Competency Based Collaborative Professional Development

Video Transcription

Hello there and welcome. In this lesson, we will take a close look at how to analyze the significance of teacher competencies in collaborative professional development. We will also look at some of the work from top researchers in the field. So let's get started.

I have to go way back to my youth to find a job I had that wasn't related to education. I was a cashier and a stock boy at a pharmacy and I certainly wasn't crazy about that job. I did learn some valuable lessons that have stuck with me all these years. I remember being trained on how to stock the shelves. The expectation was that the products placed on the shelves were always rotated and that our cash drawers were always accurate. At the end of each week we would get reviewed on this criteria. I only lasted on the job for about a month.

So what makes the biggest impact on student achievement? Research from the Measures of Teacher Effectiveness Project and giants in the field like John Hattie, Robert Marzano, and Linda Darling-Hammond revealed that the answer to that question is a highly effective teacher. In order to capitalize on this fact, researchers continue to look for ways to measure teacher impact and the effectiveness that their practice and professional development has on student achievement.

All stakeholders involved know that teacher quality must be a top priority in order to get the results we desire. A step toward reaching that goal is to promote collaborative teaching and learning practices. Established standards are an extremely effective way to evaluate teacher effectiveness. InTASC standards, which are the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, are the most common. They were developed by the Chief Council of State School Officers and outline the specific practices that effective teachers consistently engage in.

When teachers look at these standards, they know exactly what is needed in order to become more effective. Furthermore, when included as part of an evaluation process, administrators can support the work as well. Speaking of evaluation, it was Charlotte Danielson who incorporated these standards into her teacher evaluation framework rubrics. In doing so her, rubrics provide an overview of levels of proficiency for teachers.

Like any profession or job, there are standards that you hope to achieve-- maybe it's customer service or maybe it's quality work. For teachers, the skills and competencies needed to reach those standards are often the focus of professional development. It's really what teachers should know and be able to do. Furthermore, when competencies are clearly defined, teachers are able to measure their progress toward meeting the targets, benchmarks, and objectives.

This approach to professional development also leaves room for specific and attainable feedback. As learning opportunities are designed for adults, it's important to keep in mind that the focus should be on the areas that will have the greatest impact on increasing student achievement. You will certainly also want to make sure that they are in line with your current site-based initiatives that are outlined in your school improvement plan. Robert Marzano calls these high yield instructional strategies and John Hattie refers to this as visible learning. This is important information to have when considering a professional growth or development plan. And as mentioned earlier, teachers may benefit from working collaboratively on these.

Let's take a quick look back and summarize. In this lesson, we focused on what has the most impact on student achievement, and that is a highly effective teacher. Next we looked at how by having standards in place, evaluation becomes far more helpful for the teacher. Finally, we talked about how this is all related to professional development.

And now for today's food for thought. Think about a professional goal you recently established for yourself. How did you go about achieving it? As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you may want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deepen your learning and explore new ways to apply your acquired skill set. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you next time.