TWO BENEFITS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

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TWO BENEFITS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

• Professional Development as a Key Strategy for
  Avoiding Legal Mishaps and Improving Student
  Learning
• Robin L. Hegner

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CHANGE

• In times of change, the learner will inherit the
  earth while the learned will be beautifully
  equipped for a world that no longer exists.
• Eric Hoffer

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INTRODUCTION

• Temptation to cut professional development
  spending as a means of balancing the budget.
• Professional development must remain a clear
  priority in budget development.

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INTRODUCTION

• Successful school boards understand what all
  successful businesses understand the importance
  of ensuring that their employees stay current in
  their skills and knowledge.

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INTRODUCTION

• Teaching is a challenging, intellectual activity
  that requires
• In-depth knowledge of academic disciplines
• The ability to create interesting and challenging
  lessons for a variety of students and
• The capacity to understand and appropriately
  apply educational research.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES

• Increasingly litigious society. Schools have not
  been immune from this, especially in the area of
  educating students with disabilities.
• Numerous instances where school boards have lost
  legal disputes due to the lack of knowledge on
  the part of staff.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES

• Highly knowledgeable staff know to
• Refrain from telling a parent that the school
  division does not have the time or money to make
  accommodations.
• Avoid the assumption that, because a child has an
  IEP, he or she cannot handle honors level
  courses.
• Avoid telling a parent that their child has a
  specific disability or needs a certain placement
  before any evaluations are conducted.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES

• Highly knowledgeable staff know to
• Avoid referring a child for an evaluation without
  documenting efforts to assist the child in the
  current setting.
• Refrain from telling the parent to see their
  doctor about getting medicine or to be tested for
  attention problems.
• Ensure that the required composition of team
  members is at meetings.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES

• Highly knowledgeable staff know to
• Avoid fulfilling a parents request for something
  that is educationally inappropriate simply
  because they want to get it over with.
• Document conversations and activities.
• Refrain from stating that they have only full
  inclusion and do not have self-contained classes
  for certain disability categories.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES - Inclusion

• No easy formula for successful inclusion. Must
  be based on the individual needs of the student
  with a disability.
• Individuality is also an issue for staff.
  Teachers and administrators must change their
  views of education and how they educate.

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKAES - Inclusion

• Inclusion should not involve placing students
  without proper supports and services, trading the
  quality of a childs education for integration,
  or expecting general education teachers to teach
  without the support they need to teach
  effectively.
• National Association of State Boards of
  Education - 1994

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STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING LEGAL MISTAKES - Inclusion

• Successful inclusion requires professional
  development in
• Teaching techniques for students with
  disabilities.
• The different types of disabilities that students
  have.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING

• The number one factor that impacts student
  learning is the qualifications of the teacher and
  the teachers knowledge of the subject area he or
  she teaches.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING

• Changing times requires changing methods
• New laws related to student achievement.
• Technological advances in the way students
  study, organize and research.
• Ever-growing diverse student population.
• Increased knowledge of what makes an effective
  teacher.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING - NCLB

• The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to
  provide evidence that more teachers each year
  experience high-quality professional development.
• NCLB Philosophy Student failure is preventable,
  even for students who are at risk.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING - NCLB

• The purpose of Title II, Part A of the NCLB is to
  help states and school districts ensure that all
  students have effective teachers.
• Effective teachers those teachers with
  subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills
  necessary to help all children achieve high
  academic standards, regardless of learning styles
  or needs.

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• Improve and increase teachers knowledge of
  academic subjects and enable teachers to become
  highly qualified
• Are an integral part of broad school-wide and
  district-wide educational improvement plans
• Improve classroom management skills

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• Give teachers, principals, and administrators
  knowledge and skills to provide students with the
  opportunity to meet challenging state academic
  content standards and student achievement
  standards
• Are high quality, sustained, intensive,
  classroom-focused, and are not one-day or
  short-term workshops or conferences

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• Support recruiting, hiring, and training of
  highly qualified teachers
• Advance teacher understanding of effective
  instructional strategies that are based on
  scientifically-based research and improve student
  achievement, or substantially increase knowledge
  and teaching skills

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• Are aligned with and directly related to state
  academic content standards, student achievement
  standards and assessments
• Are developed with extensive participation of
  teachers, principals, parents and administrators
• Are designed to give teachers of limited English
  proficient children the knowledge and skills to
  provide instruction to those children

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• To the extent appropriate, provide training in
  the use of technology so that technology is
  effectively used in the classroom to improve
  teaching and learning
• Are regularly evaluated for their impact on
  increased teacher effectiveness and improved
  student academic achievement, with the findings
  of the evaluations used to improve the quality of
  professional development

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DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - NCLB

• Activities that
• Provide instruction in methods of teaching
  children with special needs
• Include instruction in the use of data and
  assessments to inform and instruct classroom
  practice and
• Include instruction in ways that school personnel
  may work more effectively with parents.
• Title IX, Section 9101 (34)

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Quality Teaching

• IF, as a teacher,
• (Carl Glickman, 2002)
• I present the same lesson in the same matter that
  I have used in the past
• I seek no feedback from my students
• I do not analyze and evaluate work in a manner
  that changes my own emphasis, repertoire or
  timing
• I do not visit or observe other adults as they
  teach

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Quality Teaching

• I do not share the work of students with
  colleagues for feedback, suggestions and
  critique
• I do not attend particular workshops or seminars
  and read professional literature on aspects of my
  teaching
• I do not welcome visitors with experience and
  expertise to observe and provide feedback on my
  classroom practice

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Quality Teaching

• I have no individualized professional development
  plan focused on classroom changes to improve
  student learning and finally,
• I have no systematic evaluation of my teaching
  tied to individual, grade/department, and
  school-wide goals,
• THEN. . .

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Quality Teaching

• I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO BECOME BETTER AS A
  TEACHER.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING

• Quality teaching requires that teachers
• Deepen their content knowledge and become
  intellectually engaged with their subject-matter
• Learn research-based instructional strategies
  that are aligned with their content standards
• Acquire knowledge of assessments so they can
  monitor student progress and adjust accordingly
• Understand and appreciate all students.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Parental Involvement

• Students whose parents are involved are more
  likely to succeed.

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STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING
Parental Involvement

• We must invest in professional development that
  provides educators with the knowledge and skills
  necessary to involve parents in their childrens
  education.

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COMMUNICATION ERRORS

• Giving parents the impression that you, as a
  school official, have all the answers as to what
  is appropriate for their child.

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COMMUNICATION ERRORS

• Failing to learn about individual disabilities,
  try something new, or review information offered
  by the parent.

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COMMUNICATION ERRORS

• Failing to walk in the parents or childs shoes.

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COMMUNICATION ERRORS

• Failing to conduct oneself in an appropriate and
  professional manner.

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QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Most effective when grounded in specific academic
  content.
• Based on a review of data to identify the
  learning needs of students in the school
  district.
• Developed by everyone who affects student
  learning, not by a top-down approach.

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QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Allows teacher to have an understanding of the
  principles behind the teaching strategy, observe
  an expert modeling the strategy, and practice the
  strategy with peer coaching.
• Requires evaluation by frequent follow-up and
  monitoring.
• Embedded in the everyday life of the school.

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CONCLUSIONS

• All organizations find resources for what they
  consider important.

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CONCLUSIONS

• We must see teaching as a complex and
  intellectually demanding job that requires the
  same type of rigorous preparation and career-long
  learning expected from other professionals.

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CONCLUSIONS

• WHO DARES TO TEACH MUST NEVER CEASE TO LEARN
• John Colton Dana