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School Professional Development Analysis

Betty Graham Young

Grand Canyon University: EAD 523

June 1, 2020
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School Professional Development Analysis

It is certainly true that effective professional development programs increase the capacity

of staff in a way that aligns to the school vision and mission, and promotes data-driven, student-

centered learning. Professional development contributes to the culture of the school as it

promotes professional growth, collaboration, and student achievement. Therefore, these, among

other factors, must be considered when deciding upon the content of professional development

sessions. Members of school improvement teams meet on a regular basis to share ideas that

address concerns within their schools. They use data and information from needs assessments to

make informed decisions that aligns to their school’s vision and mission. Given the

unprecedented times we are living in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, professional development

programs are necessary in more ways than they ever have before. Our physical classrooms have

been converted into Google Classroom, Google Meet, Zoom, Canvas, and other digital learning

platforms. Professional Development Programs are in the form of webinars, online coaching

teleconferenced professional development, YouTube, and social media support groups.

Unfortunately, these outlets lack the interaction and professional engagement necessary for

teacher support. Therefore, school administrators must ensure that specific assessment

procedures are put in place with regards to the development of the virtual classroom environment

and teachers’ instructional abilities.

Being a teacher myself makes me fully acquainted with the grief that so many of my

colleagues are experiencing during this unprecedented time. We have attended countless

professional development programs; however, they were specific to the context of our individual

classrooms. Therefore, unless you are a Career Technology Education (CTE) teacher, your

technology skills are very limited, which makes virtual teaching very challenging.
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Administrators and other school leaders are having to totally reevaluate, revise, and restructure

their professional development programs. This is in addition to supporting teachers’ instructional

abilities and evaluating current webinars and online tutorials. Instructional coaches have become

a commodity to educators and partners to administrators as they have had to become

instructional leaders. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced schools to close and

introduced remote learning, traditional professional development sessions created space for the

collaboration of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to share ideas and resources that

strengthened and reinforced professional development content. Administration and other

members of leadership teams would use different measures to evaluate teachers’ effectiveness in

the implantation of the concepts and skills they learned at those sessions. District leaders are

uncertain as to whether those times will ever return; therefore, they are preparing for a new

normal—remote instruction and learning.

Webinars did exist prior to March 2020 when school buildings closed their doors to

prevent the spread of coronavirus. However, not many schools used them for professional

development as they did not present collaboration and interactive, hands-on activities for

participants. Now, there is an abundance of synchronous (previously recorded) and asynchronous

(presented in real-time) webinars and professional development sessions on multiple digital

platforms. The article titled, “Developing, Situating and Evaluating Effective Online

Professional Learning and Development: A Review of Some Theoretical and Policy

Frameworks”, had this to say regarding virtual learning, Indeed, there has been an

internationally significant “explosion” in online PLD, and “with so much of the material open

source and available in translation … [we] can only reasonably view this as a global

phenomenon” (AITSL and The Innovation Unit 2014, p. 20). Because there are so many different
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topics covered, teachers must be very deliberate about the sessions they choose as time

management is critical. Teachers are learning and providing instruction all at the same time.

Teachers should also assess the validity of the professional development sessions with regards to

ease of implantation of concepts and skills taught. Additionally, teachers must keep data related

to students’ abilities to access the curriculum within remote learning.

Data is used in education to make informed decisions regarding student achievement. The

results of that data determines what areas of professional development teachers need in order to

effectively and successfully deliver instruction within the context of their classrooms. Teachers

must properly record information that will support the advancement of effective professional

development programs. However, considering the exorbitant cost and time involved in

professional development sessions, administrators and district personnel must carefully evaluate

their effectiveness.

Administrators should consider certain factors when determining the efficacy, quality,

and relevancy of professional development programs. What is the purpose of the program? Does

it align with researched-based practices? Has the data involved with deciding its contents been

properly interpreted? Does it align with our school’s vision and mission? Lastly, but most

importantly, is it rigorous, cooperative, demonstrative, inquiry-based, data-driven, and student-

focused? These questions must be answered and checked off for the effectiveness and success of

our school’s Professional Development Program.

References

Simon, M., Black, W. R. (2011). International Journal of Special Education, v26 n2 p160-184

2011. 25 pp. Differentiated Accountability Policy and School Improvement Plans: A

Look at Professional Development and Inclusive Practices for Exceptional Students.

Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ937183.pdf

Hagan, D. C.; Houchens, G. (2016). Journal of Catholic Education, v20 n1 Article 4 Oct 2016.

29 pp Catholic School Faculty Meetings: A Case Study Linking Catholic Identity, School

Improvement, and Teacher Engagement. Retrieved from https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/

Quinn, F., Charteris, J., Adlington, R., Rizk, N., Fletcher, P., Reyes, V., Parkes, M. (2017).

Australian Educational Researcher; v.46 n.3 p.405-424; July 2019 Developing, Situating

and Evaluating Effective Online Professional Learning and Development: A Review of

Some Theoretical and Policy Frameworks. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/

Ullah, H., Rehman, A., Saeeda B. (2015). Pak Armed Forces Medical Journal. Gagne’s Nine

Events of Instruction: Tested Way to Improve Teaching. Received from https://eds-b-

ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/