Have We Missed the Mark? When Quantity Overshadows Quality of Professional Development
I recently engaged in a productive conversation with a teacher about professional development. It was about three weeks prior to the beginning of the school year, and opening day activities were fast approaching. These activities included the district breakfast, welcome and introductions of new staff, the guest speaker, and dismissal to individual buildings. At individual buildings, administrators conduct faculty meetings for teachers and staff. The faculty meetings usually cover topics such as policies and procedures, new programs, goals and objectives, and lots of professional development.
I was curious about the professional development. I wanted to know how teachers felt about the new educational initiative, how it was being implemented during instructional delivery, and if they expected any positive gains in student learning and achievement. As the conversation progressed, I saw and heard his excitement dwindling. It became apparent that he was not looking forward to the beginning-of-the-year activities. I will admit that this piqued my curiosity, so I asked if he was excited about the professional development sessions that were planned for all employees. His answer was honest but not surprising. He said, “No. It’s just too much. I won’t be able to use it.”
This teacher’s response says a lot. I have heard teachers make this statement throughout the years before, during, and after professional development days. I have heard this same statement while serving in the role as a teacher, as an administrator, and as an educational consultant.
Now, I want to give full disclosure. I love professional development and always have. I loved it as a teacher. I loved it as an administrator. I love it as an educational consultant who provides professional development to educators. Yet, not everyone feels positively about professional development. Whether teacher, administrator, or consultant, it is an important responsibility of all providers to understand why educators may not enjoy professional development activities, as well as understand how to make the experience better. In order to assess the status of present professional development, we need to identify and analyze three integral factors. They are meaning of feedback, the disconnect and its contributing factors, and creating change.
Meaning of Feedback
Feedback is essential and necessary. We use it to reflect upon and to determine the strengths and weaknesses of professional development in order to improve the experience. Please indulge me while I use this time to reflect upon the feedback that I received from the teacher with whom I spoke. First, I want to examine the initial part of the statement, “It’s just too much.” The words “too much” allude to quantity. In the context of professional development, quantity could reference the number of state-required continuing professional education (CPE) credits or hours needed for teachers and administrators to keep certification active. It could refer to time and the specific number of hours that educators have to participate in any given professional development session. It could reference the number of initiatives that educators undertake and implement within the school entity. There is also the possibility that “too much” pertains to another responsibility added to the numerous ones that educators already have. Take your pick as to which one it is. My bet is on “all of the above.”
The second part of the feedback, “I won’t be able to use it,” speaks more to quality. Quality is something that has merit or value. Although value may be perceived differently by individual participants, professional development is supposed to have value for all in order to increase educator knowledge and understanding. It is supposed to improve skills and expertise within instructional delivery in order to improve student learning and achievement. “Supposed to,” however, does not necessarily match up with reality. This is the disconnect that needs to be carefully examined to ascertain the underlying, contributing factors involved in the discrepancy between intended results and actual results of the professional development experience.
The Disconnect and Its Contributing Factors
As with any disconnect, it is paramount to identify contributing factors. We can do this by examining the current construct of professional development sessions. There are many options of professional development available to educators in order to attain CPE credits or hours. Offsite workshops and conferences, onsite professional development days, and online and virtual training provide diverse experiences for teachers, administrators, and staff. These opportunities for professional development are generally presented during a six-hour or three-hour session that provides as much, if not all, of the information that is needed for knowledge and understanding pertaining to the given topic. After the session is finished, it is an assumption that training is complete. It is further assumed that all educators have what they need to implement the initiative within instructional delivery. Nothing else is needed.
Yet, despite availability of choices and time allotted for continued learning, the feedback from professional development activities may demonstrate something different than what has been assumed. Therefore, we need to delve further and examine the disconnect between intended results versus actual results. Using the statement “It’s just too much. I won’t be able to use it,” we can view the disconnect through the lens of quantity and quality so as to understand their contributing factors.
The first lens is quantity. Quantity refers to an amount. We can equate “amount” to the contributing factors of requirements and demands. Requirements are a known quantity. As educators, we are required to attain a certain amount of CPE credits or hours of professional development within a given time frame. Although the hours of time as well as frame of time vary from state to state, these requirements are incumbent to the educator keeping certification active. Demands are also a known quantity, but they are more fluid. Although demands may be different for individual educators, there is one commonality that is an inadvertent outcome. Demands form parameters when fulfilling CPE requirements. Demands include but are not limited to school calendar, teacher contract, school day, work day, job responsibilities, and in-service time. The end result is a limited amount of time to fulfill requirements in order to keep certification active and current.
The second lens is quality. Quality refers to merit or value. This can equate to a contributing factor of usefulness of professional development. Usefulness is more subjective. Due to its subjectivity, it is more difficult to guarantee usefulness to the participant. How does usefulness look? Who determines usefulness? How do we measure it? The framework of usefulness has to be determined before you can do any kind of measurement. Whether measurement is gathered through feedback on evaluation forms or through an assessment of knowledge administered to participants, we can gather results. We can also gather results for quality by looking at improved test scores or improved teacher evaluations. Results, however, can be ambiguous as we may not know if findings are derived from principle of causation or correlation. It is much easier to measure quantity because amount is defined. You either meet the requirements or you do not. You either fit professional development into the time frame or not. In fact, I would posit that since quantity is easier to measure and attain, it becomes the overarching criteria of professional development. You can meet the requirements within the demands of quantity and attain hours needed for CPE hours with or without high-quality or usefulness of services.
Herein lies the problem that leads to the disconnect. The contributing factors of requirements, demands, and usefulness are not balanced. Requirements and demands can be met, but there is no guarantee of usefulness. The quantity of professional development overshadows the quality of the experience. As educators, we must give focus to the requirement of CPE hours and credits. We also get caught up in completing those requirements within the demands of schedules, school calendar, work day, etc. Quality has taken a back seat to quantity. We have not given quality the attention that it truly deserves when providing professional development. We have missed the mark in the delivery of professional development as well as its implementation of initiatives within instructional delivery. If we do not hit the bull’s-eye of quality, we will continue to spin our wheels and see implementation of educational initiatives in ways as they were not intended, used with limitations, or never used.
Creating Change
How do we make a positive change as to ensure more useful professional development experiences? The answer to this question lies in our focus. We need to focus on quality so it ceases to be overshadowed by quantity. When we place quality as the highest priority of professional development, it forces us to re-imagine the entire professional development experience from start to finish. You can create the change to ensure a high-quality professional development experience using these strategies.
Establish goals before, during, and after professional development experiences that center upon value.
Value of professional development is determined by the usefulness of the participant. This only makes sense when done in the context of the participant’s role and responsibilities. Goals for administrators are different from goals for teachers. Goals for teachers are different from goals for staff. Although the professional development experience may be the same for administrator, teacher, and staff, the usefulness is different for each. Create SMART (strategic, measurable, attainable, results oriented, time bound) goals that are customized for the participant. This will give the ability to create plans for implementation as well as determine positive gains for each participant.
Plan for quality professional development that will allow for fulfilling requirements for certification and demands of the participant.
Professional development takes time to deliver within the narrow time frame available to educators. Be creative and plan ahead of time. Use professional development days, faculty meetings, or department meetings for continued learning and implementation. Create a building schedule that has common planning time for grade levels or departments so colleagues have time to work together. Consider using substitute teachers to provide classroom coverage while teachers receive professional development or work on implementing a new initiative. If possible, use after-work hours or time during summer months. Do what works for you. Flexibility is key.
Create professional development sessions that use the “small bites” method of focused topics of learning.
Make it a goal to present learning segments in 30 minutes or less. When educators receive professional development in small, focused segments, it allows for depth of understanding and processing of information. More important, it allows for participants to discuss learning topics, to ask questions, and to plan for implementation during instructional delivery. If learning requires more time than one 30-minute segment, present segments at separate times in a logical and sequential order that builds knowledge. Presenting one topic at a time is crucial for quality and usefulness.
Create a timeline for implementation.
Developing a timeline is fundamental to success. First, you need to build your timeline around existing time within the district calendar and building schedule. Your timeline should include outcomes and action steps that will assist in the process of implementation. Determine who will be responsible for completing outcomes and action steps. Set dates for completion. Second, use input from anyone who will participate during implementation to create the timeline. Participant feedback is critical to developing a practical and realistic time frame for implementation during instructional delivery.
Provide support for implementation.
In order to increase the success of usefulness of the initiative, identify existing supports as well as areas of need. Complete an inventory and determine resources, materials, and equipment that need to be purchased. Provide all necessary supports to ensure success. If educational initiatives are to be implemented with fidelity, the organization needs to support the initiative with fidelity.
Use evaluation and feedback to improve quality of professional development.
In order to promote quality, both evaluation and feedback are needed. Evaluation provides pertinent information regarding the professional development experience that will allow for improvement of future learning. Feedback is needed before, during, and after implementation to ensure that the initiative is successful within instructional delivery. Use evaluation and feedback on a regular basis. This will enhance the quality of the professional development and implementation experiences.
Professional development can address the factors of quality and quantity if put into proper perspective. By placing the importance of quality first, you can increase the success of implementation within the classroom.
Dr. Paula Westerman is founder and chief executive officer of DevelApped, West Educator Applications, LLC, a Pennsylvania-based firm that addresses the professional development needs of educators through a unique platform using disruption innovation. Having served in Pennsylvania public schools for over 25 years, Dr. Westerman brings her extensive educational experience as a central office administrator, secondary and elementary building administrator, and elementary teacher to provide consulting services for educators on current and relevant initiatives that will help school entities transform their programs to improve student learning and achievement.
