Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
Content-specific professional learning
October 2010
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In This Issue
ARTICLES
Cornerstones of an educator's challenge is knowing what to teach and how to teach it
A key finding in the first report from Learning Forward’s ongoing research project on the status of professional learning in the U.S. states: “Effective professional development is intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice; focuses on the teaching and learning of specific academic content; is connected to other school initiatives; and builds strong working relationships among teachers.
Up close
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, education is more intensely in the spotlight recently, thanks to several high-profile education initiatives and reports.
Essentials
High-quality data are critical in developing definitions and policies to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. This policy brief explores the challenges faced by states and districts and presents examples of successful policies and strategies. While data is useful to policy makers, teachers can use the information to assess and strengthen their own instruction and student outcomes.
Principals + algebra (-fear) = instructional leadership
We were nearing the end of our series of principal study group sessions, and a small group was reflecting on what they had learned. That’s when Diane Meyers, principal at an area middle school, spoke. She started out softly, but her voice grew louder and stronger as her private experience became public. “This study group has been really good for me as a leader. I am more confident and clear about my vision for improving algebra instruction in the building, and I can talk about algebra with our teachers. But it’s also been really scary.
Mastering new standards will require teams to dig into deep content learning
To date, more than 44 states have adopted the new Common Core State Standards, and I think about what this means for every teacher and student. I recall the summer I was part of a team writing a curriculum guide to accompany a newly adopted economics textbook. The team spent all summer translating state objectives into a semester course. By the end of the summer, we had developed expertise far greater than what we had gained from other experiences
Forward thinking, in the field and in the mind
Charlie Brown and his friends were critical to my early philosophical outlook, not to mention my understanding of mathematics education. I remember wondering how new math was different than old math. Was I doing new math? When would my teachers tell me it was time to ditch the old math? It was only much later when I was working in education that I started to grasp the differences in approaches to mathematics curriculum, by which time the new math was old, and the new, new math was causing its own controversies.
Lessons scooped from the melting pot
Consider the challenges facing one district: 27,000 students in 44 elementary schools in a southern California border district. Most students—72% are classified as English language learners as measured by the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Although 65% of the students are Hispanic/Latino and speak Spanish as a first language, 16% are Asian/Pacific Islander and speak Tagalog, Japanese, or Korean as a home language.
A different kind of diversity
Most high school graduates probably recognize the names Watson and Crick. Those with sharp memories might even remember that these guys discovered the structure of DNA. Few people outside the sciences know about JamesWatson’s and Francis Crick’s unwitting collaborator Rosalind Franklin. Although many acknowledge Franklin had developed the best x-ray images of DNA, she did not have an “aha” moment enabling her to see the structure right in front of her eyes.
Cultural proficiency
Whenever we talk about preparing kids for college, we often hear, “College is not for everyone.” This comment is disturbing because, in most cases, educators are referring to culturally and linguistically diverse students and white students from working-class backgrounds. But more troubling, because personal beliefs greatly influence practice, this belief may indicate that culturally unaware educators with little knowledge of students’ abilities, aspirations, and interests are depriving students and their families of their right to decide whether to pursue higher education.
Pockets of excellence
According to national survey data (NCES,2004, 2008), access to and participation in professional development varies widely across states (Wei, Darling-Hammond, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009; Wei, Darling Hammond, & Adamson, 2010), and the quality of professional development across most states is far from meeting research-based definitions of effective professional development, with a few pockets of excellence in some states. In this study, Teacher Professional Learning in the United States: State Policies and Strategies, we look into those pockets of excellence and examine the policies and professional development strategies of a few high-performing states and their districts through case studies.
1 District, 1 set of math goals
In March 2008, teachers and leaders of the mathematics programs grades 6-12 in the Clark County School District (Las Vegas, Nev.) found themselves under the urgent spotlight of failed expectations. District leaders and teachers had been bold enough to create highstakes, districtwide common assessment semester exams in five subject areas of mathematics to be used by every middle and high school in the district.
Framework fuels the need to read
A diverse group of urban middle and high school teachers sits around tables in interdisciplinary school teams, silently reading “Father’s Butterflies,” an essay by Vladimir Nabokov. The text’s densely layered sentences, specialized scientific language, and use of multiple languages challenge the fluency of almost all readers in the group.
Conformation model of conversation provides tools to discuss and resolve tough issues
Nearly every school I’ve worked in has an “Anne” on its staff. Teachers talk about how Anne isn’t the teacher she used to be. Parents don’t want their children in Anne’s class. Students walk on eggshells, careful not to upset her. Some principals talk with Anne about the problems they see, while others complain about Anne to their administrative colleagues and stick their heads in the sand, counting the years until she finally retires.
Rock-solid support
The best science teachers are not only experts in teaching and knowledgeable about science content, but they are also great at teaching science. They have specialized teaching knowledge, including knowledge of effective pedagogical practices in science, student difficulties with understanding content, and curricular purposes (Ball & Bass, 2000; Hill, Rowan, & Ball, 2005).
Laser focus on content strengthens teacher teams
As Gene Henderson loaded his sixth binder onto the top of his growing stack, his face could no longer be seen. He shouted, “And now I’m in prison!” In a powerful presentation to his school, Henderson was referring to numerous professional development events that had left him with nothing but a binder.
Peeling a standard
A new set of standards places a new set of demands on educators. Use this strategy to help teams and teachers better understand how curriculum content standards and the cumulative progress indicators are used to make instructional and assessment decisions. Teachers can identify essential learnings (content and skills) for their own level by examining the strands within content standards and the cumulative progress indicators for each strand for the grade levels below and above their current grade level.
Going the distance for rural science teachers
Teachers in rural settings find it difficult to access quality professional development that can improve student science achievement. These teachers are serving the 10 million students, or about 19% percent of the nation’s total public school enrollment, who attend school in a rural district (Johnson & Strange, 2009).
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