Posted by:
Judy Spicer
Research/tech assistance org
Columbus, OH

Topic:
Teachers Must Lead the Way

Message:

There can be no improvement without the teacher! (See Fullan and Hargraves, ENC Focus: The Reality of Change, p. 18, available online at http://enc.org/focus/documents/0,1341,CDS
-000389-389,00.shtm).

An outstanding example of teacher-directed professional development is the certification process developed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification (http://www.nbpts.org/). To gain NBPTS certification, the teacher engages in a two-part, year-long process that was developed by teachers. This process is designed to engage the individual teacher in reflective examination of his or her teaching practices, while creating a teaching portfolio that includes videotapes of lessons taught and samples of students' work. During the following summer, the teacher spends a day at a test center completing a set of exercises addressing pedagogy and content.

National Board certifications -- and the standards on which they are based -- are structured around student developmental levels (early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence, adolescence and young adulthood), as well as by subject area. At the present time there are standards established for 21 fields.

For a comprehensive view of structures for professional development, go to the online version of the ENC publication Ideas That Work: Mathematics Professional Development (http://enc.org/professional/
ideas/math/documents/0,1341,ACQ-133273-index,00.shtm). This publication, based on Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics by Susan Loucks-Horsley (1998), identifies five principles of effective professional development. It also proposes a sequential four-step process of goal setting, planning, action, and reflection, and summarizes 15 strategies for professional development design. Each strategy discussion includes a description of a program in which the particular strategy plays a major role. Also found are suggestions for putting the strategies into action along with important issues to consider when implementing these strategies.

In closing, I think fellow panelist, Marsha Nicol, said it best in her panel position paper, "The Struggle for Mathematical Excellence." Marsha stated, "Professional development opportunities occur in small time slots, and implementation is assumed to be quickly forthcoming. In my own life, change has come in small, steady increments; and professional development opportunities have been the most beneficial, when I have been immersed in them and have then had time to discuss and revise with colleagues."

To reply, please first log into The Knowledge Loom

Back      Return to the Forum

This resource is developed and maintained by The Education Alliance at Brown University. Seed funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Send comments to: loom@alliance.brown.edu