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A Change of Course
http://www.nfie.org/course.htm
"A Change of Course" is the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education's (NFIE) program to improve the quality and availability of professional development for public school teachers, education support personnel, and higher education faculty and staff.
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Action Research Update: Constructing Knowledge
http://www.ufttc.org/publications/specialedition14/spedhome14.html
(Select Action Research from pull-down menu.)
Article in UFT's Special Edition, Volume 14 about Constructing Knowledge: Building Communities of Learners through Job-Embedded Professional Development (CK), an action research project conducted during the 2000-2001 school year by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Lab at Brown University (LAB). Action research was the vehicle used to engage participants in a quest to develop habits of mind for collaboration and inquiry. The goals were to build growing communities of learners to work with local evidence and ultimately to alter their practices based on findings resulting from their inquiry. Article includes outline of project design and case studies for several sites.
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American Federation of Teachers: Professional Development
http://www.aft.org/Edissues/teacherquality/prodev.htm
What are the characteristics of good professional development programs? How much do they cost? Who pays for them? These and other issues are discussed and exemplary programs highlighted.
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Blue Ribbon Schools
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/BlueRibbonSchools/
An online brochure provides basic information about the purpose of the program, the nomination process, and how schools are chosen.
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Building Bridges: The Mission and Principles of Professional Development from the U.S. Department of Education Professional Development Team
http://www.ed.gov/G2K/bridge.html
This web site describes the essential role that professional development plays in successful education reform. Professional development is described as the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be to meet the new challenges required to guide all students to achieve higher standards of learning and development.
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By Request: High Quality Professional Development
http://www.nwrel.org/request/june98/
This booklet is the seventh in a series of "hot topic" reports produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These reports briefly address current educational concerns and issues as indicated by requests for information that come to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond. Each booklet contains an explanation of the topic importance, a sampling of how Northwest schools are addressing the issue, suggestions for adapting these ideas to schools, selected references, and contact information.
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Creating Clusters: Study Groups for Professional Learning
http://www.ufttc.org/publications/specialedition14/spedhome14.html
(Select Creating Clusters from pull-down menu.)
Article in UFT's Special Edition, Volume 14 about study groupwss as primary vehicles for professional development in the Teacher Center at Theodore Roosevelt High School. the Bronx, NY. specific examples given about what they do.
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Designing Effective Professional Development: Lessons from the Eisenhower Professional Development Program
http://www.ed.gov/inits/teachers/eisenhower/
This is the second publication from the congressionally mandated National Evaluation of the Eisenhower Professional Program that is being conducted under contract by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).
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Education Week Special Issue of Professional Development
http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=16
Summarizes current issues related to professional development and includes links to Ed Week articles on professional development and related organizations.
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Ideas that Work: Professional Development Series
http://enc.org/reform/iindex.htm
These publications from the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse highlight 15 strategies for effective professional development for teachers. Each strategy is illustrated with a real-life example, and the publication also includes longer descriptions of existing programs that combine these strategies.
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IMPACT
http://projects.terc.edu/impact/
IMPACT is a five-year project striving to accelerate the implementation of standards-based instructional materials throughout New England. The Center for Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education plans to build on existing regional structures to provide the information, resources and support for districts and their teachers in this next step in educational reform. The site describes this reform plan.
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Islands of Hope in a Sea of Dreams: A Research Report on the Model Professional Development Award Winning Schools
http://www.wested.org/wested/pubs/online/PDawards/welcome.shtml
This research report highlights the findings of an intensive study of eight schools that won the U.S. Department of Education's Model Professional Development Award. The study examined how teacher learning occurred in these schools and what support structures helped promote increased student achievement through increased teacher learning.
The study highlights the importance of and describes the structure of job-embedded, informal learning experiences available to each teacher within these schools. It provides information about the critical role of the school principal in supporting teacher learning. It describes the support systems available in each school to promote teacher learning and the application of new learning practices. And, it examines the culture of these schools that makes learning a necessary part of the daily life of each staff member.
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Model Professional Development Award Program
http://www.ed.gov/inits/TeachersWeb/guidelines.html#criteria
The purpose of the Mission and Principles of Professional Development is to promote excellence in teaching and learning. Applicants must adequately document improved student learning resulting from a professional development design that exemplifies these principles.
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Multicultural Staff Development
http://www.mcreview.com/
One of the articles featured in the September 1999 issue of "Multicultural Review" is "Supporting Teachers in Becoming Multicultural Educators: A Model Staff Development Program" (volume 8[3]: 30-40). The article, written by Penelope L. Lisi and William A. Howe, discusses challenges and approaches to training multicultural educators, and includes the authors' four-step model for developing a multicultural curriculum: (1) Awareness, (2) Knowledge, (3) Skills, and (4) Action Plans. Lisi and Howe discuss their model within the context of a four-year project to implement multicultural education across the Unified School District II (USD II) of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The USD II project instituted a number of district-wide changes, including the creation of a multicultural library/media center, and policy that tied multicultural lesson planning to professional development plans and teacher evaluation. Results from the project showed an increase in staff awareness of multicultural education and ability to view topics from multiple perspectives.
Information on subscribing to "Multicultural Review" is online at: http://www.mcreview.com/
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National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching
http://www.npeat.org/
NPEAT engages in research-based collaborative action to ensure teaching excellence and provides ongoing information in three areas: Teacher Education and Recruitment, Professional Development and Induction, and Standards and Assessments.
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National Staff Development Council Website
http://www.nsdc.org/
The National Staff Development Council's website provides information about staff development and the Council's efforts to improve the quality of staff development available to educators. Information about the Council's activities, publications, programs, and services are available through the website.
The site is designed for use by both educators and non-educators and offers two different areas of information. Within the educators' site are articles for recent publications, research summaries, and other useful information. The members-only section includes a fully searchable library of all NSDC publications. In the non-educator area, there are resources of interest to parents, school board members, community members, and policy makers.
Questions about the site should be directed to: Joan Richardson, Director of Publications, National Staff Development Council, 1128 Nottingham Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48230, telephone: 313-824-5061, fax: 313-824-5062, NSDCJoan@aol.com
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Online Poetry Classroom
http://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/
This website, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, provides access to curriculum units and lesson plans created by teacher participants in Online Poetry Classroom workshops. These workshops bring middle school and high school teachers together with practicing poets and technology experts to develop new strategies for teaching poetry. The site also contains a searchable database of poets and poems, interactive teacher forums, and a teacher resource center full of relevant links.
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PDS Partnership Development: A Listserv for PDS Educators
The National Institute for Community Innovations and its partners have created an online forum focusing on issues related to developing professional development school partnerships and to strengthening existing partnerships. Topics for discussion, exploration, and exchange include: characteristics of successful partnerships; obstacles to collaboration and how to overcome them; stages of partnership development; expanding participation in partnership initiatives; structures and strategies used by successful partnerships; methods for evaluating the effectiveness of partnerships; renewing and revitalizing partnerships.
To subscribe, send an e-mail message to majordomo@nici-mc2.org and leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, type "subscribe pds-devel." Do not attach a signature file. Once you have been added to the list, send your messages with questions, comments, and information about helpful resources to pds-devel@nici-mc2.org
Any questions about the forum should be directed to:
Robert McLaughlin, Executive Director, NICI
235 Main Street, Montpelier, VT 05602
Telephone: 802-223-0463, Fax: 802-229-2013
mclaughlinb@nici-mc2.org
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Peer-Assisted Leadership (PAL) Program
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/peer.html
Non-judgmental, inquiry-based approach to leadership development in which
principals form partnerships to help each other reflect on their practice. PAL
partners work together over a period of 4 to 8 months, shadowing and
interviewing each other to collect data and analyze their leadership activities
in context. Participants also meet regularly as a group, learning and practicing
various inquiry skills (e.g., shadowing, interviewing, theme identification), as
well as sharing and processing their partnership experiences. These
meetings, together with the partnerships, provide a supportive forum for
professional dialog that reduces isolation, deepens understanding, and
supports change.
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Professional Development: Learning from the Best
http://www.ncrel.org/pd/toolkit.htm
This is a gold mine for those who need to design, implement and evaluate a staff development plan. It stands as a complete resource guide to assist staff development decision makers. A wealth of appendices and over 14 tools are packed into this practical resource.
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Professional Development: Staff Learning for Student Results
http://www.ncrel.org/pd/
Here you will find a full range of information geared to help you make professional development a bedrock of excellence in your school or district. This site is designed for school and district-level teachers, administrators, and others interested in improving professional development.
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Professional Learning Communities: Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement
http://www.sedl.org/siss/plc/plc.html
"Professional Learning Communities" includes stories and reports of research on how professional staff in schools--teachers and principals--organize as a learning community. It summarizes what professional learning communities look like and how they operate. It identifies the outcomes for staff and students when educators organize a learning community within a school.
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Profiles of Successful Schoolwide Programs
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/idea_profiles
"Profiles of Successful Schoolwide Programs" (December, 1998) describes 8 successful schoolwide programs, including 6 elementary schools, a middle school, and a secondary (grades 7-12) school. This booklet (Volume 2 of "Implementing Schoolwide Programs") is designed to help schools plan, operate, and improve their schoolwide programs.
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Promising Practices: Improving Professional Development Practices
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PromPractice/chapter6.html
Book chapter (also available in pdf) that addresses seven practices nominated as promising practices by regional education laboratories, reviews of research literature, and researchers for the national commission.
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Questioning and Understanding to Improve Learning and Thinking (QUILT)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/quest.html
Staff development program designed to increase students' true thinking time by helping teachers improve their classroom questioning techniques. Three
major components are provided in the program: (1) Induction training: Teachers learn about effective questioning techniques during a 3-day
(18-hour) introductory training period conducted by members of a local
facilitation team; (2) Collegiums: Participants meet in seven 90-minute
seminars throughout the school year to learn, share, and interact about
particular questioning behaviors targeted for practice and improvement; and
(3) Partnering: Teachers observe and are observed by partners six times
during the year.
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Strategic Teaching and Reading Project (STRP)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/strat.html
Focus on professional development based on the premise that teachers must
receive training and support in strategic teaching in order to help students
become strategic readers and learners themselves. STRP, developed by the
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), emphasizes the
team approach, which spreads the demands of instructional leadership
among team members, builds on areas of expertise, fosters collaboration, and
reduces threats to the continuity of the project that can come from staff
turnover.
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Synergy Learning
http://www.synergylearning.org
Synergy Learning is a comprehensive site covering math, science, and design technology for Grades K-8. Many computer-using educators will be familiar with its magazine Connect®. Archives from the magazine, information on inquiry learning, a sample magazine issue, and resources for science labs are available on the site. Synergy Learning offers support materials through free online information, summer institutes and workshops, and magazine subscriptions.
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Teacher Quality
http://www.ed.gov/teacherquality/
This web page is a part of the U.S. Department of Education's extensive online resources. Designed to respond to the goal for a quality teacher in every classroom, this site provides suggested resources for preservice, novice, and experienced educators. It includes suggested resources for developing teachers' knowledge and skills related to standards, rigorous assessment, and site-based management. Practical tips, examples, and research reports make this site useful to teachers, principals, and curriculum specialists, and staff development coordinators.
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Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success
http://nfie.org/publications/takecharge_full.htm
NFIE's report, "Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success," asserts that continuous teacher learning is the key to helping students achieve high standards and that the profession itself must take responsibility for weaving continuous learning into the fabric of the teaching job. Features many schools/programs (http://www.nfie.org/course.htm) across the nation that have increased student learning by focusing on the professional development of teachers.
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The "Hope for Urban Education" study of nine high-performing, high poverty urban elementary schools.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/urbanhope/
This report is about nine urban elementary schools that served
children of color in poor communities & achieved impressive
academic results. These schools have attained higher levels of
achievement than most schools in their states or most schools in
the nation. They have achieved results in reading & mathematics
beyond that achieved in some suburban schools. This report tells
the stories of these schools & attempts to explain how these
schools changed themselves into high-achieving schools.
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The National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform
http://www.goodschools.gwu.edu/
The National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform publishes a monthly newsletter on issues related to school reform. The February 2000 issue was devoted to staff development, available at http://www.goodschools.gwu.edu/bookFeb.htm
Subscribe to the free newsletter at http://www.goodschools.gwu.edu
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Tried and True: Tested Ideas for Teaching and Learning from the Regional Educational Laboratories
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/index.html
Online book of sixteen tested programs and practices for improving teaching and learning developed by (and available from) the Regional Educational Laboratories. Five chapters are devoted to teacher professional development.
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Using Case Studies to Inform Professional Development
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/teach.html
Describes the Mathematics Case Methods project that references a collection
of cases for use by primary teachers and another for classroom discussion by
students with teachers serving as facilitators. The cases portray real-life
teaching dilemmas that build teacher capacity through the careful process of
reflection and inquiry generated by facilitated discussions with other teachers.
They assist teachers in developing deep pedagogical content knowledge, the
ability to see the subject through the eyes of the student, and to know what instructional experiences can be used to capitalize on that child's thinking.
Whether cases are content specific or deal with broader teaching issues, case
discussants examine different approaches to teaching and learning,
considering the benefits and drawbacks of each.
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What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~teachcomm/what.htm
The National Commission on Teaching & America's Future offers this report as a blueprint for recruiting, preparing, and supporting excellent teachers in all of America's schools.
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What Works in the Middle: Results-based Staff Development
http://www.nsdc.org/midbook/
This is a consumer's guide, based on a two-year study by the National Staff Development Council, to 26 staff development programs that boost student learning in the middle grades in the core content areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies by increasing teachers' knowledge and skills. The guide includes a description of the staff development programs, guidelines for selecting and/or designing initiatives to improve student achievement, strategies for evaluating staff development, and more information about how these programs were selected.
