Creating Professional Development Training

Video Transcription

In this tutorial, after reviewing Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning, I'll walk you through the process of using a template to create a professional development training. Let's get started.

Let's begin with the professional learning standards from Learning Forward. These standards outline the components that are necessary to create effective professional development, including learning communities, resources, learning designs, outcomes, leadership, data, and implementation.

So as we go through the process of using a template to design a professional development training, we want to always have in the back of our minds these seven standards. And we want to try to incorporate these elements into our professional development whenever possible.

Let's begin by identifying our site-based initiative target. Site-based initiatives may be aligned with district-strategic plans or with school improvement plans. Or site-based initiatives may be identified through an analysis of either teacher evaluation data or student achievement data.

This particular professional development training is going to be aligned with a site-based initiative focused on using Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies to improve student achievement. So all of the various components that I am going to include now in the rest of this template need to be aligned to this site-based initiative.

The next step in completing this template is to identify the outcomes and objectives that are desired. A best practice here is to refer back to the data that was used in determining the need for the professional development in the first place. This will help you to determine what changes you desire in your data as a result of the professional development plan or activity that you're making plans for.

My outcomes and objectives here should include goals or targets that have been developed using competencies from the ISTE Standards or the Danielson Framework or the InTASC Standards-- these professional teaching standards that help us to create goals and objectives that are aligned with best practices.

So my desired outcomes from this professional development training might include having teachers incorporate Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies in be highly tested areas of mathematics and language arts, and having teachers implement formative assessments to monitor student progress.

Notice that one of these outcomes specifically mentions Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies. When possible, we want to include language from the standards that we are aligning to. And we want to, again, refer back to those standards for professional learning.

So we want to be considering here things like our Standard 3, Learning Designs. We want to make sure that we are designing this professional development opportunity so that it is aligned to the various adult learning theories that are going to help teachers to be effective as they work towards meeting these outcomes and objectives.

Standard number 6, Data, is also very relevant here since the overall goal is to make changes in the data. We want to see student achievement increase. We want to see student scores on common assessments increase. And so that we can be keeping in mind, as well, here.

The next item on the template is the delivery model. How are we going to deliver this professional development? Whereas the more traditional delivery of professional development would involve just a large group training, you can see here how we are going to be incorporating several different pieces that are all going to work together to create a very effective method of delivery for this new content.

First, the content is going to be made available through an online classroom before the training. This is aligned with self-directed learning theory, as teachers are going to be able to build their self-efficacy and feel more in control of their learning here as they can access these resources when it is most convenient for them. And if they so desire, they can be well-versed with the new content before they even arrive to the large group training.

The more traditional large group training that will occur next is aligned with situated learning theory and networked learning theory, in the idea that the learning is going to be a product of the context in which it occurs and that the learning is going to be highly dependent on creating networks, both with resources and with other people. And so a large group training exercise can you'll be very effective if it keeps these ideas in mind.

Next, after that large group training, the focus of PLCs during their regular meeting time is going to be on the implementation of these new skills. This is aligned with social learning theory, as these teachers will be working together and supporting one another as they work towards meeting these goals. And finally, the observation of the implementation of these new skills is going to occur through the coaching process.

Next, we need to indicate who is going to deliver the professional development. The instructional coaches are going to be leading the large group training. And so they'll be responsible for delivering the majority of the content in this professional development training.

Next, we need to identify our SMART Goals. SMART Goals are developed using the standards-based outcomes and objectives that we identified earlier in the template. But SMART Goals are more specific.

These SMART Goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. They state exactly what teachers are going to be expected to do using measurable, observable components. These are attainable goals. They're not asking teachers to use formative assessment every single day. They're not asking teachers to incorporate all of Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies right away. These goals are both very relevant in terms of that site-based initiative that we are aligning to. And, again, they include a specific timeline.

Now, some SMART Goals will be written with just a single date, as is the case here. Some SMART Goals will provide a separate, more detailed timeline that includes a delivery date and implementation date, a separate date for measuring progress, and then even, perhaps, other dates for revisiting the topic and reflecting.

But no matter which style of SMART Goal you're writing-- whether it's the more detailed or one like these two goals, where just one date is given-- there does need to be that element of the SMART Goal being time-bound so you know when you are expected to have completed all of the various parts of the goal.

Next, we need to use the professional teacher standards to develop a competency-based rubric that will measure the effectiveness of the plan and progress towards those goals for teacher competencies. You may choose to create an analytic rubric. Or you can do, as I have done here, and use a holistic rubric that assigns a single numerical score that encapsulates all of the elements that you want to assess. We are aligned here to the Standards for Professional Learning, especially Standard number 4 of Outcomes. And we're also aligned here with Standard number 3 of Learning Designs.

A similar holistic rubric could be developed for the second SMART Goal. You'll want to design your rubrics so that they are aligned to the standards that are relevant to your professional development training. For example, the InTASC Standards or the ISTE Standards or Danielson's Framework, for example.

So we definitely have ensured alignment here to both the Standards for Professional Learning and Marzano's Teacher Evaluation Model. As we filled in the template, we included differentiated approaches to instruction, including four different methods of delivery that would be used altogether to create this one powerful learning experience.

We kept in mind alignment to various learning theories, which helped to increase teacher voice and choice in professional development and ultimately lead to teacher empowerment. We included several options that would increase dialogue, including peer coaching and PLC work towards meeting these goals. And we also made sure to include elements that would increase teacher engagement. So overall, I think we have created a plan here that will ultimately increase student achievement and increase teacher effectiveness.

So now it's your turn to stop and reflect. Use this template or a similar template to design a professional training experience that is aligned with the professional learning standards and with adult learning theories and other professional teacher standards.

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.