State Professional Development in a New Era?

Dear Professional Development Colleagues,

Would you like to hear what other states have planned for professional development in 2014-2015?

As you may have heard, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has now passed the Senate and the House. It will replace our current legislation (the Workforce Investment Act, WIA) once the President signs it into law.

While we won't know for a while yet what the impact of the new WIOA will be on state systems, we could host a summertime guest discussion of what professional development looks like now, and what your concerns and aspirations are for it in the coming year. What do you think? Here's a draft:

State Professional Development in a New Era

Join us to discuss what’s hot (and what’s not) in state professional development. We will hear from guests regarding the new legislation -- the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) -- and what the next steps are with respect to professional development. Guests and participants will share what’s happening in their state professional development systems for the program year and any opportunities they may have to inform state plans. Share what you would like to see happen in a new era of professional development.

Guests would include state and PD directors and PD staff to share their upcoming plans for PD in this new program year. If you like this idea, then which states would you recommend be represented on this panel discussion?

Or if you have other ideas for a guest discussion, please add them to this thread.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts,

Jackie

Jackie Taylor

Evidence-based Professional Development SME

Comments

Hi Glenda,

Thanks for your prompt reply. Since the legislation is so new, it will likely take a few months for them to understand the details enough to discuss changes to the system. So for the purposes of this discussion, I was thinking we could get an update on the process and a sense of what will happen when (timeline, high level view), then launch into a discussion of current practices in state professional development. It may be that this discussion becomes the first in a series of two or more as we get further into the program year. But this discussion will take place the first half of August 2014, and I think an update on 'what happens next' from a 60,000 foot view is the most we could hope for.

Still interested?

Thanks ~ Jackie

Hi Jackie,

I think that's a GREAT idea! Especially where Texas is concerned, as we are going through a major PD change in our state. I enjoyed the networking that happened at the recent LINCS meeting, in Austin and would love to continue that discussion. Specifically on distance learning for PD and effective evaluation of PD... I mean, meaningful, reflective evaluation that helps us determine which PD initiatives are actually driving teacher effectiveness and student success. Count me in! :-)

Deb (and everyone),  I too enjoyed all the presentations at the recent partner meeting.  I've recommended to Jackie the PA and AZ presentations/presenters for the Professional Development Breakouts on day 2 because I think there was some great stuff in there for everyone to hear.

In fact, thinking about those presentations (which did focus on systems);  the newly authorized WIOA, with its mandate for states to "establish and operate high quality professional development"; and Deb's comment above about the "major change state" TX is going through, I wonder if a focus only on systems is a bit narrow.  How about a broader conversation about PD practices that are "high quality" - that have shown significant positive results in outcomes: student learning/career advancement/postsecondary enrollment outcomes and/or general program outcomes - teacher satisfaction and turnover rate, etc. 

Thinking about what was discussed in those two LINCS National Partner Meeting presentations, I think an intersting conversation would be how to successfully move from the "one shot" face to face workshop or webinar framework to PD that is:

  •  -sustained over time (like 20 hours or more on a topic in a year) - and/or
  • job embedded & collaborative  -based in teacher needs/buy-in, aligned with local and state goals, and includes local supports by administrators and peers - and/or
  •  supports participants to move from awareness and understanding of a topic to application in the classroom and then to integration into their practice long term - and/or
  •  includes measures that address not just level one of Kirkpatrick's evaluation scale, but also knowledge and application...and hopefully the effect on outcomes and program change as well.

Some good resources that might be discussed or referenced in such a discussion might include:

Guskey, 2002 Does it make a difference: Evaluating Professional Development  http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar02/vol59/num06/Does-It-Make-a-Difference%C2%A2-Evaluating-Professional-Development.aspx

Russell, Michael; Lippincott, Joan; & Getman, Joan. 2013. Connected Teaching and Personalized Learning. http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/ImplicationsNTEP_AdultEd.pdf

American Institutes for Research (2013). Draft adult education instructor competencies for field review and comment.  (domains 2 & 4)  http://www.teproject.org/docs/draft-competencies.pdf

Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (2009). AALPD quality professional development standards (sections 5, 6, 7 & 9).  http://www.aalpd.org/AALPDStandardsandIndicatorsFinal.doc

 

 

Hi, Jackie and all colleagues

I am very interested in the discussion on both fronts:  The national perspective as it will likely be influenced by new rules under WIOA; and the states' perspectives and reactions.  As Debra said earlier, Texas is undergoing a major restructuring of our PD system moving from a network of 7 regional PD centers to a PD consortium with centralized administrative oversight and a three-tiered model of professional development delivery.

As part of this discussion, I would be interested in finding out how many other states have moved away from a system with many PD centers scattered throughout to a centralized system and what their experience has been (I heard of a number of states doing that so it would seem this is part of what PD looks like in the new era.)  I would also like to know if other states have a multi-tiered system with some professional development topics the responsibility of local providers, other topics the responsibility of the PD system, and yet other topics the responsibility of the state.

In terms of WIOA specifically, I would like to see the discussion of what the next steps should be to include our (people working on PD) vision for the new era.  I think we may have an opportunity soon to help shape the writing of the rules OCTAE will have to come up with in 18 months or so.  It behooves us to have a plan if we are to influence the final rules.

I look forward to participating in this discussion.

Thanks,

Hi everyone,

Thank you Glenda, Deb, Duren, and Federico for your quick replies, and to Duren for the resources and recommendations for states / guest discussants.

I’m wondering, since AZ and PA presented this information in the LINCS National Partner Meeting if it makes better sense to ask them to present for the EBPD Group via webinar (Part I) with a follow up online discussion (Part II) covering the details in your feedback (Not everyone had the opportunity to go to the partner meeting.)

I’ve revised the description and outlined the discussion below, based on your feedback. I welcome further input on it as well as additional recommendations for guests. I hope to hear from EBPD group members by early next week so that we can schedule this for August:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

State Professional Development in a new Era

Join us to discuss what’s hot (and what’s not) in professional development. Guests and participants will share what’s happening in their program or state for the program year and its impact on student outcomes.  Hear what the new legislation -- the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) – holds in store for professional development and get the big picture on next steps. Share what you would like to see happen in a new era of professional development.

Part I: Webinar

Backward design: Designing PD with student outcomes in mind (PA & AZ? Webinar?)

Part II: Follow Up Discussion

Day 1: Job Embedded PD

Day 2: Effective strategies for moving from one-shot PD to extended professional development

Day 3: Organizational and system supports for teacher change

Day 4: Does professional development work? “Proof” versus “evidence”

Day 5: Vision for adult literacy PD in a new era

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Jackie

Conversation is the natural way we humans think together.

~ Margaret Wheatley

Hi Jackie,

I know I'm late to the party--but I put this on my calendar the minute I saw it in my digest.  Day 1,4 and 5 sound particularly interesting, but I look forward to indulging myself in all 5 days.  (I wonder if you would want to get Mariann Fedele, Catherine Green or Jacques LaCour from AIR in as guests.)

Warmly,

Jayme

 

Hi Jayme, All,

Jayme, thank you for your feedback and you're certainly not late to the party! :) I really want us to make the most of this opportunity. In order to do that I'd like to see us put our collective heads together and make sure everyone who has something to contribute has input into the planning and is invited, so thanks again for your recommendations. Yes, the folks you mentioned at AIR would be fabulous! I'm also wondering what's new at CALPRO in California...

Who else is in?

Happy Friday,

Jackie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conversation is the natural way we humans think together.

~ Margaret Wheatley

Thanks again for your feedback on a professional development-focused guest discussion. Please mark your calendars for August 25-29, 2014 for a discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era!

In preparation for the discussion:

  1. Please consider updating your state’s PD information in the ALE Wiki here: http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/StatePD
  2. Invite your colleagues to join the Evidence-based Practice (EBPD) Group. They can join the LINCS Community by visiting: https://community.lincs.ed.gov/ (click on “Create an Account”). Or if they are already LINCS Community members, they can join the Evidence-based Practice Group by clicking “Join” upon login.
  3. Change your email subscription settings for the EBPD Group to “immediate” in order to receive an immediate email notification of EBPD discussion contributions. (The default is set to “12-Hour Digest”.)

Discussion Description: Join us to discuss what’s trending in professional development. Guests and participants will share what’s happening in their program or state for the program year and its impact on student outcomes.   Share what you would like to see happen in a new era of professional development.

If you know of others who have something to contribute, be sure to invite them so that we can make the most of this unique opportunity to learn from one another.

More soon!

Jackie Taylor

Dear PD Colleagues,

Please mark your calendars and plan to participate in this two-part professional development guest discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era!

Part I: Webinar, August 25, 2014 at 3:30 pm ET. Register here.

Part II: 5-day guest discussion in the EBPD Group, August 25-29 (see below for full details).

Please share the announcement below with your networks and invite others to join the conversation.

Looking forward ~ Jackie Taylor

State Professional Development in a New Era

A Two-Part Online Guest Discussion

August 25-29, 2014

Join us via webinar and in the online EBPD Group to discuss what’s trending in professional development. Guests and participants will share what’s happening in their program or state for the program year and its impact on student outcomes.   Share what you would like to see happen in a new era of professional development.

Guests:

  • Cathy Shank, Professional Development Coordinator, West Virginia Adult Basic Education (WVABE)
  • Rebecca S. Wagner, Executive Director, Community Learning Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Beverly Wilson, Director, Professional Learning, Arizona Department of Education, Adult Education Services
  • Bootsie Barbour, State Lead Consultant, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Postsecondary and Adult Education (guest for online discussion only)

Part I: Webinar, Designing PD with Student Outcomes in Mind: Job Embedded PD, Cohort Models, and Standards Implementation

When: Monday, August 25, 3:30-4:45 pm Eastern

To register for the webinar, click here.

Part II: Online Discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era

When: August 25-29, all day every day

Where: Evidence-based Professional Development (EBPD) Group and via webinar

Subscribe (free): https://community.lincs.ed.gov/ (To join, select “Evidence-based Professional Development Group” from the list of groups.)

  • Day 1: State PD trends – What’s happening in your state?
  • Day 2: Moving from one-shot to extended PD
  • Day 3: Organizational and system supports for teacher change
  • Day 4: Does professional development work? Data measures
  • Day 5: Vision for adult literacy PD in a new era

Resources:

Where: Evidence-based Professional Development (EBPD) Group and via webinar

Subscribe (free): https://community.lincs.ed.gov/ (To join, select “Evidence-based Professional Development Group” from the list of groups.)

  • Day 1: State PD trends – What’s happening in your state?
  • Day 2: Moving from one-shot to extended PD
  • Day 3: Organizational and system supports for teacher change
  • Day 4: Does professional development work? Data measures
  • Day 5: Vision for adult literacy PD in a new era

Resources:

Dear Colleagues,

I’d like to introduce our guest discussants for next week’s two-part discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era: Cathy Shank, Beverly Wilson, Rebecca Wagner, and Bootsie Barbour. Thank you in advance to our guests for sharing their time and expertise to help us explore the trends and issues in state professional development. Their bios are below.

In order to help our guests prepare for next week, please (re)introduce yourself in a reply to this comment and tell us what you hope to gain from our discussion.

I look forward to hearing from you ~

Jackie Taylor

Moderator and Subject Matter Expert, EBPD Group

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guest Discussants:

Cathy C. Shank, M.S., is the Professional Development Coordinator for the West Virginia Adult Basic Education (WVABE) program.  She has worked in adult ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) and ABE (Adult Basic Education) programs since 1986 as an instructor and as an administrator.  She has taught in classrooms and multi-media learning centers as well as provided professional development to adult educators.  She is the author of Heinle and Heinle's Collaborations Assessment Program which accompanies the Collaborations: English in Our Lives series and the coauthor of the literacy level text for that series. Previously she served as the Special Needs Assessment Coordinator at Garnet Adult Learning Center in Charleston where she piloted West Virginia's first local project on identifying and accommodating adults with special learning needs.

Beverly Wilson is the Director of Professional Learning with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) - Adult Education Services since 2005. Prior to working for ADE, she was the program administrator and an adult education instructor for the Chandler Adult Education and Family Literacy Program for thirteen years. Before discovering Adult Education, Beverly was an elementary teacher and has taught special education students in K-8, and English Language Arts and social studies for 7th – 8th grade students. Beverly holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, with a minor in Special Education, from Arizona State University, and a Master’s Degree in Education, with an emphasis in Educational Leadership, from Northern Arizona University.

Rebecca S. Wagner is the Executive Director of Community Learning Center (CLC).  CLC offers adult education community classes in Philadelphia and partners with organizations throughout Philadelphia to provide adult education services. Previously, Dr. Wagner was the coordinator of Pennsylvania’s Southeast Professional Development Center and taught ABE, GED, and ESOL classes at the IU13 in Lancaster, PA.  Rebecca has facilitated professional development at the local, regional, and state levels and currently serves as a lead consultant for the PA Division of Adult Education Professional Development System.

Bootsie Barbour has served as a Pennsylvania Adult Education teacher, Adult Education Program Coordinator, Adult Education Assessment Specialist, and Coordinator of one of the PA Professional Development Centers for 17 years. She is currently the Coordinator of the Professional Development Consultation and Facilitation Project. She has been on the Board of PAACE (Pennsylvania Association for Adult and Continuing Education) holding the position of Adult Basic and Secondary Education Division Chair for six years. She was the PAACE Adult Educator of the Year in 2009-2010.  She has been a board member on AALPD for three years. She has a MA in Special Education and had worked as a special education classroom teacher, researcher, and teacher of graduate courses and graduate teacher internship supervision for 18 years before working in the field of Adult Education.

For many years I was the Director of the Adult Literacy Resource Institute, a regional center of Massachusetts' System for Adult Basic Education Support (SABES), sponsored by the University of Massachusetts and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In recent years I have been doing adult basic education professional development through Newsome Associates, my own firm.

I hope this discussion will address these four challenges:

  • Aligning curriculum to CCR standards. What do states see as their role in helping programs use the College and Career Ready standards? Should programs be aligning their curricula with these standards? Should they be purchasing commercial materials aligned to these standards? Should they be creating their own lessons that include good online and face-to-face learning resources that align with these standards? Or are states feeling that these standards may be a fad that will pass, and waiting to see what happens?
  • Teacher professional development in specific content areas. How are states addressing the need for more and better professional development in the content areas, especially numeracy/math, writing, science and social studies? Do states see increasing teacher knowledge and skills in these areas as a big challenge? Is professional development a priority at the state level? How are states meeting or planning to meet the challenge?
  • Professional development in digital literacy and problem solving. With diminished public resources for adult basic education/adult literacy education, I have noticed that in some states helping adult learners acquire digital literacy and problem solving skills has not been been a priority. I am also aware that in some states professional development to help teachers acquire and teach these skills are diminished. I would like to hear from states that think this is an important challenge, and to hear how they are planning to address it.
  • Teacher salaries and benefits. In most states adult basic education teachers are part-time. (The last time I saw a national report on this, about 80% were part-time; the percentage may be higher now. Anyone know?) They often have no benefits, and sometimes have poor working conditions. Our field now has raised expectations for these teachers. However, in addition to more and better professional development, do we need to address the issue of fair salaries, benefits, and more full-time jobs for adult basic education teachers? In a climate in which we are encouraging adult learners to get on career pathways, do states think they also need to have good career pathways for adult basic education teachers? If so, how do they plan to address this?

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

Hi David and all,

I am the director of the New York City Regional Adult Education Network (RAEN), one of seven regional networks funded by the New York State Education Department to provide professional development and technical assistance to state funded adult education programs.  The state funded adult education programs in NYC include community based organizations, community colleges, department of education, and libraries.  Access to the computers and internet continue to be a challenge as many classes take place in spaces that are used for multiple purposes and may be off site from the program headquarters.  All of this is one reason why we have been working to increase the use of mobile devices, particularly smart phones.   Not all students have smart phones but many teachers find that the majority of their students do have them and so we are working on helping teachers learn how to use free tools which can make their content or lessons accessible on mobile devices.  We do various workshops on creating mobile friendly content using tools like Weebly, PaperLi, and QR Codes.

New York State went with the TASC for our high school equivalency (HSE) test over the GED partially because we knew that programs do not have access to computers and program staff were not ready to provide enough training in basic computer skills (keyboarding, reading on a screen) to make computer based testing viable as the only format for the HSE test.  Since January 2014, 14,000 paper versions of the TASC have been taken in New York State and over the same time period only 200 computer based versions have been taken.  The State does recognize that digital literacy is a high priority but the reality is that with Common Core already taking up so much of allotted PD time and money, digital literacy is still not supported as it needs to be. 

Computer based testing has lit a fire though and our State education department is seeking legislative funds to get more computers into adult education programs.  Programs themselves now see that they cannot just ignore technology and I know of several programs that are requiring teachers to use half their allotted PD time in tech workshops.  We are also promoting http://www.everyoneon.org/adulted to help teachers, students, and programs access inexpensive WiFi and refurbished computers.  As the New York City RAEN we are working on providing more webinars and videos on how to use various technology tools, modeling formats that teachers themselves can use when teaching their students.  We offer a workshop specifically on the computers skills need for computer based testing.  Many teachers who come to that workshop are very nervous about computer based testing so the first activity we do is take the TABE online tutorial and the GED tutorial so everyone gets a sense of what the tests require regarding computer skills.  We discuss what the skills are and then how learning and practicing those skills can be integrated into what the teachers are already doing with their students.

I’d be very interested in hearing what other states are doing around digital literacy and access to computers for classroom use.

best,

Nell Eckersley

Hi Nell,

Thank you so much for sharing about NYC's digital literacy work. WOW what a stark contrast in the number of paper versus computer-based high school equivalency tests that have been administered this year! Funding is certainly one of the biggest barriers in adult education and it's discouraging to see how it is limiting something as important as investments in technology and digital literacy in our country.

You mentioned that your center provides PD to help teachers make mobile-friendly content for students. Do you have examples from teachers that you or others could share with us?

Thanks and have a great holiday weekend!

Jackie Taylor

EBPD Group Moderator

Dear Colleagues,

I’m happy to announce that our guest discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era begins today! Each day we’ll kick off a related discussion topic and you should feel free to continue discussing previous days’ topics for as long as you wish.

This afternoon we’ll hear from our guest discussants in a webinar called Designing PD with Student Outcomes in Mind: Job Embedded PD, Cohort Models, and Standards Implementation. During the webinar they will discuss their state professional development initiatives.

Since there’s not enough time for everyone to share about their state PD systems in the webinar, we’d like to hear from you here in the EBPD Group about your upcoming professional development initiatives.

Please reply to this comment and tell us, What PD trends are happening in your state this program year?  

Looking forward,

Jackie Taylor

Good Morning PD Colleagues,

Pennsylvania's Lead Consultant Team is very happy to be part of this weeks discussion Professional Development discussion. We are beginning the 4th year of shifting to individual adult agencies  the responsibility of professional development implementation and evaluation . I am pleased to introduce the four Lead Consultants that facilitate that process in each PA funded adult education agency. They will be part of the weeks discussion. You will "meet" Dr. Rebecca Wagner on today's webinar. Dr. Sue Snider, Peggie Rood and Joy Zamierowski are the other Lead Consultants. Lead Consultants are  experienced in professional development implementation and evaluation and also have training in process consultation.  We look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

Bootsie Barbour

Hi Jackie and others,

I have recently moved back to my home state of Texas and am happy to be involved in assisting Texas Adult Education and Literacy practitioners in their efforts to strengthen Distance Learning in teaching and learning.  We at TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning at Texas A&M) have just been awarded a substantial grant to develop and implement a statewide Professional Development system. (My colleague, Federico Salas-Isnardi will share with you how we're supporting PD through our TRAIN PD Consortium.) Spearheading this major initiative in PD support is the AEL State Director, Anson Green.  Texas understands the urgency to properly prepare teachers for delivering DL. It’s through that concern that I’ve been able to spend the past 4 months designing a comprehensive online D-Learning professional development course for Distance Learning teachers.

Any AEL program who receives funding from the state must incorporate Distance Learning into their programs and create a Distance Learning Plan. TWC provides every funded program with a DL Plan template to help guide them in the development of their DL Plans. The DL plan outlines what DL curriculum the programs will use, how they will recruit students, orient them, assist them in Goal Setting, and other pertinent information. 

The Distance Learning Academy consists of 3 specific Face-to-Face training events, where teachers/staff learn about Understanding State Policy, Contact Hours, Proxy Hours and data reporting (Training 1), how to review, evaluate and choose Texas Approved DL Curriculum (Training 2) and then a workshop on Teaching Adult Students at a Distance, which was a 6-week online course, through Google Sites. (Training 3). It’s this last training, Teaching Adult Students at a Distance that I’ve been working on for the past 4 months.  We’ve taken the DL Plan Template and developed an 8-hour course that includes 7 crucial lessons for teachers and staff: Overview of D-Learning, D-Learning Curriculum, Documenting D-Learning, Planning for D-Learning, Student Recruitment, Orientation and Support and finally, Engaging the Online Learner. I had an opportunity to not only write the content, but also to design the lessons using Articulate’s Storyline software. Rarely does an Instructional Designer get to actually WRITE content, and I must say that being able to identify and incorporate research-based strategies and read current research by Distance Educators across the globe only made the lessons stronger. Because Texas is made up of a wide mix of different ethnicities, we incorporated diversity in our lessons, including using different narrators.

The D-Learning course is designed as a stand-alone training, which allows users to complete it at any time, and also as part of a facilitated course for program directors, staff and teachers who are new to Distance Learning. We’re currently in Beta Testing with the Distance Learning Committee and hope to have it ready for a September kickoff.

Demand for alternative access to learning is growing across our state. Texas AEL programs have a number of approved Distance Learning curricula that they can implement. However, in order for students to be successful, teachers must understand the characteristics of successful online students, understand that it will be necessary to teach and reach students via modes of communication that the STUDENTS use the most, such as mobile devices, and understand how to properly document those successes. I’m looking forward to being a part of this important journey!

I look forward to hearing about how others are implementing Distance Learning PD in their states. I'd ALSO like to hear how others are documenting Transfer of Learning. I posed a question a few weeks back, asking for examples of assessments or other tools that states are using to properly document whether PD has successfully contributed to learning gains, a change in behavior (teaching) and overall success of programs. I'm still interested in hearing more if someone is willing to share.

Best

Deb

The following is posted on behalf of Barbara Gibson, please read on! ~ Jackie Taylor

~~~~~

Dear Colleagues,

I am Barbara Gibson, Manager of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center (VALRC), a division of The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University for which I also serve as Co-director.  VALRC is the centralized, statewide professional development provider for adult education.  It is funded primarily with AEFLA leadership funds administered through the Office of Adult Education and Literacy (OAEL) in the Virginia Department of Education. VALRC has been in operation since the early 1980s. It has a staff of 7 full-time program specialists, 3 part-time program staff, 3.5 full- and part-time administrative/financial staff, about 35 contract trainers, an assistant manager, and a manager. Annually, we provide online and face-to-face training for over 3,500 participants, ongoing technical assistance in all program areas, and information and resources through websites, Listservs, publications, and social media. Virginia’s adult education system is organized into 22 regions that serve over 24,000 NRS reportable students a year.

We work very closely with the State Director and the OAEL staff.  Last year, VALRC and OAEL developed a new way of working together. To support the Adult Education Strategic Plan, we collaboratively developed an action plan that is VALRC’s work plan for the current program year. This year, we intend to develop a three-year action plan to guide our work. The action plan replaces the annual scope of work that previously outlined VALRC’s key activities.

Below is a list of activities that represent major trends in adult education in our state.

  • Work with OAEL to begin to implement the College and Career Readiness Standards.
  • Assist OAEL in communicating information about WIOA to the field.
  • Continue to support Career Pathways through expansion of our college and career transitions program, PluggedInVA, into XX adult education regions and our participation in Moving Career Pathways Forward.
  • Continue to develop the two lower levels of PluggedInVA: Pathways (below 5th grade level) and Workforce (5th – 8th grade level) and design and pilot PluggedInVA Pathways for ESOL students.
  • Develop EL-Civics state standards and accompanying curriculum framework.
  • Continue to move the Virginia Adult Educator Certification Program from face-to-face training sessions to a facilitated, online format.
  • Continue to identify and conduct training on ways of integrating technology into instruction as well as to support professional development.
  • Work with OAEL to identify low performing regions to receive targeted professional development, technical assistance, and other supports.

The trends that we are seeing might be summarized as a continued focus on standards, implementation of Career Pathways, program improvement, and technology integration. Clearly, learning about WIOA, its implications for adult education and the regulations yet to be developed, will also be a significant part of our focus over the next year.

Barbara Gibson

 

In Rhode Island we identify PD Priorities from the programs themselves, from Initiatives from RIDE's Office of Adult Education and from OCTAE, and from needs of the system itself. For the coming year, these include:

- what the Program PD Plans prioritized for this year (Technology to improve communication, instruction and learner tech skills; Using Data to Improve Learner Outcomes; ESOL instruction; Learner Persistence; and prepping for the new GED)

- assessing the actual implementation process in programs to inform future systems development in the state

- Supporting programs through their proposals for the Technology Grants (from Incentive funds)

- Project on Implementing the CCRS: building upon the introductory work of the last few years, and the past standards-based trainings (STAR, ANI, TEAL Writing, etc.) to develop a pilot that will lead the way over the next few years.

Thank you, Jill Holloway and Barbara Gibson, for sharing about the PD work happening in your states. You both mentioned that your states are preparing to or are implementing the College and Career Readiness Standards. I know of at least 12 states that are either doing work in this area or have plans to implement the CCRS: CT, KY, LA, MD, ME, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, WV, WY.

I'd like to hear from these states and others on David's questions below. David asked:

Aligning curriculum to CCR standards. What do states see as their role in helping programs use the College and Career Ready standards? Should programs be aligning their curricula with these standards? Should they be purchasing commercial materials aligned to these standards? Should they be creating their own lessons that include good online and face-to-face learning resources that align with these standards? Or are states feeling that these standards may be a fad that will pass, and waiting to see what happens?

Looking forward,

Jackie Taylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

PD Colleagues,

I am wondering how states are responding to the new emphasis in the CCRS on speaking and listening skills -- in particular for ABE, ASE and Transition to College students.

  • Are these skills on our radar for ABE, ASE and Transition students (since the high school equivalency exams don't test them)?
  • Are they really included in the CCRS? 

I have just posted a new blog article entitled "Should we teach adults speaking skills?" at http://davidjrosen.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/should-we-teach-adults-speaking-skills/ which addresses these questions, but I am interested to know if PD folks have been thinking about including them.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday’s webinar, Designing PD with Student Outcomes in Mind: Job-embedded PD, Cohort Models, and Standards Implementation. And a special thanks to our guests Rebecca Wagner, Cathy Shank, and Beverly Wilson and to our hosts at Kratos, Dorjan Chaney and Christine Charboneau!

In addition to discussing the outstanding work happening in PA, WV, and AZ, participants discussed at length (via the Chat box) some of the issues surrounding evaluation at Guskey’s Levels 4 and 5. Some felt that most PD does not assess what the participants actually learned and whether it was being implemented in the classrooms. Others concurred that it is difficult if not impossible to capture evaluation data at Level 5: student learning outcomes as a result of staff development. Participants also explored some of the differences between Guskey’s and Kirpatrick’s levels and the importance of institutional support. We have a lot more to discuss regarding these concerns this week, so please stay tuned.

Questions asked of presenters are listed below. Some questions presenters were able to address but others could not be addressed due to time constraints:

For Rebecca:

  • Are you using Guskey's level 5? If so, how?
  • What do you do to measure student learning and how do you know it is due to PD?
  • Can you talk about how you're implementing Level 4. That's the Transfer of Learning we're trying to create.
  • How do you link student learning to PD?
  • We could actually use information on how the PD is assessed at each level, yes? We're all very focused on 5–but we'd like to see the way it progresses too? no?
  • Can you give us some examples of the goals that agencies submitted to the PD system?
  • How did you measure "change in attitudes" and "change in skills?"

For Cathy:

  • In West Virginia, are programs being asked to align their local curricula to the CCR Standards?
  • You mention engagement, what strategies do you utilize to engage online adult learners?
  • Did you try other platforms before you settled on Schoology?  What helped you determine that it was the best platform for your needs?

For Beverly:

  • Being a PD provider is a full time job.  Being a program director is also a full time job.  How can the state office expect the program directors to coordinate their staff's PD initiatives so intensely for the year?
  • How does a comprehensive professional learning system work when most adult education teachers are part-time?
  • How long did this paradigm shift take in AZ?
  • What is required for your AZ Adult Educator Certificate?

What questions did you have that you did not post, or what questions came to mind after the webinar ended? What were your key takeaways from the session?

More soon,

Jackie Taylor

Dear Colleagues,

During the webinar, participants also shared their responses to the question, What is the greatest challenge you face in planning, implementing, and/or evaluating professional development?

I’ve listed the responses below and I also created a Wordle to see which terms were used most frequently. The Wordle is at the bottom of this post. What has been your greatest challenge in planning, implementing, and/or evaluating PD? Does your experience resonate with any of the challenges listed below? If so, tell us more about it. What challenge would you add to this list?

Please see below ~

Jackie Taylor

~~~~~~~~~~

Challenges:

  • Ensuring that participants apply what they learn- and measuring impact
  • Meeting the needs of participants and seeing behavior change
  • Resistance
  • Evaluating
  • Evaluating Impact
  • Practitioner availability
  • Funding for follow-up
  • Time commitment for extended work with a concept
  • Evaluating
  • Our agency was once a standalone, executive agency. We have since merged with another state agency and we have not had ANY PD in two years!
  • Finding time to get staff all together at one time
  • Limited staff, too many projects/responsibilities
  • Scheduling
  • Taking PD just to say it's done
  • Meeting state requirements
  • Attracting and retaining high quality trainers
  • Getting bang for the buck and being interesting
  • Part-time staff
  • The experience level of my staff
  • Ensuring assets-based PD in light of multiple demands and expectations
  • Lack of time and lack of funds
  • Our challenge is that we are a state in a new transition and we have many new players in the field.
  • Engaging a group of instructors who have different interests
  • Evaluating impact on students
  • Providing sustained professional development to educators
  • Identifying quality trainers
  • Teachers already have such a large load - want to be sure all PD is worth their while
  • Continued engagement by participants
  • Finding a pool of qualified trainers
  • Providing Real Time need assessment and just in time training
  • Making sure it is useful and actually used for the long-term.
  • Moving from knowledge-level learning to application...and measuring application and effectiveness
  • As a regional entity we are SPREAD OUT so mechanics of delivery and follow-up
  • Knowing what the programs really need
  • How and what to evaluate
  • Lack of time
  • Part-time work force
  • Understanding data collection and analysis of PD implementation
  • Time and resources to apply what you have learned
  • Being allowed to stray from prescribed goals
  • Part-time workforce/lack of time
  • Distance to resources, since my site is in a rather remote part of Colorado
  • Measuring effectiveness
  • Selling the need for PD to administrators
  • Applying principle of job embeddedness
  • Impacting large numbers of teachers
  • Identifying flow through to learners
  • Adjunct faculty participation
  • Lack of agency support
  • Scheduling to get full participation from locals
  • Finding the right tool to measure TRANSFER OF LEARNING
  • Making clear the impact of PD on quality programs and learning
  • 2nd transfer of learning
  • Obtaining long term commitment
  • Matching specific needs
  • Compensation for online/informal PD
  • Measuring ROI on professional development
  • Getting past mere compliance and working towards vision

I am one of the Lead Consultants from PA and a colleague of Rebecca Wagner’s. This response is in regard to the question about Guskey Levels 3-5. When we revised the infrastructure of the professional development system in PA, three years ago, our plan was to spend one year focusing on Level 3, organization support and change, the next year on Level 4, participant’s use of new knowledge and skills, and then look at Level 5, student learning outcomes. We realized that without organizational support many changes would and could not take place. Each of the PA agencies has an administrator and an In-House Professional Development Specialist that make up that agency’s PD team. These teams participate in a monthly webinar facilitated by the lead consultants. Each month, we choose a topic upon which to focus. We started out three years ago, looking at Level 3, discussing it in several of the webinars, and then asking agencies to report on these webinars their successes and challenges with the process. It seems that everyone wants to jump to Level 5, but we knew in order for that level to show positive results, there needs to be a lot of work preceding it. Last year, we focused on Level 4. It was not only topic of several webinars, but also when the lead consultants communicated with the agencies with which they worked, whether in person or via phone or webinar, it was addressed as well. We realized these are layered levels with many twists and turns so they need time to be explored and developed so we can move on to the next level. When we plan, we make sure each year builds on certain features that will be helpful during the upcoming program year. Two years ago, after reviewing research on teachers learning together, we found Desimone’s research on core features of effective development research. We emphasized the importance of content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation. We believe that gave us a solid foundation for a focus this year, which is working in professional learning communities. Even though we have many discussions about what an important focus might entail, we are always learning along the way. We like to plan with the end in mind, even though we know many things may change along the way. We’ve learned that at first blush, some of these initiatives might look simple, but each agency is different, so there are going to be questions and challenges. We take each challenge as it comes and we stress to those who might want to do things quickly that change takes time. A strong foundation will produce a strong product!

 

Hi Sue,

I think the intentional work that you and the PA staff are engaged in to build a professional learning system is very exciting! It's very difficult to get to Guskey-Levels 4-5 since there are many variables that impact student learning. However, as educators we do need to strive for identifying and analyzing data sets to inform and achieve the higher evaluation levels. Each initiative may be at different levels on the Guskey scale, and the professional learning can be monitored and adjusted along the way. The additional challenge we have in adult education is with staff turnover-especially with a primarily part-time staff. As you so eloquently stated, changes take time-and then we have to start again with new staff. It definitely makes our jobs as professional developers interesting! 

Hi Sue, Federico, and All,

Thank you so much Sue, for sharing your experiences in PA of moving through Guskey's Levels. In thinking about organizational support for teacher change, I can't help but think of supports like career ladders for adult educators and more FT opportunities. You, Federico, and others mentioned a role for an in-house PD specialist (I think in Texas these PD specialists are regional but with a similar purpose of keeping their ears to the ground).

Would you and others say more about this role? What does the person do, specifically? Is there an increased compensation opportunity? Is it viewed as a rung up in a career ladder, or one more layer of responsibility on possibly an overburdened instructional plate?

And, do you see a trend here for PD in a new era?

I appreciate your thoughts,

Jackie Taylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

Hello everyone, 

I'm posting under the direction and in collaboration with my colleagues, Joyce Hinkson, OTAN Director, and Penny Pearson, Distance Learning Coordinator. 

OTAN offers professional development in the area of technology integration and online/distance delivery in California under the contract with Adult Education Office at California Department of Education.

The modalities can be categorized in 4 major areas

  • Face to face and online workshops
  • Technology and Distance Learning Symposium (OTAN-hosted conference)
  • Presentations at various conferences
  • Year-long academies: OTAC & TIMAC 

The offerings in 2014-15 will be similar to those in previous year. Here are some excerpts from the annual reports for 2013-14 and 2012-13 that describe OTAN activities related to PD.

Face-to-face 

Last year OTAN provided 39 hands-on face-to-face workshops for 391 participants on a variety of technology topics. Participants generally responded positively in their evaluations of face-to-face workshops. As with prior years’ evaluations, the highest average score continues to be for recommending the OTAN workshop to colleagues, and the lowest was for feeling comfortable to start using the new skills learned. Again, it is no surprise that it might take more than a three-hour workshop to feel comfortable using a new skill. All workshops assign homework for participants to practice their skills, and instructors follow up and respond to homework submissions. Participants who complete the homework assignment receive an additional hour of professional development credit.

Online workshops

OTAN offered a total of 66 webinars or online workshops on technology topics in 2013/14 for 562 participants. Twelve instructors were hired as temporary staff to present workshops and webinars. Attendance ranged from 1 to 23, with an average of eight participants per session. The 44 available webinar or online workshop topics are listed on OTAN Web site.

The Los Angeles Division of Adult and Community Education had by far the most attendees with 164, but 11 other counties had ten or more teachers attending. A total of 95 agencies had at least one webinar participant, up from 75 just one year ago.

A total of 705 evaluations were received regarding online workshops. Participants responded very positively to the workshops Ninety-six percent of participants either agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the webinar to colleagues, and 87 percent agreed or strongly agreed that they were ready to implement the new skill. This is a significant increase from the previous year’s evaluation which indicated that only 64 percent believed they were ready to implement the skill or skills taught in the online workshop.

Technology and Distance Learning Symposium 

The Symposium is targeted to administrators, coordinators, and teachers planning for or already implementing distance, blended or online instruction as well as those integrating technology in the classroom. Over 200 participants attend TDLS and evaluations are overwhelmingly positive.  

http://www.otan.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=ShowMoreNews&newsid=4520&catid=3027

 

The Online Teaching Academy

The Online Teaching Academy (OTAC) is a project with the goal of increasing online instruction for adult learners enrolled in California adult education agencies. OTAC accepts 10 teachers and provides training and support for the initiation and development of online instruction  Participants could choose their subject area which included: ESL, ABE, ASE, and GED curriculum, or develop online projects focused on transition to employment, job training or postsecondary, as well as CTE courses with basic skills and/or work skills integrated into the curriculum. OTAC provides an environment of open sharing, collaboration, and personal and professional growth in the area of online instruction. Participants are guided in the process to create their own online or blended course presence using Moodle as a course management system.

Participants are offered training on using Moodle, an open source course management system. OTAN provides hosting and support for all adult education agencies in California and wishes to further develop proficient Moodle users and online teachers. Moodle as a course management system, offers many benefits including tools that allow for and encourage online discussions, collaborative projects, assignments, quizzes, interactive activities, branched lessons, and synchronous chats. Moodle provides the environment for teachers to create rich, robust and interactive course materials for teaching and learning in either a fully online environment, or “blended” where students meet, at least minimally, face-to-face with an instructor. In 2013-14, OTAN added Learn360 to selected Moodle courses, providing access to hundreds of high-quality, supplemental video clips to support student learning. This new addition will provide future OTAC participants with many more multimedia resources to enhance their online courses.

Participants make a significant time commitment to course development and the use of a wide variety of online learning tools for potential inclusion in their online project. Participants spend an average of 10 hours a month working on their project, attending meetings and online workshops and/or in communication with their online teaching mentor or project coordinator. In addition, participants collaborate with their Administrator to develop a shared goal for this project and to secure any necessary release time to attend the required meetings.

http://www.otan.us/otac/ 

 

The Technology Integration Mentor Academy

The Technology Integration Mentor Academy (TIMAC) provides training to effectively use education technology in the classroom. TIMAC attendees learn technology skills and upon academy completion, serve as mentors to other teachers in their agencies. Participants affirm that the training is very beneficial and the skills they learn are being immediately implemented to enhance the learning experiences of their students. The connection of technology to the curriculum is yet another way to promote 21st century skills for adult learners.

TIMAC training is provided by experienced adult education technology mentors from across the state. Training falls into three categories, all of which are vital to the development of effective mentors. These three areas include:

  • Mentoring theory and practice
    • Progressive mentoring skills model
    • Framework for mentoring
    • Listening, communications, helping and problem-solving skills
    • Dealing with resistance
    • Goal setting
    • Team building
    • Working with administrators and technology support staff
  • Technology integration philosophy
    • Key points
    • Roadblocks
    • Lesson swap
    • Working with program goals and priorities
    • Project planning
  • Technology skills
    • Web presence: wikis and Web sites, social networking; learning management systems such as Moodle
    • Online meetings and trainings
    • Interactive whiteboards and document cameras for teaching and learning
    • Presentation software – design and delivery
    • Use of mobile devices in education

During the training, cohort participants plan a project in collaboration with colleagues and administrators at their schools, and implement the project during the winter and spring of the current school year. E-mail, online meetings, phone conferences, and face-to-face meetings were used to provide on-going support to the mentors as they returned to their schools to implement their projects and positively impact technology integration.

http://www.otan.us/timac/index.cfm?fuseaction=Resources

 

We are looking forward to learning from and sharing with other states this week. 

Branka Marceta, Technology Projects Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

Dear PD colleagues around the country

The webinar that got this discussion going this afternoon was fantastic!  Thanks to all who participated and asked questions and thanks to the three speakers.

 

Texas has just recently seen a major change in the adult education PD world.  The change affects delivery from a regional to a more centralized model; it introduces a three-tiered model of PD, and shifts more PD to online delivery.

 

Regional to Centralized PD

First is the move from a system of eight regional professional development centers (the GREAT Centers) to a new centralized system where there is one state-wide PD and Support Center.  The Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) at Texas A&M University was funded this summer to manage such center. Our approach was to create a consortium which we named the Texas Research-based Adult Instruction Network (TRAIN) PD Consortium with seven community colleges which will help deliver services and support to providers in the field.  Harriet Smith, long-time director of TCALL serves as the new consortium’s Managing Director; Debra Hargrove is the Director of PD Instructional Design, and I serve as Consortium Director.  Community colleges are a natural partner because of the focus on college and career transitions for our students and on different models of accelerated learning. These colleges were selected for their expertise in different areas affecting adult education students but also to offer a PD “point of contact” for programs.  Each community college in the consortium is strategically located in important regions of the state and will be hiring a PD specialist.  While they will not be providing regional PD, the PD specialists will be the eyes and ears of the consortium on the ground.

Three-tiered PD Model

While the state designed the new model to benefit from the efficiencies that one centralized system provides, our leadership wanted to give local programs a measure of local control over PD.  With this in mind, the Texas Workforce Commission has funded a new model of three tiers of PD.

  1. Tier 1 (also called Core Training) is PD offered locally by programs to their own teachers on general topics such as student intake, enrollment, and orientation; training on the assessment instruments; goals setting, career awareness; basic knowledge of the state’s student information management system, and other training where the local program has in-house expertise. This training must be provided by qualified trainers contracted directly by the local program.
  2. Tier 2 training or Adult Learning Training is training designed to assist programs and instructors in improving the quality of instructional services, developing innovative models, and helping programs identify and implement best practices.  Among the topics the TRAIN PD Consortium will be responsible for are ESL, reading/writing, and numeracy instruction; college and career transition models; GED 2014; distance learning; program management, implementing standards based instruction, and many more. One common characteristic of Tier 2 training is that the TRAIN PD Consortium will only provide services that have been documented as a need in an annual needs assessment, or responding to emerging trends.
  3. Tier 3, or specialized training, will be training on national initiatives, proprietary curricula, or projects sponsored by education and workforce development research institutions. Tier 3 training will be provided by the TRAIN PD Consortium but it will require specific approval from the state office of adult education and literacy.

 

This model affords a measure of local control (Tier 1) while giving the state more control of how resources are allocated in terms of improved instruction.  The change in philosophy here is simple: rather than providing PD on request as in the old regional GREAT system, this model offers only the PD that has been identified as responding to broader local needs.  That makes local participation in our needs assessment very important, something that in the past had often been neglected.

 

To facilitate Tier 1 contracts, the state funded TCALL to develop an online database of trainers and training that is intended as a resource for local programs to be able to find qualified contract trainers to deliver Tier 1 training needed by the local providers.

 

Online PD

The other major change is the focus on moving deliberately and quickly to have more and more PD offerings online. TRAIN PD Consortium is required to develop three PD courses online within the first year and the state must double the number of teachers participating in online PD events within a year. Debra Hargrove already shared the DL academy she has developed, and I don’t need to expand on our online PD requirements other than to say that our new philosophy is one of efficiency; we must facilitate teachers’ use of distance learning technology so they will be able to effectively manage their online instruction and, at the same time, we must start moving more and more PD events (workshops, seminars, discussions, etc.) from a face-to-face model to online learning so our adult education professionals will be able to teach and learn using online tools and educational technology.

 

As I said earlier in this discussion, I would be interested in finding out how many other states have moved away from a system with many PD centers scattered throughout to a centralized system and what their experience has been (I heard of a number of states doing that so it would seem this is part of what PD looks like in the new era.)  I would also like to know if other states have a multi-tiered system with some professional development topics the responsibility of local providers, other topics the responsibility of the PD system, and yet other topics the responsibility of the state.

 

I look forward to reading your contributions.

Dear Colleagues,

The “one-shot” professional development workshop has been widely criticized as short-term, garden-variety staff development lacking in continuity and coherence. Research has shown that one-shot workshops often do not lead to teacher change and improved student outcomes. Yet it continues to be a widely practiced form of professional development, according to Education Week.

So why have one-shot workshops been so prevalent in teacher professional development, and in adult literacy PD in particular?

In your experience, have you found them to be valuable in leading to teacher change? Why or why not?

We’re hearing from states in this discussion that have or require extended PD models. Do you see a trend in your area to provide / participate in extended PD?

What are the issues and considerations in moving from a one-shot model to one that is sustained, intensive, and leading to teacher change and improved student outcomes?

Lots to explore! I Look forward to hearing from you,

JackieTaylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

Sustained PD requires more investment, both in terms of funding at the program level, and in time and commitment at the participant level (most of whom are part-time adult education instructors).

Even when I conduct 1-shot workshops, I do my best to encourage teachers to form some sort of learning network or community of practice.  For example, I'll provide additional resources and discussion boards on Schoology, or the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one conference call with me to discuss any issues they had during implementation.  However, I'd estimate only about 3% of participants in one-shot workshops take advantage of it.  There is no way to know who takes the information / strategies / skills back to the classroom and who does not unless they send me an email to let me know (again, about 3% of a participant group).

On the other hand, I have facilitated sustained PD "academies" or "book studies," in which teachers were required to put the information / strategies / skills into practice and report back.  The end result is always 90% or more of teachers indicating a change in their classroom practice and a positive impact on student outcomes. This result is why I am sold on sustained PD.  We don't engage in professional development to get the required hours.  We want to become better educators (myself included).

I am hopeful as we move toward more blended and hybrid models that we will be able to offer sustained PD opportunities with the  learn-implement-reflect-adapt  cycle in a way that is more cost effective and engaging, especially for our part-timers.   

 

Hi Glenda,

One of the discoveries we've made while working with teachers-and administrators-on sustained professional learning is to include training and resources such as job aids on how to work collaboratively in learning communities and study groups. There is a structure to collaborative work that's important for educators to understand and implement so the selected professional learning model is effective.

Hi, Beverly!  

It was good to hear you on the webinar.  Can you give an example of the kinds of things you include in your training on promoting and facilitating collaboration?  And is the training geared toward helping teachers bring truly collaborative practice to their students,  or is it also for the teachers to become more collaborative with one another? 

Peace,
Glenda

 

Hi Glenda,

Thanks again for the tour of the adult ed center in Austin! Initially, we conducted sustained professional learning for program administrators on designing and supporting professional learning communities. Since they are the 'gatekeepers' for resource allocations, it's important for them to understand the power of effective teacher collaboration. We continue to integrate this ongoing learning strand throughout the sustained professional learning initiatives. For example, in the Math Institute, teachers are provided training and tools at each session to successfully collaborate in their math learning communities, and they practice using protocols for providing feedback to each other and looking at student work. The research conducted by Joyce and Showers and others emphasize the importance of this collaboration and reflection model in order for teachers to improve their practice. Much of the PL for teachers also addresses creating a community of learners in the classroom and adult learning strategies to actively engage students.

Jackie,

As I talked about in the webinar yesterday, in West Virginia we have moved to having required follow-up activities for our face-to-face core training.  We had tried this without success previously when we  withheld PD credit until folks finished follow-up activities. This was a tracking nightmare. Later we had follow-up activities posted to a wiki, but struggled with the 'clunkiness' of the exchange of ideas and found the wiki was too exposed to everyone everywhere online.

Now we offer the face-to-face workshop and credit that, but we require the follow-up and credit that separately.  Also, we now use Schoology as our online platform for all our follow-up activities.  Each training session has its own folder within the platform where we post the resources from the face-to-face sessions and have specific activities that require classroom follow-up and discussion online.  We have divided the state into regional Communities of Practice so that instructors are able to interact online with peers they meet in regional training sessions.  Their conversations are all online, but only accessible to others in the same group. We hired other instructors to help monitor the discussions and 'grade' the assignments.

We saw a great deal of resistance from instructors at the outset. Some instructors found the technology to be a hurdle. Others said they planned to only ever attend the face-to-face sessions. When we started using Schoology, we did regional training on how to use Schoology and that has paid off. Some instructors have seen how to use Schoology to deliver instruction in their classrooms and are actively sharing content among themselves.

We used to offer non-degree college credit for seat time at our fall association conference. Now we offer the credit for completing specific face-to-face training plus the follow-up activities.  This year, we will not allow folks to participate in the next face-to-face training until they have completed the follow-up activities.

Our evaluations show that although initially instructors were not happy about doing the follow-ups, they found that they understood and applied the new learning when they were 'forced' to go back and apply it in their own classrooms.  Also, they found it valuable to interact with other instructors about the changes they were making in their programs.

I have to say that it is much easier to do one-shot face-to-face training; It is cost effective to gather folks; instructors enjoy being together; and you can say everyone has 'received the message' if they sat there and heard it.  It is much more complicated and time-consuming to develop and monitor online follow-up activities that are interactive.  It is also hard to evaluate the impact of training on what happens in the classroom.

That said, I believe that if you want a major change in practice, one shot training will not deliver that kind of change.

Cathy Shank

As an avid Schoology fan, I just want to add that one additional benefit (other than being free), is that you can save your courses and resources to reuse them.  So, when I offer the same workshop or series to another group, I can either use one "course" and let everyone around the state interact with each other or create a group  for that particular group of participants.  I've found the latter to be more effective. You can also set activities up as "graded" so that you have a record of who completed what, which is helpful if you set a minimum level of participation to receive full PD-hour credit (or assign PD hours based on level of engagement).  

 

In our LINCS Region 4 Teaching Adults to Read Study Circles, we've tried to incorporate steps in the study circle design to extend the PD experience and connect it to Guskey's Level 4 application and transfer.  Each SC meets in distance webinar format once a week for 4 weeks.  Weeks 1 and 2 are content front-loaded, broken up by participatory engagement activities that our platform (Collaborate) supports: break-out groups, discussion & chat, polls, viewing of videos, etc. Then in Week 3, each participant (or small groups, if there is a team participating from one site or organization) chooses 2 research-based instructional or assessment reading activities to try out with students.  They write a lesson plan that includes thoughtful background reflections on their contexts and the learning problems they are looking to solve, and/or that meet their objectives.  Then they implement their plan between Weeks 3 & 4, and make a presentation back to the whole SC during the Week 4 webinar.  These presentations and Q & A are almost the whole content of the final webinar.  We have never failed to have 100% evidence of application in this format, and great enthusiasm for sharing, lifted by very insightful questions and extremely useful sharing of resources among the group.  What we don't know is whether continued use of the new practices, or participants returning to access more of the webinar content to try additional new methods occurs.  We don't really know what applied learning is going on over time past that first month.  It would be great to be able to find that out.  Also to see how valuable this may be as a train-the-trainer model, with local peer-to-peer sharing extending its reach.  We have had administrators in CBO literacy programs express their intent to incorporate parts of the learning into tutor training, and/or in-service events.  Given what Beverly said about 50 hours being necessary in any topic for comfortable implementation, since the synchronous time of each SC webinar series is about 7 hours, even with applied "homework", if can't be more than 15 overall, I'd guess.  However, since our curriculum of all 4 reading components can be taken either as modules or as a complete set, I guess the complete circuit would be about 60 hours over 4 months - that seems more in line with what the research recommends.
 

Hello,

My name is Joy Zamierowski, and I am another one of the Pennsylvania lead consultants.  Sue Snider mentioned the core features of effective professional development and our state’s focus on developing agency professional learning communities in her post and Bootsie Barbour mentioned study circles as one of the professional learning opportunities for PA teachers.  I would like to elaborate on this form of job-embedded professional learning, as I think it fits nicely into the second day’s discussion, “Moving from one shot to extended PD.”

The overarching goal of many of the programs with whom I work has been to increase educational functioning levels in reading and math.  The way in which they addressed this goal was by providing opportunities for teachers to increase knowledge in these subjects and to alleviate student barriers to regular participation. The Professional Development System (PDS) has provided many opportunities for teacher learning including annual institutes and online courses.  However, agency facilitated study circles around a specific topic has been one of the most meaningful and is a great example of “extended PD.”   Over the past two years, Kaye Beall, World Education, has come to Pennsylvania and trained approximately 15-20 in house professional development specialist (IHPDS)per year to facilitate a NCSALL Study Circle.  The IHPDS attended one day of face to face training and then were tasked with going back to their agencies and facilitating a study circle with staff.  Actual topics were chosen based on agency goals.  The two most popular study circle topics over the past two years have been “Research-based Reading” and “Persistence.” 

After the initial training, Kaye held two follow up webinar meetings for the IHPDS in order to provide support and to give them the opportunity to share their experiences.  Of course, she was also available to agencies as needed throughout the rest of the year, as were lead consultants and other components of the PDS.

This was extremely successful professional learning, because it enabled an agency to bring staff together regularly, read research, discuss implications for practice, and implement change.  Agency staff developed tools to collect information around the implementation of new knowledge and skills into practice.  These included surveys, rubrics to “evaluate” the content of lesson plans, direct observations, and implementation logs. 

Agency staff commented on the benefits of learning and working with one another.  With the exception of the initial training, everything happened “in house,” so opportunities to implement new knowledge and skills in authentic learning environments happened naturally.   An added benefit to study circle participants is the experience that they gained working with colleagues in this type of extended learning opportunity.  Study circle participation has served as a great precursor to Pennsylvania’s professional development focus this year—working in professional learning communities to better understand the College and Career Readiness Standards through unpacking and aligning resources.

Dear Colleagues:

Organization and system support for change is a critical factor in leading to teacher change and student outcomes from teacher professional development. Guskey’s Five Levels of Evaluation include evaluating these supports (Level 3). The ASCD notes that “lack of organization support and change can sabotage any professional development effort, even when all the individual aspects of professional development are done right.” Research supports that problems at Level 3 can in fact cancel the gains made at Levels 1 and 2.

From your experience, how important is organization and system support for change?

To what extent does your program / agency or state leadership support teacher change through professional development? What form(s) does this support take?

What supports are missing?

I look forward to hearing from you,

Jackie Taylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

Hello Colleagues,

I wanted to share some of what we did in PA.

Program Improvement supported by PD is the centerpiece of Pennsylvania’s work. The focus of how Leadership dollars is used is decided at the agency level. This shift in agency responsibility for determination, implementation and evaluation of use of professional development to support their agency program improvement goals is one that requires the organization to have the capacity to solve problems, evaluate data and be able to change directions. Changing an agency culture is a lot more difficult than changing a process or agency structure! It takes time, a plan, and very importantly, the total support of the state funder.

The first step that PA took with the system change three years ago was to begin designing and training a PD Team which was made up of the Agency Administrator and an In House Professional Development Specialist. Building an agency infrastructure needed the support of leadership and an openness to trying new ideas. Collegial support was important and the Lead Consultants were trained to do one important thing during the first year. Build relationships.  The focus was first on a job description, training and resources for the IHPDS. We soon realized for Organizational Change it was crucial that the administrator be a part of the team. This is now part of policy.  The alignment of our state office with policy for adult education agencies has been crucial.

These PD Teams are trained via monthly webinars that started with looking at the work of Guskey, Desimone, Smith, and others. The training has continued for three years and has discussed many topics and shared many agency successes and challenges. PD Teams meet at state meetings, informal connections between them are made by Lead Consultants that see networking opportunities. We have seen the role of the IHPDS become a career pathway for adult education teachers in PA. Administrators have begun to select the person for the role very wisely.

 The PI-PD Worksheets described by Rebecca in the webinar are one tool that we use to collect data and track how agency leadership is organizing relevant professional development in support of the PD goal. There is very little “catalog shopping” for courses anymore. PD Teams are reporting more collegial inquiry, teacher groups, study circles, pairing teachers, and myriad forms of mentoring and coaching. This year we are focusing on agencies designing professional learning communities. We are interested in to see if the leadership capacity building will make the implementation and success of the PLC easer.

One last note. One of the big issues with organizational support is use of time.  High quality PD is next to impossible if it is just added on to what is already expected. The use of time must be carefully looked at reorganized or readjusted. The traditional view of a teacher’s work is that of time with students delivering content is limiting. Research shows that teachers that work together and are allowed to participate in curriculum development, learn and share successful ways to work with learners, discuss evaluation and continue to learn themselves.  

Good Resource for Leadership:  Helping Teachers Learn by Eleamor Drago-Severson

 

 

 

 

Bootsie and PA lead consultants,

Can you talk about the shifts in policy and designation of funds that the state leadership instituted to support the systems change in Pennsylvania?

I'd be interested in hearing about those shifts in other states as well that support sustained and extended PD.

Kaye

Good Morning,

I wished to respond to Kaye's comment as the answer is central to the success of system change in PD System.

The Division of Adult Education and Family Literacy is totally behind the Professional Development system change in both verbal, written and monetary support.  The Division has a written Professional Development Policy that is in alignment with and support of the major shift to agencies being responsible for designing a program improvement  plans supported by high quality job embedded professional development.  Agencies are required to have a Professional Development Team consisting of an Administrator and In House Professional Development Team. Program Improvement Team Minutes are required to be posted quarterly to My Learning Plan data system. When budget's are written 20% of a teacher's time must be spent in planning and professional development. The Division has a deep understanding of what high quality professional development means. This year each funded agency was given an extra percentage of money to design and sustain a Professional Learning Community that would work to "unpack" the CCRS guided by Unit 1 in the Standards in Action Guide. The two day Summer Institute, funded by Leadership was targeted to this purpose. 

The goal is to  have each agency prepared to have an infrastructure that can support true job embedded professional development. That would include the tools to understand data collection and analysis. The Division supports this thinking in words and money.It does not work with out this interaction.

Bootsie

One of the questions which was asked of Becky Wagner was, “How did you measure ‘change in attitudes’ and ‘change in skills?’” As a Lead Consultant working in Pennsylvania with Becky, I thought I would like to respond to this question.

Programs in Pennsylvania are measuring change in attitudes and skills through the use of information presented in Thomas Guskey’s book, Evaluating Professional Development. Guskey discusses three major aspects that can be measured at Level 4. Guskey Level 4 professional development evaluation is the “Use of New Knowledge and Skills.” The aspects that can be measured are stages of concern, levels of use, and differences in practice. Pennsylvania programs select a data collection tool to measure one or more of these aspects. Some of the tools programs have selected are: direct observations, participant surveys or interviews, questionnaires, and implementation logs.

Webinars have been provided for Agency Professional Development Teams (administrators and in house professional development specialist) on data collection tools and insights that can be gathered by each tool. For example, direct observations can provide insight on teachers’ levels of use of new knowledge and skills, differences in practice overtime, and differences between various groups of teachers. Interviews and surveys can provide evidence on teachers’ stages of concerns and levels of use. Implementation logs can provide insight on teachers’ concerns, levels of use, and changes in practice.

Perhaps providing a little more detail about how one of the data collection tools are used by some programs to measure teachers’ use of new knowledge and skills would help to explain how “change in attitudes” and “change in skills” are measured in Pennsylvania. I will use the implementation log as an example. Programs have used charts with definitions from Guskey’s book, Evaluating Professional Development, to measure teachers’ stages of concern (affective changes) and levels of use (behavioral changes). As teachers implement new knowledge and skills in their classrooms, the stages of their concern and levels of use are documented on implementation logs following the stages and levels from the charts and the definitions of each stage and level. Using the Stages of Concerns definitions, the teachers’ affective behavior changes are documented on the implementation logs providing data on how familiar and comfortable teachers are as they go through the change in practice. The levels of use are also documented on the implementation logs providing evidence of the actions or non-actions of the teachers’ use of new knowledge and skills in the classroom. The data collected on teachers’ stages of concern and levels of use provide insight so that the instructional leadership teams determine how best to support teachers through the change in practice. In addition, teachers are analyzing where they are on the stages of concern and levels of use charts. Moreover, the conversations which instructional leaders and teachers share as they reflect together and analyze the implementation log data are helping to forward the change in practice, the use of new knowledge and skills in the classroom. 

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for the many thoughtful posts this week around state professional development initiatives, extended PD, teacher learning and student outcomes. I am reading and following with great interest and I hope to post a summary later this evening. Please continue discussions from previous days even though I’m introducing today’s topic.

As we’ve heard from our guests in the webinar, and from participants in the webinar chat, measuring Guskey’s Five Levels, or Kirpatrick’s Four Levels, becomes more challenging, costly, and time consuming the further along the levels one progresses.

  • How do we know professional development works?
  • Where do you focus your evaluation efforts now and where would you like to focus your evaluation efforts in the future?
  • What efforts are you making to evaluate at one or more of the levels? What are the data measures you are examining and what tools are you using to collect the information?
  • What are the hurdles you face in evaluating at one or more of the levels? What recommendations do others have to overcome them?

Please be as specific as possible. I look forward to hearing from you,

Jackie Taylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your interest in this week’s webinar, Designing Professional Development with Student Outcomes in Mind: Job Embedded PD, Cohort Models, and Standards Implementation. The webinar recording can now be accessed here. You can view and download the webinar presentation slides as well.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Jackie Taylor

Moderator, EBPD Group

Hi everyone,

We are on the last “official” day of our guest discussion – thank you to our guests Beverly Wilson, Cathy Shank, Rebecca Wagner, Bootsie Barbour, PA’s Lead Consultants Sue Snider, Peggie Rood and Joy Zamierowski, and others who have been sharing their thoughts in the discussion.

Starting today, but carrying into next week, I encourage us to explore this last topic area in some depth. With the enactment of new legislation over adult education (the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or “WIOA”), we will see changes that will impact professional development. While we are only beginning to hear about what the changes will be, what is your hope – your vision – for professional development in a new era? What change do you want to see for professional development in your program or state?

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend to all!

Jackie

Jackie and others,

My vision for professional development includes many aspects, a few of which are described below (please be sure to read through to the last one):

1. Increasingly in-depth PD that includes:

  • new ideas, strategies, and practices based on research and evaluation in adult basic education, but where we do not have strong evidence from research -- and there are many areas where this is the case -- based on best practices from other colleagues' professional wisdom
  • opportunities to practice new strategies, methods, and models and to
  • discuss them with colleagues who are experts in using them as well as with colleagues who are learning them

2. Blended or pure PD distance learning or PD online learning that approaches, equals or exceeds face-to-face professional development

3. Making professional development for integrating technology a priority, that:

  • uses web-based platforms that teachers can experience for PD, and then also use with their students. (West Virginia has a great example of this in their PD model.)
  • helps teachers build an "online presence" for their face-to-face classes that:
    • mirrors what happens in their face-to-face classes
    • is updated frequently by the classroom teacher and by students
    • offers ways to make-up missed classes, supplement classroom learning, and a range of different (video-based) approaches to the same topic
    • aligns with the classroom and program curriculum, that is also aligned with CCR standards
    • includes text, images, videos, opportunities for asynchronous and real-time formal and informal discussion by text and VOIP capacity so teachers and students can talk there in real time, normal voices
    • is a highly interactive environment that has features like those of Second Life, but that is secure and private, with students invited by a teacher.

4. PD learning experiences paid for by the state, and/or that results in pay incentives for teachers who acquire and demonstrate the knowledge and skills

5. Digital badges and certificates/licenses for attaining demonstrated professional development competencies

6. Program-based PD/program improvement models (Pennsylvania appears to have one) that integrate curriculum, assessment and other program growth features  and professional development, and are organized at the program level.

7. [Note: rant warning:] Addresses the ridiculous problem we have now with higher standards for adult education teachers, but where we expect these mostly part-time, often grossly underpaid teaching professionals to meet the higher standards on their own unpaid time, sometimes even to pay for PD with their own resources, and typically not receive rewards for upgrading their skills. As a field of professional developers we need to push back -- yes we want these higher standards, but to help teacher reach them we need resources in our field that provide incentives for teachers who have them. Fund these unfunded mandates! Anything less is unrealistic and grossly unfair to teachers.

 

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Thanks for a great job moderating this discussion, Jackie, and for everyone's contributions to understanding the evolution of this profession!

I was thinking about how to respond to the question about PD Vision, and then read David's comments here and know that I could not do a better job of laying out the range of (sometimes competing) demands of professional development in adult education today.

My only friendly suggestion would be to move # 7 to # 1... I understand that we need to be clear that we understand the research and outcomes that come from improving PD in the ways outlined in #1=6- but without an improvement in working conditions in the field, all the best PD in the world is for naught when those who improve their practices the most continually leave for family sustaining wages in other fields. 

Perhaps WIOA's requirement that adult education providers sit on regional governing boards will open the door to real change in this area.

Dear Colleagues:

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! I have good news: Our guests will stay with us a couple more days to answer any lingering questions in our guest discussion of State Professional Development in a New Era!

Please take time this week to review the questions and responses and share what you know. In particular, we have no responses to Day 5’s question; I suspect this is because of the holiday.

Thanks to all for your contributions to date, I look forward to continuing the conversation.

Please see below… Jackie