From The Field

Ingrid Carney

Grow expertise through sharing

“I THINK the greatest learning for teachers takes place in professional learning communities, so that it’s really on-the-job learning. Schools have to look at their best teachers and best practices and grow that expertise through sharing. Teachers will have to open their doors, visit and observe each other, and give each other feedback.

“Those of us in administration can help bring that about by aligning the resources and support that schools get. Districts can do that, for instance, by helping structure or restructure school days so that teachers have opportunities to meet together to look at student work, monitor and assess student progress, and make data-driven decisions about what the next step in their own professional development should look like. That could involve negotiating agreements through teachers unions that provide time for such opportunities during the day. Central administrators also can serve as resources themselves. For instance, they can share information about the best practices being implemented across the district and help schools connect with each other around those practices.”

Ingrid Carney is deputy superintendent for clusters and school leaders in the Boston Public Schools. Before that, she served as senior executive director of CLASS (Chicago Leadership Academies for Supporting Success), a collaborative between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association that provides professional development for teacher leaders, principals, and administrators in the Chicago Public Schools. You can contact her at icarney@boston.k12.ma.us.

From The Field

Eileen Aviss-Spedding

Give teachers a chance to grow

“MY VISION is a change, over the next 10 years, in the perception of what it is to be a teacher and what teachers need to know, along with changes in teacher contract language that support that difference. Because school board members tend to focus on the number of pupil hours per teacher, the public perception is that’s what we pay teachers for: teaching — largely in isolation — for five periods a day. But the fact is, unless teachers are also continually learning, and providing themselves and one another with opportunities to learn, they won’t be able to support students in the 21st century.

“We at the state departments of education are in a position to craft regulations and lobby for laws that support and provide for such opportunities. For example, instead of working in isolation, teachers need to be part of multiple learning teams. They need a chance to work both within and across disciplines, with teachers in their own district, and on e- teams with teachers from across the country. It will be up to us to help convince the public of the value that can come from giving teachers a chance to work and grow together in new ways.”

Eileen Aviss-Spedding is manager of the Office of Academic & Professional Standards for the New Jersey Department of Education. Aviss-Spedding began her career as a teacher, then worked in public relations in both the public and private sector before beginning work in teacher quality policy at the New Jersey Department of Education. You can contact her at eileen.aviss@doe.state.nj.us.

From The Field

Adam Urbanski

Strengthen student-teacher connection

“I BOTH HOPE AND PREDICT that when it comes to the future of professional development of teachers, a premium will be placed on knowing one’s students that is equal to the premium already placed on knowing one’s content area. I believe that the absence of such a premium has been a severe impediment to effective teaching and learning, particularly in urban school districts where there is not a strong match between teachers and students.

“Learning occurs when new stimuli and new information attach themselves to the existing programs we have in our brains. So if the teacher doesn’t know much about the learner, teaching is, at best, a hit-or- miss proposition. If I do know the student, I can substantially increase the likelihood of making that new information relevant and therefore increase the likelihood that learning will occur.

“But even teachers who intuitively know all this don’t get to make the decisions about what their own learning ought to be. So I believe the most useful role that a responsible teachers union can play is to bring that collective wisdom to the policy table and to the bargaining table. Negotiations are the only vehicle teachers have for making and changing policy.”

Adam Urbanski is president of the Rochester (N.Y.) Teachers Association, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, and the founding director of Teacher Union Reform Network. A former high school teacher and college professor, Urbanski has been a national leader in education reform. As president of the Rochester Teachers Association, he proposed and designed an internship program for new teachers, a peer-review intervention plan, a career ladder, and a homework hotline for students. You can contact him at urbanski@rochesterteachers.com.

From The Field

Sandy Ripplinger

Focus on equity

“TO CLOSE the achievement gap, we’re going to need professional development that balances issues of achievement, school improvement, and equity. Right now, it’s the equity piece that’s the weakest link, and I hope it’s in that area where we can make big gains in the next 10 years.

“For example, teachers need a much deeper knowledge of poverty and how it impacts learning, as well as a better understanding of the kinds of barriers to learning that exist for students with disabilities and those who are English language learners. But to gain that kind of knowledge and understanding, teachers must do what I call the ‘inside out’ work of figuring out who they are and how their backgrounds and cultures shape the beliefs and values they bring to the classroom every day.

“So, at the same time we have teachers involved in professional development aimed at creating a greater capacity for teacher leadership, we’ll also have other groups of teachers, equity cohorts, spending their staff development time examining where their own attitudes fall on a continuum that measures cultural competency. It’s all about flexibility of thinking and understanding different perspectives, and ultimately, it can transform teaching and learning.”

Sandy Ripplinger is director of School Leadership for Elementary Schools for the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colo. She is a former K-8 principal. You can contact her at sandy.ripplinger@bvsd.org.