Connecting Rural Educators: Accessible Professional Learning
Learn how the principles of Accessible Professional Learning–Connecting Our Rural Educators (APL-CORE) can be used to implement regional and school-based collaboration in small, rural schools to support professional learning and improve classroom instructional practice.
Patti Crotti, Senior Program Associate in the Comprehensive School Assistance Program at WestEd, Cricket F. L. Kidwell, Assistant Superintendent in the Trinity County Office of Education, county office coordinators, and teachers from the APL-CORE schools share an easily replicated model based on regional and school-based professional learning communities (PLCs).
They discuss the schools’ implementation of the DuFour’s PLC concepts and structures to address school needs, school goals, curriculum targets, curriculum development, assessment of student learning, and communication.
The presenters also elaborate on the collaboration between the different APL-CORE partners, the resources developed, and the impact of the project on the schools. This webinar is aimed at state agencies, regional agencies, and others interested in supporting small rural schools.
CenterView: California District Leaders on Common Core: Professional Learning Gaps Persist
Professional learning that targets specific areas of need – namely, support for K-12 teachers as curriculum developers, pedagogical knowledge for teaching English learners, and school leader training – is critical to addressing the challenges to content standards implementation.
This last CenterView installment in the Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning’s (The Center) series on California standards implementation highlights the challenges school districts face in providing the right instructional resources and professional learning the state’s educators need to prepare students for postsecondary success.
To help address the challenges, this CenterView presents recommendations for technical assistance providers to better support standards implementation, including:
- Building assessment literacy in schools
- Providing guidance for vetted resources and services
- Building site leadership capacity for standards implementation
- Increasing teacher capability for curriculum development
- Offering targeted professional learning aimed at supporting English learners’ academic achievement
Recent CenterView Issues
Growing Into Equity: Professional Learning and Personalization in High-Achieving Schools
What makes a Title I school high achieving? Professional learning and leadership that support personalized instruction makes the difference, as captured in the groundbreaking research of authors Sonia Caus Gleason and WestEd’s Nancy Gerzon.
This illuminating book shows how four outstanding schools make individualized learning a reality for every teacher and student. The common thread is the commitment to equity—every student achieving.
Content includes:
- Guidance on identifying obstacles to equity in schools
- Background that builds a case for personalized learning
- Four case studies that show the values, professional learning practices, leadership, and systems that have helped schools transform learning
- How-to’s and templates for creating a team-based professional development program that expands individualized instruction in every classroom
Discover new approaches for individual, team, and whole school professional learning that support personalized learning, drawn from schools that are leaders in overcoming challenges and creating opportunities.
Evaluation of Quality Teaching for English Learners Professional Development
This report presents findings from a rigorous study of the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) professional development program at WestEd.
The goal of this study was to determine whether QTEL is effective in improving academic outcomes for English language learners in U.S. middle schools. The results intend to inform policy decisions on professional development for teachers of English language learner students.
The study exemplifies the challenges of examining the effectiveness of a non-scripted professional development implementation tailored to participant needs under specific conditions of high student and teacher mobility within and across schools.
Researchers measured secondary impacts on teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practice. The sample included middle schools in urban and suburban areas of three Southern California counties, the English language arts and English language development teachers in these schools, and their students.
The study was conducted for the 2007/08, 2008/09, and 2009/10 school years.
Additional information from REL West is available at https://relwest.wested.org.
Information about the REL system and other REL publications can be found at the national Regional Educational Laboratory Program website.
E-Learning for Educators: Effects of Online Professional Development on Teachers and Their Students
Are you considering the use of online delivery to provide widespread professional development (PD) needs to implement new initiatives? Are you looking at designing a PD model that can improve teacher performance as well as student achievement in a cost-effective manner?
This archived webinar on online professional development (OPD) provides an overview to the topic.
Lynne Meeks, e-Learning for Educators Project Director at Alabama Public Television, discusses the e-Learning model and the research findings of the large-scale studies conducted by the e-Learning for Educators (eFE) project. These were among the first public studies that demonstrated that high-quality online teacher professional development can positively affect teacher content knowledge and teaching practices that translate into improvements on targeted student outcomes.
The webinar covers these topics:
- A successful, nimble OPD model that can produce both teacher and student improvements
- The research evidence supporting the effectiveness of the model
- Standards for high-quality OPD
This webinar is aimed at school, district, and state administrators, as well as professional development providers, such as regional inservice centers or university teacher centers.
Bringing the Common Core State Standards to Life Through Site-Located Teacher Learning Structures
The five-year Math in Common® (MiC) initiative supports a formal network of 10 California school districts as they implement the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M) across grades K–8.
While all California school districts have invested deliberately in teacher professional learning opportunities with a common goal of improving CCSS-M implementation, evidence from WestEd’s work with the MiC school districts shows that districts’ structures and strategies for implementing professional learning vary widely.
This report explores how four school districts are designing and implementing site-based, lesson-focused teacher professional learning in the Common Core era.
Key Findings
- Districts balance centralized and site-based professional development, weighing the pros and cons of these structures in light of ongoing challenges
- District priorities and goals for teacher professional learning change as the districts learn from implementation
- Districts are rising to the logistical and structural challenges of creating more site-based learning opportunities
Additional Math in Common Reports
- Taking Stock of Common Core Math Implementation: Supporting Teachers to Shift Instruction–Insights from the Math in Common 2015 Baseline Survey of Teachers and Administrators
- Under Construction: Benchmark Assessments and Common Core Math Implementation in Grades K–8
- Classroom Observations: Documenting Shifts in Instruction for Districtwide Improvement
- Many Pathways to Student Success in Mathematics: Middle and High School Math Course Sequences and Placement Decisions in the Math in Common Districts
Behavior and Classroom Management: Online Professional Development Modules and Resources for Implementation
Are you concerned about how to implement and sustain classroom management and behavioral interventions?
This archived webinar highlights the free, online professional development modules and resources on Classroom and Behavior Management provided by the IRIS (IDEA ‘04 and Research for Inclusive Settings) Center for Training Enhancements.
Silvia DeRuvo, Senior Program Associate at WestEd, leads the webinar. She is joined by two classroom teachers who discuss how the content of these instructional resources are effective when setting the foundation for solid classroom management and for implementing multi-tiers of behavioral interventions.
This webinar is tailored to professional developers, district and site administrators, teachers, and teacher trainers.
The IRIS Center provides a series of instructional resources for use in professional development about behavior management including
- case studies
- interactive instructional modules
- activities
The Classroom and Behavior Management Modules are available at the IRIS Center website.
STEM Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): New Research on Design, Implementation, and Results
Teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) are rapidly spreading as a major strategy in the field of professional development at large, including with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers. What is the evidence for their effectiveness? Under what conditions?
Evidence is growing that shows STEM teachers who participate in well-designed and run PLCs gain content knowledge and change their instructional practices in ways consistent with promoting better student learning in science and mathematics.
Key issues in design and implementation of STEM PLCs include: shared goals and values, leadership support, issues of time and pacing, focus on student data and work products, collective responsibility for student achievement, good facilitation, and building trust.
This archived webinar is especially designed for teacher leaders, professional development coaches, and directors of curriculum and instruction. In this webinar, learn about:
- How effective PLCs can impact teacher retention
- Impacts of effective PLCs on teacher practice
- What makes effective learning communities so important for student success
Facilitating Improvement in Teacher Practice: Professional Learning Modules
This resource collection is designed for facilitators of professional learning, such as district coaches, principals, site-based coaches, and teacher leaders. The modules aim to prepare these facilitators to support teachers in improving Tier 1 instruction. Specifically, facilitators will learn to implement continuous improvement processes, guided by goals and data, and strengthen teacher collaboration.
The intended outcomes of the module series are to
- Build the capacity of facilitators to lead teacher learning and develop teams
- Support the establishment of collaborative structures and routines that embed continuous improvement methods and improve teacher practice
- Provide guidance for developing a culture of collaboration that supports transparency and organizational learning
This resource collection consists of eight learning modules, each of which has a trainer slide deck, with suggested speaker notes, and a participant workbook. Additionally, there are four videos to supplement the series. Figure 1 shows the learning arc of the modules—with the green parts of the arrow representing setting up the context and developing the team and the purple parts of the arrow representing phases of the inquiry cycle.
Introductory Materials
Learning Modules Trainer’s Guide
This guide includes learning targets, key points, material lists and preparation tips for each of the eight modules. (Note: Trainers’ speaking notes are included in the slide decks below.)
Learning Huddles: Design and Facilitation Tips
This resource provides an overview of learning huddles, a key component of the teacher inquiry cycle that is introduced in the modules. Included in this resource are examples of learning huddle discussion protocols and tips for facilitating learning huddles.
Facilitating Improvement Professional Learning Series
This video introduces viewers to the Facilitating Improvement In Teacher Practice professional learning modules and provides an overview of continuous improvement. Learn about key components of the teacher inquiry cycle and how teacher inquiry can support the improvement of instruction.
Learning to Improve Instruction: One Team’s Story
Learn about a teacher team’s inquiry process and how the teacher inquiry cycle and improvement questions supported them to examine their practice and improve their writing instruction.
Learning Modules
Module 1: Framing the Series
Module 1 provides an overview of the learning series, introduces continuous improvement, and launches the learning community. Key topics include learning about continuous improvement and why it’s important, defining success in schools and school systems, and developing community agreements.
Module 2: Systems Change
In Module 2, participants learn about systems and how they can improve them, explore the role of equity in systems, and begin to develop a theory of improvement. Key topics include defining a system, seeing your system, surfacing inequities, and improving systems.
- Module 2 Facilitator Slides (PPT)
- Module 2 Participant Workbook (PDF)
- Improving School Systems Video (This video, designed to accompany Module 2, highlights the importance of developing a system lens in improvement work.)
- Video Transcript (PDF)
Module 3: Leading Improvement Work
In Module 3, participants learn about routines and structures of continuous improvement, explore strategies for developing teams, and investigate their role as facilitators of improvement. Key topics include leading a team, promoting positive group dynamics and productive discourse, and facilitating effective meetings.
Module 4: Needs Assessment and Problem Identification
In Module 4, participants learn about methods for conducting needs assessments and identifying a high-leverage problem to solve. Key topics include reviewing data, examining processes, conducting empathy interviews, and understanding the impacts of scope and scale in an improvement effort.
Module 5: Root Cause Analysis and Challenging Assumptions
In Module 5, participants learn about ways to examine the root causes of problems and discuss the importance of challenging assumptions. Key topics include root cause analyses, methods for determining root causes, and surfacing mental models.
Module 6: Prototyping Change Ideas
Module 6 provides guidance for identifying a change idea and developing a prototype for improvement. Participants will learn about the difference between a change idea and a prototype, discuss guidelines for selecting change ideas, and practice developing a prototype.
- Module 6 Facilitator Slides (PPT)
- Module 6 Participant Workbook (PDF)
- Prototyping Ideas for Change Video (This video, designed to accompany Module 6, explains what a change idea is and how to prototype a classroom artifact to improve instruction and student outcomes.)
- Video Transcript (PDF)
Module 7: Engaging in Inquiry Cycles
In Module 7, participants learn about the steps of the teacher inquiry process and how rapid testing cycles can help an organization learn. Key topics include engaging in rapid cycles of improvement, an introduction to PDSA (plan-do-study-act) cycles, facilitating learning huddles, and building confidence in changes.
Module 8: Measuring Improvement
In Module 8, participants learn about using data to measure improvement and explore different types of data visualization for teacher inquiry. Key topics include measuring improvement, monitoring progress, gathering data, turning data into information, and implementing and sustaining improvements.
Related Resources
Collaborative Lesson Studies: Powerful Professional Learning for Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards
NGSS Early Implementers is a six-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd’s K–12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Lesson study, called Teaching Learning Collaborative (TLC) in the Initiative, was a cornerstone professional learning activity for all Teacher Leaders participating in the first four years of the Initiative. Beginning in Year 5, when professional learning became less centralized, districts implemented modifications to TLCs.
TLCs establish intimate teams of Early Implementer teachers who come together to plan, teach, and debrief an NGSS lesson. The experience accelerates teachers’ enactment of the pedagogical shifts required by the NGSS.
Intended for school, state, and district leaders, this report addresses the following questions:
- What are the benefits and challenges of TLCs?
- What was the Initiative-wide configuration of TLCs in Years 1 to 4?
- How did Early Implementer districts modify the original lesson study configuration in Year 5?
- What gains and losses have participants attributed to the different lesson study adaptations in Year 5, compared to the Year 1 to 4 model?
Finally, recommendations are provided to administrators for using lesson studies as professional learning for teachers as they endeavor to implement the NGSS.