learning
Visit the Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at WestEd for more information.
Download other CenterViews sharing knowledge from the Teacher Practice Networks.
- Forging Partnerships – A Model for Teacher Leadership Development
- Putting a Lens on Teacher Practice – Video-Based Peer Coaching
- Mix It Up – Blended Strategies for High-Impact Professional Learning
- Teacher Leadership Works – It Builds, Energizes, Sustains
Leading Voices Podcast Series Episode 11: The Critical Role of Early Intervention—A Conversation With Angela McGuire
“We often hear about when things don’t go right, we hear about the confrontations, or we hear about the parents who are dissatisfied with services or the district that’s maybe not meeting the needs of children and families. But if everyone can keep the focus on the child and bring to the table the things that are strengths for them and recognize the things that are strengths in others, then they can benefit the child in greater ways.” — Angela McGuire, Project Director
In this episode of the Leading Voices podcast, host Danny Torres talks with Angela McGuire, Project Director within WestEd’s Early Childhood Intervention, Mental Health, and Inclusion team under Early Childhood Development and Learning. Angela leads the Comprehensive Early Intervention Technical Assistance Network (CEITAN), which has supported the professional growth of early childhood intervention professionals for more than 30 years. Together, they discuss the critical role of early intervention in improving outcomes for our youngest children with disabilities and how state agency leaders can best support early intervention professionals in their work.
Their conversation covers the following topics:
- What state leaders need to know to best support early intervention professionals
- The Comprehensive Early Intervention Technical Assistance Network (CEITAN) work in California
- The relationships between parents or caregivers and professionals in early intervention work
- How early intervention professionals help prepare families as their children move into the K-12 system
- Workforce development and capacity building for early intervention professionals
Additional Resources
- Transforming Early Intervention and Improving Outcomes for Children—Q&A with Angela McGuire (Blog Post)
- Cultural Humility Series (Webpage)
- Early Childhood Development, Learning, and Well-Being (Webpage)
- California Early Start (Webpage)
- 4 Ways to Support Partnerships With Families (Edutopia Blog Post)
Expanding California Districts’ Curriculum-Focused Professional Learning
Guidelines for teaching California’s students have changed dramatically in recent years, as state leaders have adopted new academic standards, curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials lists in an attempt to better prepare students for college and career.
However, adopting high-quality standards and curriculum materials does not guarantee effective instruction in classrooms. Teachers need sustained, job-embedded, content-rich professional learning in order to build their capacity to make the instructional shifts required to engage learners around today’s academic expectations and curricula.
Moving forward, this brief refers to such professional learning simply as curriculum-focused professional learning. As one California district leader recently explained, the state’s previous academic expectations “did not call for huge shifts in instructional practice in the way that the Common Core standards are calling for, yet we haven’t made that same kind of investment in professional development that we did back in the early 2000s.”
This knowledge brief is part of a continuing series, produced by the CA Analysis for Learning & Engagement (CALE) project, designed to inform California education leaders about new research findings on key state policy topics. This brief summarizes recent findings on effective teacher professional learning.
Other Briefs in the Series
Professional Development on Formative Assessment: Insights From Research and Practice
Formative assessment is a key component in next-generation assessment systems. This paper, authored by former WestEd researcher Elise Trumbull and WestEd’s Nancy Gerzon, outlines how different programs and studies have responded to educators’ need for professional development on formative assessment.
The authors address the major issues in the design and implementation of professional development on formative assessment and make recommendations for future efforts.
The paper examines:
- The need for professional development on formative assessment
- The most effective ways to structure teacher learning
- The literature on effective professional development
- Concrete examples of professional development on formative assessment
Additional WestEd resources on formative assessment are available online.
CenterView: Teacher Leadership Works – It Builds, Energizes, Sustains
Teacher leaders — classroom teachers with expertise in instruction and in leading peers — play a key role in addressing the increasing demands placed on school administrators, retaining quality teachers, and providing meaningful professional learning. Teacher leaders can effectively share the responsibilities of instructional leadership and can be influential in working alongside peers to improve practice.
In this CenterView, the Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at WestEd reports on a teacher leadership survey designed to assess the impact of teacher-to-teacher professional learning.
What you will learn in this CenterView:
- Ways teacher leadership can foster professional growth
- Benefits of teacher-led professional learning on both teacher leaders and the teachers they lead
- Strategies administrators can use for recruiting teacher leaders and finding protected time for teacher-led professional learning
This issue is part of a Center series on teacher leadership in the Teacher Practice Networks initiative. Download other CenterViews sharing knowledge from the Teacher Practice Networks.
- Forging Partnerships – A Model for Teacher Leadership Development
- Increasing District Capacity to Implement the Common Core – It Begins With a Partnership
- Teachers Leading the Way – Teacher-to-Teacher Professional Learning
Visit the Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at WestEd for more information.
California Statewide Early Math Initiative in Local Communities: Building Educator Math Capacity
This report summarizes the findings across two case studies conducted as part of WestEd’s evaluation of the California Statewide Early Math Initiative (CAEMI). The case studies aimed to understand the planning and implementation of professional learning and coaching in local communities. They also examined changes in educators’ math knowledge, confidence, and teaching practices.
The case studies utilized qualitative and quantitative methods, such as interviews, observations, and surveys, to address the following evaluation questions:
- How do agency facilitators engage educators in professional learning and coaching in their local communities?
- To what extent do the facilitators build educators’ math content knowledge, confidence in supporting children’s early math and math teaching practices?
Of the thirty agencies participating in the CAEMI, WestEd purposefully selected two agencies to study local implementation. Two county offices of education agreed to participate in the case studies.
In Case Study 1, three agency facilitators focused on spatial reasoning in professional learning and coaching offered to 14 early childhood education (ECE) teachers, nine elementary teachers, and 27 family child care (FCC) providers.
In Case Study 2, four agency facilitators addressed coding and robotics, number sense, measurement, geometry, and mathematical reasoning in the professional learning and coaching they offered to 28 preschool teachers.
The two case studies shared the overall goal of building educator capacity in early math, but their implementation plans were very different in terms of content, structure, and participants. The following list reflects the key takeaways across the two case studies. Specific examples are included in each of the case study detailed descriptions and the conclusion.
Planning and Implementation of Professional Learning and Coaching
- The flexibility of the CAEMI grant allowed for variation in agency implementation plans, which was beneficial to tailoring supports for local communities.
- The agencies integrated CAEMI content, hands-on activities, and resources into their local implementation.
- The agencies provided diverse groups of educators, such as early childhood teachers, family child care providers, and elementary teachers, with access to early math professional learning.
- The agency facilitators used a range of strategies to respond to educators’ needs, concerns, and levels of experience.
Impact on Educators
- Educators reported significant increases in their math content knowledge, confidence in supporting children’s early math, and frequency of math teaching practices from the beginning to the end of the initiative.
- Educators increased their awareness that math was all around them.
- All educators rated the professional learning and coaching as very valuable.