Satisfaction with PD

From LiteracyTentWiki

Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment] David R's Six Questions / # 3 and 6
From:George Kohout gkohout at hcc.mass.edu
Date:Wed Feb 1 15:11:27 EST 2006

6. Over the past several years what professional development activities have you been most happy about, most satisfied with, and why?
  • Activities that encourage practitioners to think outside of the usual curriculum, classroom box. Events such as Using Theater in the Classroom, Conflict Resolution, Poetry for Power Writing, Technology in the ESOL Classroom and Building Student Websites are always very popular.
  • Trainings in Standardized Assesment tools that demonstrate to teachers the link to their learner's growth and classroom practices. Data from assessments can go beyond reports for NRS and policy makers. A broad understanding of assessment principles can not only gauge Learning Gains but can also mpact instructional practices.
  • Activities that focus on encouraging and maintaining student leadership within ABE programs help to foster a culture and practice in programs that addresses the needs of adult students beyond the three Rs.
  • Events that focus on Program or Continuous Improvement. ABE programs that truly buy into this process have provided us with feedback on the positive changes for staff, learners and organizational solidity.
  • Another activity that has also worked well in a number of cases is what we refer to as program-based theme work. In these situations SABES staff works closely, on-site with one program focused on a specific theme. (In FY04 and 05 the theme was writing, in 06 and 07 math is the theme). We have found that this model encourages real buy-in on the part of program staff and the PD responds to an acknowledged and strongly-felt need. This combination of program need, staff buy-in and on-site delivery stands a better chance than other PD methods of being truly effective in terms of long-term, lasting change.

For SABES and Massachusetts,

George K
Holyoke Community College

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment] professional development system for adult education in New York State
From: Kathleen Clarity KCLARITY at MAIL.NYSED.GOV
Date: Thu Feb 2 11:45:04 EST 2006

Good morning!

I would like to introduce myself. I have recently joined the NYS Education Dept.'s Adult Education and Workforce Development Team. One of my responsibilities will be helping to support a statewide professional development system and resource guide that we hope will bolster our staff development services and knowledge base as we work together to support adult education via our providers.

We accomplish much of this work through our Regional Networks and our Regional Network Directors, who serve as liaison with our many adult education providers across the state. My specific assignment involves working with the Downstate area and thus far I have been very fortunate in having the chance to work with Ira Yankwitt and Martin Murphy in this regard as well as with our other Regional Network Directors.

I would like to respond to the following questions: 1, 6, and 7.

6. The professional development activities that I have been most happy about and satisfied with over the past several years have been those which are sustained, embedded in the "life" of the schools/entities served and targeted, based on data, to the outcome needs of the schools/entities served. Before joining the Adult Education and Workforce Development Team I worked with the Department's Teacher Development Unit and worked closely on professional development designed to help retain teachers working in high need schools. We found that professional development needs to be targeted to meet the real needs of teachers and that using a collaborative mode that enabled teachers and administrators to give input on the desired training helped support buy in and meaningful participation. We also found that it is critical to use data in determining the kinds of needs that training should be designed to meet because real improvement must address needs assessment outcomes. We found that the use of pretesting and pretesting or other pre and post evaluation instruments was worthwhile and we also found that PD that is offered onsite where possible often works best and helps meet realistic timing needs. We found that collaborative work with colleges with high levels of success in teacher pass rates on licensure exams was very useful. We also had a very high success rate with PD that involved the support of experienced mentors and found that creating cohort groups who took part in PD as a group helps ensure a sense of support and involvement that seemed to help sustain effort and perseverance. We worked very closely with the Program Director of each teacher training grant funded program to ensure that best practices were in place and conducted annual Best Practices conferences in which Program Directors could collaborate on best practices in a variety of areas. Program monitoring included detailed review of proposed curriculum and attendance at actual training sessions followed by a review of course evaluation materials. We also found that tuition support for teachers, along with arranging for good counseling on each teacher's needs regarding professional licensure, was essential in ensuring that teachers were able to gain and maintain certification. I expect that the concepts explained above will apply to the needs of our Adult Education providers as well and will work to ensure that our professional development efforts are designed similarly.

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