In this tutorial, we'll discuss some of the terminology used in competency-based collaborative professional development plans. Just like we can use a competency-based approach to create growth goals for our students and then to create plans to help students meet those goals, we can also use a competency-based approach to teacher professional development or growth plans.
A competency-based approach to professional development can help a collaborative team to set clear targets for themselves. And to establish clear metrics that will help them determine whether or not those targets, or skills, or competencies, or outcomes have been met. And so it's important that we have a good understanding of the various terms that are going to be used within the context of this competency-based approach to professional development.
We'll begin by looking at terms that might be used to describe the goals that you set for yourself in your collaborative professional development plan. We'll then take a closer look at competencies, skills, and content. And finally, we'll also examine standards. Let's get started.
Let's begin by discussing the terms that might be used to describe goals in the context of competency-based professional development. The simplest and most specific type of goal is going to be called a target. A target describes just a singular learning goal. An objective is a bit more complex than a target. An objective is going to actually contain multiple targets. And it may be a progress point on the path to an outcome.
So of the three, an outcome is the most complex of these terms. An outcome is going to encompass multiple objectives. An outcome is often written to describe an end goal-- to describe what the learner will have learned or what the learner will be able to do by the end of a unit of instruction or by the end of an instructional period. So in the context of professional development, an outcome may describe what is going to happen or what the teacher will be able to do at the end of the professional development plan.
Now, what makes these terms a little tricky is that these very terms are going to be defined differently and contextualized differently by different educational sources. For example, some sources would consider that outcomes and objectives are the same. And so, it's really important that you are aware of the definitions that are going to be specific to this course as they appear here in this tutorial.
No matter what the specific definitions of these terms are for the varying sources, a constant is that all of these terms-- targets, and objectives, and outcomes-- are always going to outline what students or, in the case of professional development, what teachers should know and be able to do. And also, targets and objectives and outcomes should always be aligned to your professional development plan's SMART goals. And those SMART goals, in turn, need to be aligned with any school and district goals.
So let's take a look at a sample. In a professional development plan, the teacher has included this target. The teacher will be able to identify Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies. That target might be aligned to an objective, asking the teacher to be able to implement Marzano's high-yield instructional strategy number one-- identifying similarities and differences. And that objective might be aligned to the outcome the teacher will be able to implement Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies into instruction.
Remember, part of the planning process for your professional development plan is writing SMART goals. So here's a sample SMART goal. Remember if the outcome is asking the teacher to be able to implement all of Marzano's nine high-yield instructional strategies, then an appropriate SMART goal might ask the teacher to have implemented four of those strategies by February 1st.
Next, let's take a look at competencies, skills, and content, again, in the context of this competency-based approach to collaborative professional development. Your professional development goals may address teacher capabilities, or they may address teacher knowledge, or they may address both of these elements at the same time.
Again, in the wide world of educational resources, you're going to see some variations in vocabulary here. So the term knowledge may also be referred to as content or as your topic. And again, you may see other terms being used to refer to capabilities.
You may see the term skills or even competencies used to describe what the teacher is going to be able to do. In this course, we have defined a skill as a single capability. And then a competency is defined as a specific ability that incorporates multiple skills. And competencies are going to be those skills or practices that are connected to the knowledge that teachers need to master.
So thinking back to our example of the target, and objective, and outcome related to Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies, the competency might be asking the teacher to implement strategy number one. Again, a competency is going to incorporate multiple skills. So this competency then really is directly related to the objective. We might write a series of skills that together would help a teacher progress towards achievement of that competency.
Let's look at a few examples of goals, also. Remember, one way to write a goal is to focus on a teacher capability. This goal is asking a teacher to incorporate one of Hattie's high effect strategies from Visible Learning. On the same topic, a professional development goal that would be focused on teacher knowledge would be asking that teacher to identify those high effect strategies from Visible Learning.
So an example of a professional development goal that incorporates both a capability and knowledge would be having that teacher select three high effect strategies from Visible Learning that are relevant to that teacher's classroom. And then having the teacher incorporate those strategies into their planning and instruction.
Finally, let's take a look at terms that may be used to describe standards in the context of your competency-based collaborative professional development plan. Professional teacher standards are going to outline for us what teachers should know and what teachers should be able to do. Sets of standards will generally span a very broad range of levels of mastery and proficiency, with the overall intent of describing all of the targeted teaching goals, including both knowledge and competencies.
Sometimes standards that are focused on capabilities will be referred to as practice standards or application standards or performance standards. And really, just in general, standards vocabulary is going to vary. So it's important to become familiar with the vocabulary of the sets of standards that are relevant to you.
For an example of this, let's take a closer look at InTASCs standard number eight-- instructional strategies. Feel free to pause the video for a moment here to examine the levels at which these standards are written. You can see how the target level standard is a singular skill that supports development of the objective level standard, which, in turn, supports development of the outcome level standard.
So here is a sample competency that might appear in a teacher's professional development plan aligned with this standard. A teacher might say I will incorporate at least three new high-yield or high-effect strategies into my classroom instruction and reflect on their impact on student achievement.
Now it's your tread to stop and reflect. Select an outcome level goal from your professional development plan, and try your hand at breaking it down into objective level goals and then target level goals. Can you see the progression from targets to objectives to outcomes?
To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the Additional Resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.
(00:00 - 01:16) Introduction
(01:17 - 04:37) Goals
(04:38 - 07:11) Competencies, Skills, and Content
(07:12 - 08:55) Standards
(08:56 - 09:34) Stop and Reflect
Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning: Competency-Based Teacher Preparation and Development
In this article, Karen Cator et al. explore how competencies should be used to measure teacher professional development.
digitalpromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/FINAL-Preparing-Teachers-for-Deeper-Learning-Paper-1.pdf
LOTE Teacher Competencies for Professional Development
This tool helps with the measurement of teacher growth through professional development.
https://www.sedl.org/loteced/products/competencies.pdf