ASCD Poll: Professional Development

In the ASCD poll, we asked you to select the phrase that best describes the professional development efforts in your district or school. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

In her March 2002 Perspectives column, Educational Leadership Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer discussed why professional development doesn't always work:

Derisive stories about the worst professional development encountered are easy to come by in education circles. The day everybody was made to do the macarena in between writing their school's mission statement or the afternoon spent coloring in a diagram of a brain to illustrate their personal characteristics are the kinds of silly activities that make teachers beg for less time mandated for “development” and more time for their “real” work of educating students.

Do you have a professional development horror story or success story to share? What types of professional development have worked best in your district or school? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

Comments

[Cathy Worthington]

Timing of professional meetings need to be carefully considered. Often, in-service meetings take place when there are critical,time-crunching demands on teachers. Appreciating in-service messages is difficult when there is not enough time for instructional preparation. Perhaps careful, and critical, viewing of multiple calendars would help.

[Camille Booth]

It has been a challenge to make professional development as relevant as possible. I've found, as a building principal, that even when asked for feedback, staff doesn't take the time to respond and then I end up created professional development for people rather than with them. Even with careful consideration of goals and planning, often PD has such a bad reputation that the attitude that staff enters training with colors the entire program. Focusing training on a schoolwide goal that specifically addresses what is happening in the classroom is best. The best evaluations we've obtained are due to such training. However, its difficult to please everyone all the time. While the macarena sounds like a nightmare for some (like me), I know that for some of my collegues, that would be a necessary, fun break from the "work". Everyone needs different things. Managing for relevance , differentiation, and efficiency...what a challenge.

[Larry Carlton]

Professional development in my district works best when the staff members have input into the professional development activities. For example two years ago, the State of Illinois dropped the writing segment of the ISAT and PSAE examinations. Administratively we believed that writing should remain at the forefront of our curriculum because writing is a critical element of all curriculum and eventually the State leaders would recycle the writing element.

To keep writing at the forefront a Writing Committee, consisting of staff and administrators, met to map out strategies for our teachers in order to keep current with writing strategies. The Committee requested assistance from a Writing Consultant who met with small groups during our School Improvement Days and then eventually met with individual teachers. Collectively we are pleased with our progress.

A handful of teachers met exclusively with the Writing Consultant over a two day period. This group will now train new staff.

[Arlie Swett]

My district asks teachers for input on surveys for professional development and then honors those requests. We plan professional development to be connected to a three year plan so that there is continuity of building new skills in teachers. Inservice is paired with demonstration teaching and reflection time. I purchase current professional books for teachers so that they have the latest resources. Sometimes we have book clubs on a topic like "Comprehension Strategies" prior to an inservice on comprehension strategies. I use grant funds to pay teachers stipends for summer professional development opportunities.

[georgia squires]

District selected professional development doesn't work. It has to come from teachers themselves.

[Nicole Alexander]

I am a music specialist but because I work in a primary school spend many days at pd dealing with literacy/numeracy or other topics not directly related to my everyday teaching. While some of these are very useful I wish I didn't have to spend weekends and my own money in order to get proffessional development opportunities which I can take straight to MY classroom.

[Nicole Alexander]

oops professional..maybe I need one in typing!

[Chris Villalobos]

Those who mandate requirements are so far removed from the true classroom experience that their idea of development ends up being nothing but a waste of time for those who are actually in the trenches doing the work needed to be done.

[Joan]

I feel fortunate that I have a say in what professional development opportunities I paticipate in. We've done work unpacking standards, getting trained in technology, and a variety of other things that are helpful in my teaching. Even with that said inevitably it happens at a time when there is something else to do (the life of a teacher!)and more often than not I'd rather forego the opportunity to just get some of the other work done. What I think is lacking in professional development is single strategies to implement then follow up. What's missing in short, is modeling in our professional development, the way we're expected to teach (based on how people really learn!).

[Mark A.]

After new administration came in last year, the school has been going downhill ever since, especially in the area of teacher morale. One of the main reasons for this deterioration is the basically useless staff development meetings that we have. We are made to do basically useless things as in the example in the original post, and many teachers are grumbling that these meetings are worse than useless, since the time could presumably be used to do something more useful with our time. I am going to be working at a different school next school year and I hope that over there the staff development meetings aren't nearly as soul-killing as the ones at this school.

[Jeffrey Sullivan]

I have found that the most beneficial way to spend professional development time is focused work with a small group of colleagues. As an English teacher, the time I spend norming essays with my fellow teachers has proven invaluable. Working with rubrics and hearing the thinking that goes into assessment has made me more confident in the way that I evaluate my students' work. Professional development in a large group (50 or more teachers) always tends to be much less productive.

[Amy J. L.]

At my school, the district decides what professional development we have. I believe to be more well-rounded teachers, we should have some say in the manner.

[Amy J. L.]

I agree with Georgia. Special areas teachers (music, art, phy ed) should have PD geared toward their areas.