Staff Development
Staff Development
Leigh Zeitz
Coordinating Technology in Educational Settings
Staff Development is . . .
An organized process in which employees are actively engaged in
Iowa
Operating Principles: Focus on Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Participative Decision Making (School & District) Leadership Simultaneity
Selecting Content
Collaboration / Implementation
Staff Needs
Assessment Instrument
Analyze in spreadsheet
Schoolwide By department
Student Needs
Process writing
Digital portfolios Cross-curricular thematic
Who to include
Don't limit it to the teachers Include all stakeholders
Community Members
But, what are the factors that limit a successful staff development program?
Limiting Factors
Resources
Location of workshop Materials & equipment Materials available to attendees upon return to daily life
Limiting Factors
Time
Length During school hours? Free time given to attendees for planning to use newly-acquired skills
Limiting Factors
Planning
Good planning = Good staff dev.
Voluntary Compensation vs. No-Compensation During School Hours vs. Outside School Hours
Mandatory vs Voluntary
Mandatory Sometimes necessary Good to use as introduction Provides common baseline of knowledge
Mandatory vs Voluntary
Voluntary
Better attitude about it Not everyone is involved Highly motivated
Types of Compensation
Money
Federal/state funds Credit
Workshops
When
Before - After School Early Release Days Stipends for Summer Workshops
Workshops are
Not
Enough!!!
Workshop Components
Theory
Demonstration Practice Feedback Coaching
Effects on Attendees
Knowledge Level
Skill Level Transfer of Workshop Learning
to the Classroom
Evaluation
Each Workshop
Whole Staff Dev Program Changes in Staff Skills
Changes in Classroom
Workshop Evaluations
Satisfied with instruction? What works? What doesnt?
improvement to evaluate staff development. Ironic - only reason to do staff development is to improve the learning environment for students.
Benchmarks. Requires
Rethinking learning process Restructuring learning environment Educators who want to change . . .
Summation
Staff Development requires: Needs Assessment Planning Policy Decisions Administrative Support Careful Scheduling Multiple Forms of Media Evaluation and Revision
Any Questions?