3rd+Performance+Task


 * __Focus Questions__**
 * The stem for this assignment includes the following core questions, which we reviewed in class last week:**


 * (1) __Temporal and Physical Dimensions__**
 * **What would a typical day look like in the lives of adults and children in this environment?**
 * **What would be the material requirements for learning in this environment, e.g., what kinds of materials and media would be used, what kinds of chairs and tables, what would be technology requirements, what kinds of access to “inside” and “outside”?**
 * **What would the physical environment look like—e.g., how would learning spaces be organized, where would the learning of adults occur, what kind of work spaces would be necessary in order to accommodate your ideal design?**


 * Gamoran, A. & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and Opportunity in Restructured Schools. //American Journal of Education, 106// (3), 385-415. (Jenna)**
 * In the case study of Cibola High, the authors reveal that one of the reasons the school was able to maintain high standards for all in heterogeneous classrooms was due to "tutorial sections" held on Saturdays (p. 402).


 * (2) __Learning Environment for Adults and Students__**
 * **What would professional learning look like for adults in this environment, e.g., how and where would it be happening, how would learning be organized, how would the learning relate to the physical environment?**

**Elmore: “The Strategic Turn in Improvement:** Elmore argues that professional development should not exist outside of the environment where the work is being done. In this view, it makes more sense to have teachers observe other teachers during the day, rather than establish PD sessions regularly after schools, as is currently done in many schools. Integrating PD into the day also encourages teachers to view their work collectively.

Elmore’s argument also implies that professional development exercises should always address elements of the instructional core. Unless PD is focused on the instructional core, schools do not stand a chance of improving student achievement.

**Elmore: “Culture and Strategy”**: Any professional development related to instructional practice should avoid focusing on individuals. Because the default culture of schools exhibits “atomization at the core,” any learning for adults should be organized collaboratively.

**Edmunson “Local and Variegated Nature of Learning”:** argues that effective organizations organize their learning around teams, but that teams “break down when teams fail to reflect on their own actions or when teams reflect but fail to make changes following reflection.” Characteristics of effective teams include psychological safety, a lack of criticism of individual members, and an ability to break out of routines. Effective teams also show “task interdependence” where group members all contribute to the completion of a task, rather than completing work independently.

Edmonson argues that learning organizations often include two types of teams. The first type of team helps improve existing capabilities within an organization, and the second type of type explores new capabilities. Both kinds of teams are important in learning organizations.

Teams that exhibit both reflection and action (effective teams) exhibit the following characteristics:

--power differences were either absent or minimized; otherwise, some employees are afraid to voice their opinions due to hierarchical structures

--this analysis, similar to Elmore, implies that it is essential all team members feel that they have a voice

Edmonson also emphasizes that the effectiveness of teams within an organization can vary dramatically. Thus, it is important that leaders ensure that smaller group within an organization feel connected to a collective purpose.

Sara's Notes: // Garet, M.S., Porter, A.C., Desimone, L., Birman, B., & Yoon, K.S. (2001). What makes professional development effective?: Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915–945. [E-Resources/JSTOR] [] //

3 core features of professional development activities that have significant, positive effects on teachers' increases in knowledge and skills and changes in classroom practice:
 * 1. focus on content knowledge;
 * many people argue PD must focus on BOTH knowledge of subject matter as well as an understanding of how children learn the specific content (924)
 * 2. Opportunities for active learning
 * can include: observe expert teachers, be observed teaching, planning classroom implementation, review student work, presenting/leading/writing(925)
 * 3. coherence with other learning activities
 * connections with other goals and activities, alignment with state and district standards and assessments, communication with others (including administrators)

Structural features that significantly affect teacher learning:
 * 1. The form of the activity (e.g., workshops. study group);
 * reform activities such as mentoring and coaching, can take place over time and in the school day, which may prove to be more effective (921)
 * 2. Collective participation of teachers from the same school, grade, or subject
 * “by focusing on a group of teachers from the same school, PD may help sustain changes in practice over time, as some teachers leave the school's teaching force and other new teachers join the faculty” (922) as well as contribute to a professional culture
 * 3. the duration of the activity.
 * Span of the PD, as well as contact hours

Results: - Time – both hours and span – have a positive influence on opportunities for active learning and on coherence - form of activity, collective participation and duration all have positive effects on enhanced knowledge and skills - enhanced knowledge and skills have a substantial positive influence on change in teaching practice
 * “Professional development is likely to be of higher quality if it is both sustained over time and involves a substantial number of hours.” (933)

Common issues: (935)
 * Challenging to provide activities with multiple high-quality features… takes a lot of lead time and planning
 * Its expensive. estimate of an of $512 per teacher to provide a high-quality PD experience - more than twice the amount of money that districts typically spend.

Conclusion: “Our results suggest a clear direction for schools and districts: in order to provide useful and effective professional development that has a meaningful effect on teacher learning and fosters improvements in classroom practice, funds should be focused on providing high-quality professional development experiences. This would require schools and districts either to focus resources on fewer teachers, or to invest sufficient resources so that more teachers can benefit from high-quality professional development.” (937)


 * Gamoran, A. & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and Opportunity in Restructured Schools. //American Journal of Education, 106// (3), 385-415. (Jenna)**
 * Case study of Red Lake High: Build in choice not just for students but for teachers as well. Teachers allowed to "teach to their passions," and the authors highlight this as a primary key to the school's success (p. 408-409)


 * Little, J. W. (2002). Locating Learning in Teachers’ Communities of Practice: Opening up Problems of Analysis in Records of Everyday Work. //Teaching and Teacher Education, 18//(8), 917-946. (Jenna)**
 * Lots of research to tell us that professional learning communities are important to instructional improvement, but there is little research that examines what exactly makes learning communities effective...this paper seeks to fill that gap..."examines the teacher development opportunities and possibilities that reside in ordinary daily work within teachers' professional learning communities" (p. 918)
 * In order to "locate the learning" that is happening within teacher learning communities we must understand:
 * Representations of practice (public exchanges, transparency of practice, etc.) (p. 934-935)
 * Orientation toward practice and the problem of improvement: "Not all strong professional learning communities exhibit an orientation to practice that is conducive to change or concerned with improvement" (p. 935)
 * Norms of interaction: "I take it as a fundamental premise that resources for teacher development and the improvement of teaching are created in and through interactions, as teachers talk with one anoter and with others, and as they work with and on the material artfiacts of teaching and learning..." (p. 935)
 * Need to remember that developing strong professional learning communities (and understanding the benefits of them) takes time: "To justify the claims about the conditions and dynamics of teachers' professional learning community and its consequences in records of ordinary daily work will similarly require tracing trajectories of participation and practice over time. It is in the ongoing activity, and through manifest changes in action, participation, and knowledge in use, that learning becomes apparent" (p. 937).


 * **What would learning look like for children in this environment, e.g., how and where would it be happening, how would student learning be organized, how would the learning relate to the physical environment?**
 * **How would decisions be made about who is doing what, where, and when in this environment?**

**Elmore: “The Strategic Turn in Improvement”:** Elmore argues that teachers must feel invested in their work and believe “that the decisions they make have consequences for themselves and the people they care about.” Thus, if teachers feel that their voice matters in how decisions are made, they are more likely to feel the collective efficacy that Elmore deems essential to school improvement.

**Hanusheck, R. (2002). Teacher quality. In Teacher quality, Izumi, L.T. & Evers, W.M.** **(Eds.). Stanford, CA: Hoover Press. http://tinyurl.com/677jeon**

**__Jessica's Notes:__** Hanushek article describes the ineffectiveness of "silver bullet" reforms, like increased requirements for teacher certification (will decrease teacher supply), increased resources (see table in reading) and smaller class sizes, on student achievement. Hanushek believes that performance incentives will lead to an increase in teacher quality, and thus, an increase in student achievement. Hanushek's definition of a good teacher is one who influences large gains in student achievement. He describes how having a teacher in the 85th percentile, of quality, for three years, could close the achievement gap. He believes that policies should be created that do not permit students to have bad teachers consecutive years.

//Certification and Other Central Approaches to Quality:// "We do not know how to identify a well-defined set of inputs that is either necessary or sufficient for ensuring high-quality schooling...I do not believe that it is an issue of just needing more or better research...I believe that the educational process is much too complicated for us to uncover a small set of criteria that are amenable to central legislation and control (p.7).

Performance Incentives an Attractive Alternative: "The simple position taken here is: if one is concerned about student performance, one should gear policy to student performance. Perhaps the largest problem with the current organization of schools is that nobody's job or career is closely related to student performance" (p. 8). Hanuschek believes that teachers should be rewarded for the value they add to student performance, and students must be tracked in order to measure this. However, mandating the same incentive for all will not work. Applying the same policy everywhere does not allow one to gauge the policies effectiveness because there are no control groups from which to make comparisons. "A broad program of educational experimentation" would give great insight into the most effective incentive systems. Federal involvement is necessary for investment in evaluation and knowledge production. "If we are to weed out bad policies and replace them with good policies, we need to accumulate evidence about performance" (p. 11).

** hul.harvard.edu/stable/pdfplus/10.1086/597001.pdf?acceptTC=true **
 * Ronald Gallimore, et al., “Moving the Learning of Teaching Closer to Practice: Teacher **
 * Education Implications of Teacher Inquiry Teams,” Elementary School Journal, Vol. **
 * 109, No. 5 (May 2009), pp. 537-553.[E-Resources/JSTOR] http://www.jstor.org.ezpprod1. **

__ ** Jessica's Notes: ** __ "You haven't taught until they've learned" -John Wooden (p. 544)

In this article, Gallimore describes a study on the ability to scale-up a framework of teacher inquiry that would focus the connection between teacher instruction and student achievement. Previous studies had not clearly indicated a causal connection between professional learning communities and student achievement, but the scale up study identified an increase in student achievement when teachers were effectively engaged in this inquiry protocol.

__Framework:__ 1) Goals that are set and shared 2) Meaningful indicators to measure progress 3) Assistance by capable others from within and outside the school 4) Distributed leadership that supports and pressures goal attainment 5) Setting- to implement framework *This cycle reminded me a lot of the TFA CM/ PD observation debrief cycle (connecting student achievement to teacher actions/ practice)

The inquiry protocol included teachers who collaboratively identified a student learning gap, and teachers worked together to identify solutions that would lead to student achievement. Teachers used trial and error, with analysis of evidence based on progress tracking, to determine where to make instructional adjustments. Teachers "stuck with" the problem until they saw results. Completing the inquiry cycle led to an increase in teacher efficacy (because teachers saw results directly connected to teacher actions). Without the framework, teachers attributed student achievement outcomes to external factors.

This framework brings "the learning of teaching closer to practice" allowing teachers to immediately implement next steps in order to improve (which is not possible in traditional teacher preparation programs where much teacher learning occurs away from the classroom).

__Four critical operational features necessary for the effectiveness of the protocol:__ 1) Job- alike teams: teams must be organized by subject and/ or grade level so that all team members can focus on the same problem occurring in their classrooms 2) Trained peer-facilitators- the facilitator must be able to take risks and implement new practices in his/her own classroom- this is not possible if admin or coach facilitated. This also ensures the structure of the meetings does not turn into a "typical PD" session. 3) Inquiry-focused protocols- a) identify worthwhile goals for student learning b) finding means to assess progress toward this goals c) planning, using expertise and evidence to evaluate practices to accomplish goals d) reflect on process to determine next steps. "Effective teams hone new knowledge and skills while using them in their classrooms as well as collaborative contexts that hold everyone accountable for collecting feedback on the effects of their teaching.:" (p. 549). 4) Stable settings: regular meeting time must be reserved for this inquiry process- at least 20 hours/ year (this is challenging and will require a culture change) *Must also have building leadership that "supports and holds teacher teams accountable for sustaining the inquiry process until they see tangible results" (p. 544).

//Notes:// In order to see student gains as a result of implementing this framework, schools required nearly five years of training and practice. In addition, the results achieved in the scale up study were not as dramatic as were achieved at a smaller scale due to lack of resources and support for implementing framework with fidelity.

Sara's Notes: Richard Hackman, “What Makes for a Great Team?” American Psychological Association Science Briefs. American Psychological Association. June 2004. [] [CP]

Most important idea – focus on CONDITIONS rather than CAUSES - the style of team leaders is determined by the behaviors of those being led – - causality runs in both directions, from group to leader as well as from leader to group - we must focus on conditions rather than causes
 * “ If members are behaving cooperatively and competently, leaders tend to operate more participatively and democratically, but if members are uncooperative or seemingly incompetent, leaders tilt toward a more unilateral, directive style”
 * establish basic conditions so that “the natural course of events leads to the desired outcome”
 * instead of trouble-shooting specific causes, “seek to identify the small number of conditions that increase the likelihood that a team will naturally evolve into an ever more competent performing unit.”

Research has identified 5 conditions that increase team effectiveness: (summarized as 5 questions, answers to q’s provide the assessment, can use an actual survey online for diagnosis) - the presence of the five conditions--real team, compelling direction, enabling structure, supportive context, and competent coaching--enhances team performance effectiveness
 * 1. is the group a real team, with clear boundaries, interdependence among members, and at least moderate stability of membership over time?
 * 2. does the team have a compelling direction, a purpose that is clear, challenging, and consequential--and that focuses on the ends to be achieved rather than the means the team must use in pursuing them?
 * 3. does the team's structure--its task, composition, and core norms of conduct--enable rather than impede teamwork?
 * 4. does the team's social system context provide the resources and support that members need to carry out their collective work?
 * 5. is competent coaching available to help members get over rough spots and take advantage of emerging opportunities, and is such coaching provided at times in the team life cycle when members are most ready to receive and use it?

Team Leadership – no one way, no one formula… but there are 4 important qualities
 * 1. aware of the conditions that most powerfully shape team effectiveness.
 * 2. skill in extracting from performance situations those themes that are most consequential for performance and in acting to narrow the gap between a team's present reality and what could and should be
 * 3. emotional maturity sufficient for the demands of their role
 * 4. measure of personal courage


 * Gamoran, A. & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and Opportunity in Restructured Schools. //American Journal of Education, 106// (3), 385-415. (Jenna)**
 * If we wanted to talk about tracking in our design principles, we could refer to this article. One of the main findings is that heterogeneous grouping neither prohibits nor ensures high quality instruction...depends more on the quality of the teacher (p. 399)
 * Case study of Cibola High: One of the reasons the school is so successful is due to the "advisory period" which allows teachers to develop close relationships with students (p. 402)
 * Case study of Cibola High: Another key to success is the connection to authentic, real world problems (p. 403)

(3) __Responsibility and Accountability__**
 * **How would adults and children know what they had learned as a consequence of their work with each other?**
 * **How would learning be described and assessed for purposes of individual development for adults and children?**
 * **How would adults and children “account” to each other—adults-to-children, children-to-adults, adults-to-adults, and children-to-children—for their contributions to each others’ learning?**

**Elmore: “The Strategic Turn in Improvement:”** Leaders of schools hold themselves accountable to their faculty by providing support when applying pressure for change. This reflects Elmore’s principle of “reciprocity and support.” Leaders cannot hold adults accountable for performance unless the adults are taught how to effectively improve their practice.

**Elmore: “Culture and Strategy”:** Adults must hold each other accountable for maintaining beliefs about their students’ ability to achieve at a high level. Elmore writes that “adults have a tendency to beliee that what //they// think it is possible for students to do, based on their own experience, is what students //can// do.” Adults must challenge each other to transform these self-fulfilling beliefs.

**Popham, J.W. (2003). //Test Better, Teach Better: The instructional role of assessment//. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. (Jenna)** //Popham makes a strong argument for why today's accountability system is NOT providing educators, students, families, etc. with useful information to accurately measure student learning and to effectively inform instructional practice. Referencing this book would be a nice way to introduce our design principle(s) for accountability in order to highlight what's NOT working: //

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Popham also describes why assessment is important and how it improves teaching, however, as Jenna mentioned, he does offer several warnings about misconceptions around testing and proposes suggestions for how assessments should be used. //

__ Preface- __ "The distressing reality is that teachers who do not possess at least rudimentary knowledge about //testing// are less likely to do a solid job of //teaching//" (p. vii).
 * Jessica's Notes (Popham): **

__Chapter 1:__ "The Links Between Testing and Teaching" "Educational measurement is, at bottom, //an inference-maing enterprise// in which we formally collect overt, test-based evidence from students to arrive at what we hope are accurate inferences about students' status with respect to covert, educationally important variables: reading ability, knowledge of history, etc." (p. 4) --test questions can help to clarify what the curriculum is trying to teach (help to clarify/ interpret state standards) -without strong test items, teachers will be unable to make good decisions about instructional approaches --tests can help to determine students' prior knowledge and any knowledge gaps to close before new instruction --tests can help to measure the time necessary to teach different concepts --tests can gauge the effectiveness of instruction

__Chapter 2:__ "How Tests Can Clarify the Curriculum" "Three Instructional Payoffs" of tests (p. 18): -More accurate task analysis: allows teacher to determine necessary prerequisite skills, or what needs to be taught along the way -Clearer explanations: clarity from tests allows for more coherent, accurate explanations of concepts being taught -More appropriate practice activities: "If you use tests to exemplify educational objectives, you'll understand those objectives better and be able to incorporate on-the-mark practice activities into your lessons" (the type of "overt" activity the student must perform to demonstrate mastery must be determined first in order to identify appropriate instructional strategies and activities- it is necessary to determine the cognitive demand of a concept and provide aligned practice opportunities) *Caution: "A test is only a //representation//, meaning that teachers must aim their instruction not at the tests, but toward the skill, knowledge, or affect that those tests represent" (p. 27)

__Chapter 3:__ "Too Many Testing Targets" -state standards are often developed by content/instructional experts who believe students should learn everything! This is not possible, so teachers must prioritize! -teachers can begin prioritizing by essential, highly desirable, and desirable skills with assurance that all essential skills can be adequately taught in a year -identifying performance standards that accompany each standard are essential so the teacher can understand the depth at which students must master a concept -each state has different bars for proficiency with varied expectations for how well a student should perform on a given standard to be deemed proficient.

__Chapter 4:__ "Validity, Reliability, and Bias" Validity -"It's not the test itself that can be valid or invalid but, rather, the inference that's based on a student's test performance" (p. 43).- assessment accuracy does not rely in the test itself- "there is no such thing as a valid test"- interpretations/ inferences can be valid or invalid depending on test or test taking factors that might make it difficult to make an inaccurate inference (i.e. test in different language, student falls asleep during test, student with cerebral palsy who cannot draw a shape, etc) (p. 44) -critierion-related evidence of validity: Do aptitude tests predict what they were intended to predict? -construct-related evidence of validity: Does the test behave as it should and measure what it should? -content-related evidence of validity: Do the test "items satisfactorily reflect the content the test is supposed to represent?" (p.47)

Reliability = consistency -stability reliability: consistency in which a test measures something over time -alternate-form reliability- Do two different forms of a test yield similar scores? -internal consistency reliability- "Do all the test items appear to be doing the same kind of measurement job?" "I don't think teachers need to assemble any kind of reliability evidence...too little pay off for the effort" (p. 53)

*Beware of bias in assessments

__ Chapter 5: __ "An Introduction to Test Building" p.70 -Do not commence any test-construction activity until you have isolated with genuine clarity, 1) the instructional decisions-at-issue and 2) the score-based inferences that will best support those decisions -Judiciously employ selected-response items and constructed response items so your test-based inferences are likely to be valid. -Avoid the five roadblocks to good item-writing: unclear directions, ambiguous statements, unintentional clues, complex phrasing, and difficult vocabulary


 * Jenna's Notes:**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 4 "Validity, Reliability, and Bias" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 9 "Uses and Misuses of Standardized Achievement Tests"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Highlights some of the problems with the construction of today's state assessments (starts p. 42)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Standardized testing leading to a number of "indefensible practices": 1) curricular reductionism (teaching to test), 2) drudgery drilling (drill and kill), 3) improper test preparation/administration (cheating, etc.) (pp. 123-124)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"The primary use of standardized achievement tests today - to evaluate school and teacher quality - is a misuse. It is mistaken. It is just plain wrong" (p. 125)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Several design features of today's standardized assessments that inhibit effectively evaluating instruction - designed to have a "sufficient score spread" and going after this spread leads to (p. 127-132):
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">An emphasis on Mid-difficulty items (designers end up taking out all of the items that students do well on!)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Items linked to students' SES
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Items linked to students' aptitude
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"...a substantial part of a student's score on a standardized achievement test is likely to reflect not what was taught in school, but what the student brought to school in the first place" (p. 136)

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Some of Popham's ideas for how to make assessments more useful that might be helpful to us in constructing our design principles for accountability: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 6 "Selected-Response Items" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 7 "Constructed-Response Items" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 8 "The Value of affective assessment" (p. 106) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 10 "Instructionally Supportive Standards-based Tests" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chapter 11 "Collecting credible classroom evidence of instructional impact" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Epilogue
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describes the 3 kinds of selected-response items (binary, matching, and mult. choice), offers advantages/disadvantages for each, and lists rules for effectively constructing these types of items (starts on p. 72)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">* This section was kind of boring...Popham not really thinking outside of the box!!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describes the 4 kinds of constructed-response items (short answer, essay, performance assessment, and portfolio assessment), offers advantages/disadvantages for each, and lists rules for effectively constructing these types of items (starts on p. 86)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describes how to build effective rubrics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">* This section might be a little more useful...if we want to have design principles that talk about more creative forms of assessment (performance, portfolio) as well as the use of rubrics, this will be a great reference!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This chapter will be useful if we want to create a design principle that revolves around measuring student engagement
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This section offers ways to make standardized tests more useful (p. 141-145):
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Standard-by-standard reporting
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Accurate assessment of only the highest priority content standards
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Clear assessment descriptions for each measured content standard
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">*Again, this section was kind of boring...Popham not really thinking outside of the box!!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Describes some strategies for more effectively using assessment to measure student learning and inform instruction
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Promotes the "Split-and-switch data-gathering design" (p. 152)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Offers a classroom example of using the strategies he promotes to more effectively measure student learning and inform practice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">* Might be helpful to us in part 2 - the description of our school/learning environment

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Sara's Notes: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Self-assessment for a team: (taken from Hackman) - A diagnostic instrument, the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #336699; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Team Diagnostic Survey, provides quantitative measures of a team's standing on these five conditions (Wageman, Hackman, & Lehman, 2004).


 * Gamoran, A. & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and Opportunity in Restructured Schools. //American Journal of Education, 106// (3), 385-415. (Jenna)**


 * Case study of Cibola High: School uses a portfolio system...if we want to talk about portfolio assessment in our design principles, this would be a good reference! (p. 401)

Jon Redden Notes __ A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad __ __ Notes broken up by section headings __
 * Professional Learning in the learning profession: **

- if students need higher order thinking so do the teachers - need better talent in schools - learning is continuous, collaborative, and on the job - Need to give teachers tools to be successful in the classroom
 * Forward by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. **

// “We need to place a greater priority on strengthening the capacity of educators and building learning communities to deliver higher standards for every child” //
 * Quotes: **

// “The support and training they (teachers) receive is episodic, myopic, and often meaningless” //

- Improve professional learning for educators - Job embedded collaborative learning is not common feature of PD is most states - Need for high intensity, job-embedded collaborative learning // “In an effective professional learning system, school leaders learn from experts, mentors, and their peers about how to become true instructional leaders” //
 * Preface: Stephanie Hirsh **
 * Quotes: **

// “Learning teams follow a cycle of continuous improvement that begins with examining student data to determine the areas of greatest student need, pinpointing areas where additional educator learning is necessary” //


 * Key Findings **
 * 1) Sustained and intensive professional development for teachers is related to student achievement gains.
 * 2) Collaborative approaches to professional learning can promote school change that extends beyond individual classrooms.
 * 3) Effective professional development is intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice, focuses on the teaching and learning of specific academic content; is connected to other school initiatives; and builds strong working relationships among teachers.
 * 4) Public schools in the United States have begun to recognize and respond to the need to provide support for new teachers.
 * 5) More than 9 out of 10 U.S. teachers have participated in professional learning consisting primarily of short-term conferences or workshops.
 * 6) While teachers typically need substantial professional development in a given area (close to 50 hours) to improve their skills and their students’ learning, most professional development opportunities in the U.S. are much shorter.
 * 7) Significant variation in both support and opportunity for professional learning exists among schools and states.
 * 8) U.S. teachers report little professional collaboration in designing curriculum and sharing practices, and the collaboration that occurs tends to be weak.
 * 9) American teachers say that much of the professional development available to them is not useful.
 * 10) Teachers say that their top priorities for further professional development are learning more about the content they teach (23 percent), classroom management (18 percent), teaching students with special needs (15 percent), and using technology in the classroom (14 percent)
 * 11) Teachers are not getting adequate training in teaching special education or limited English proficiency students.
 * 12) U.S. teachers, unlike many of their colleagues around the world, bear much of the cost of their professional development.
 * 13) U.S. teachers participate in workshops and short-term professional development events at similar levels as teachers in other nations. But the U.S. is far behind in providing public school teachers with opportunities to participate in extended learning opportunities and productive collaborative communities.
 * 14) Other nations that outperform the United States on international assessments invest heavily in professional learning and build time for ongoing, sustained teacher development and collaboration into teachers’ work hours.
 * 15) American teachers spend more time teaching students and have significantly less time to plan and learn together, and to develop high quality curriculum and instruction than teachers in other nations.
 * 16) U.S. teachers have limited influence in crucial areas of school decision-making.

A. PD should focus on student learning and address the teaching of specific curriculum content. -address concrete everyday examples -hands on work - take context into account-curriculum accountability - teachers should study material they intend to teach.
 * Effective Teacher Development: What does the research show? **

B. PD should align with school improvement priorities and goals. - part of larger school reform not disconnected from it. I.E. National Science foundation- Supported teachers continuously in teaching the science curriculum. Learning gains made in Ohio

C. PD should build strong working relationship among teachers - no egg crate classroom - Teacher collaboration in US is weak - structure of school built for privacy/isolation - schools should promote instructional consistency and willingness for teachers to share. - Focus on students building mastery of subject - increase teacher knowledge to various teacher practices - Mentor novice teachers

School-based coaching may enhance professional learning - Coaching needs to be embedded in broader efforts to build professional knowledge i.e.: Alabama Reading Initiative - ongoing support to teachers

“Jury still out” on if coaching and mentoring of teachers improves student achievement”

- other nations teachers more likely to collaborate
 * Professional Development Abroad Trends and Strategies **

4 Advantages over U.S. - time in work week 15-20 hours/week for professional learning - Only 35 percent of teacher working time is spent on classroom instruction - U.S. 3 to 5 hours lesson planning usually in isolation
 * 1) Ample time for professional learning is structured into teacher work lives

Japan’s Lesson Study Approach to Prof. Development

- build relationship between veteran/novice teacher - support in lesson plan development - reflective practice groups
 * 1) Beginning teachers receive extensive mentoring and supports

- teachers actively involved in curriculum and assessment - developing syllabus - PD determined by local needs - Teachers make decisions on common matters
 * 1) Teachers are widely encouraged to participate in school decision making


 * 1) Government provide significant levels of support for additional PD.

- 92% participate in workshops, conferences training sessions over 12 months - there is a drop in the percent of teachers that have a chance to observe others
 * The Status of Professional Learning in the US **
 * Based on Federal School + Staffing Survey **
 * 1) Most U.S. teacher participate in some form of PD every year

- 57 percent received 2 hours or fewer - 23 percent 4 or more days on the content they teach - 14 hours or less PD has minimal effect on student achievement
 * 1) Much PD focuses on academic subject matter but not with much depth.

- 59 percent find content level learning opportunities useless - elementary teachers rate PD significantly higher.
 * 1) Nearly half of all U.S. teachers are dissatisfied with their opportunities for PD

- Reimbursement for workshop and trainings is minimal
 * 1) U.S. teachers tends to receive little support that might allow them to participate in additional PD.


 * 1) Support and participation in PD varies widely among schools.

- more research needs to be done to confirm the correlation between PD and student achievement. - Learning opportunities should be sustained and have a direct impact on teacher practice. - US is significantly behind other industrialized nations
 * Conclusion **