Jointly Planning Staff Training

Increasingly, in school districts nationwide, district-sponsored professional development programs are giving way to site-based endeavors. The consequences of this change, however, are not always positive nor immediately obvious. What is needed is a better balance of districtwide and site-based opportunities.

Many districtwide professional development efforts have a poor record of success. Too often they consist of one-shot presentations that have little relevance to the day-to-day problems of school administrators and classroom teachers. Furthermore, they seldom include the follow-up and support needed for the successful implementation of new practices.

Site-based approaches hold the promise of greater relevance because their content and procedures are determined by the individuals affected most directly: building-level educators.

Site-based professional development offers some clear advantages. Because the goals, content, format, and evaluation procedures are all determined at the school level, such efforts are more likely to be contextually relevant. Decisions about professional development that are site-based typically are made by school councils that include parents and community members. At this level, too, consensus on issues related to professional development is easier to reach because fewer individuals and constituencies are involved.

Balanced Approach

At the same time, when professional development endeavors are strictly site-based and not balanced to include a districtwide emphasis, important opportunities for sharing and collaboration are lost. In addition, issues of efficiency and effectiveness often are needlessly sacrificed for the sake of autonomy. Some of the important opportunities lost in site-based professional development include: a broad vision for improvement, sharing ideas and resources, collaboration across levels, and the efficient use of outside expertise.

* A broader vision. The demands of classroom instruction and building leadership compel teachers and principals to take a pragmatic approach. They focus their attention on what will make an immediate, positive difference in their classrooms and their schools. Since their day-to-day responsibilities limit the time they have to keep abreast of advances in their field, their view of professional development is often quite parochial.

A broader view that sees beyond classroom and school building walls, that can envision not only what is but also the possibilities of what can be, is required in systemic reform endeavors. Such a view is seldom evident when professional development efforts are strictly site-based.

* Sharing. One key benefit of professional development noted by teachers and school leaders is the opportunity to share resources and interact with colleagues who have similar responsibilities in other schools. These experiences allow educators to broaden their perspectives, share materials and ideas, and expand their repertoire of professional practices. Strictly site-based approaches to professional development negate this valuable sharing, interaction, and exchange.

* Collaboration. The press for accountability in education, especially in terms of student outcomes, has intensified the need for curriculum articulation across all school levels.

The curriculum development efforts of secondary teachers need to be coordinated with those of middle school teachers who, in turn, must coordinate what they do with those who teach in the elementary grades. Such collaboration gives all teachers a better understanding of their role in students' educational development and provides a smoother transition for students as they move from one level of schooling to the next. Professional development efforts that are strictly site-based, however, make such collaboration impossible.

* Outside expertise. Professional practice in education is informed by a growing knowledge base. Our understanding of that knowledge base often is facilitated by conversations with experts who are invited to share their ideas and expertise. However, opportunities to access these experts are limited. District- or regionwide professional development activities are an efficient way to make these opportunities widely available to educators who share common interests. Site-based approaches, on the other hand, limit such interactions to an individual site.

Prudent Planning

An alternative approach to staff development is to combine district efforts with site-based endeavors. To do so requires taking advantage of the positive features of both district and site-based approaches, using each for the purposes for which it is best suited.

Suppose, for example, that several school sites are interested in implementing cooperative learning--a valuable set of ideas with a well-established research base. Implementation might begin with an information-sharing session to provide everyone with a common knowledge base and shared vocabulary. Instead of having an expert conduct 10 similar information-sharing sessions at 10 sites, a more efficient strategy would be to bring the teachers and administrators from all sites together for a single session. When more extensive training is conducted to plan the implementation, teachers and administrators again could convene at one site to share ideas, resources, and strategies.

As each site adapts the ideas of cooperative learning to the unique conditions of the particular context, followup sessions at the site level will be necessary. Steps must be taken to ensure appropriate integration of cooperative learning with other instructional practices. Evaluation procedures that explore ways to obtain more positive results and encourage participation of additional staff members will be site-based.

The limited resources allocated to professional development demand wise, prudent, and efficient use. Models that focus exclusively on districtwide or site-based approaches are unlikely to yield significant improvements. On the other hand, a thoughtful combination of large-scale and context-specific approaches can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of professional development practices.

COPYRIGHT 1996 American Association of School Administrators
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group