As more professional development shifts from centrally mandated activities for all teachers to training that is more responsive to the contexts and students in each school, what鈥檚 the best way to keep it focused and of high quality?
The Carman-Ainsworth district in Flint, Mich., recently faced that dilemma. By working with its teachers鈥� union, the 4,600-student district has emphasized school-based professional development since 2004. Its bargaining agreement codifies a schedule that includes 鈥渓ate start鈥� Wednesdays, when school is delayed by an hour and a half. Teachers have more than 20 such days a year to engage in working in grade-level or discipline-specific teams during that time.
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Following a 2008 district-accreditation cycle, however, district leaders decided to see whether there were ways to improve the training. Teachers were given time to visit other schools and were interviewed in focus groups for their feedback. The information showed that teachers found value in the school teams, but also saw that the team work varied in quality from school to school.
That led to a predicament that Steve Tunnicliff, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent, calls the 鈥渢ight-loose鈥� problem of school-based training鈥攈ow much oversight administrators need to provide to school sites without being too prescriptive about their activities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the total irony of [professional learning communities] in general鈥攖hey seem so simple, but the implementation is extremely difficult,鈥� Mr. Tunnicliff said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got these teachers, literally weekly, going off in their different areas, you need to develop some structure to make sure they鈥檙e following through with it.鈥�
Structure Added
Last year, Carman-Ainsworth officials launched a system requiring teams to make presentations to other teams in their building. Three times a year, they must present the results of their inquiries in a 鈥渄ata cycle": the problem they set out to solve, the data they looked at, the steps they took to respond, and the results in student learning. In addition to those protocols, central-office staff members now participate in some of the Wednesday meetings.
These mini-profiles鈥攊ncluding video interviews鈥攁re meant to provide insight, but not to serve as representative examples of the districts in which they teach or programs in question. Their diverse experiences highlight the challenges districts face in providing high-quality training matched to each teacher鈥檚 needs.
鈥淚t kind of was a healthy accountability,鈥� Mr. Tunnicliff said. 鈥淎 structure for how you鈥檙e going to spend that [professional-development] time is pretty important. [The teams] can fall apart because they lose focus about what they鈥檙e trying to accomplish.鈥�
Fred A. Burger, the president of the local affiliate of the National Education Association, said the structure has helped teachers articulate goals across related subjects. The biology PLC he belongs to, for instance, meets with the teams on chemistry and physical sciences in the school to make its presentations.
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鈥淲hat we see,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s that there are common themes we agree on鈥攖hat every student should be able to write a lab report or apply the scientific method.鈥�
