A couple of weeks ago I wrote that my recent meetings with teachers consistently revealed a concern that the district administration added too much to the classroom plate this semester. With this in mind, it is fair to assume that there was a collective exhale on Friday afternoon when the first semester came to a close. It was a busy 18 weeks of school; I know that everyone is ready for the much deserved two week vacation. But before the semester ended, we devoted a part of Friday to professional development (PD). My sense is that offering PD on the last day before this holiday break is probably the worst day of the school year to do so. With the state allowing us to count ten days of PD as days of attendance, we need to ensure that we maximize the benefit of these opportunities.
If the goal of professional development is to make deep changes to instruction that will lead to a higher level of student learning, then it is imperative that we are calculated and selective with the use of our PD time. A meta-analysis on PD done by MCREL found that if classroom practice is to change, then PD must be grounded in the curriculum that students study, embedded within an aligned system and connected to several elements of instruction (e.g., assessments, curriculum), and extended in time, with time built in for practice, coaching, and follow-ups. It is imperative that we rethink our practice of holding half days of PD at the end of a quarter. I don’t feel that these short shots of PD allow us to truly benefit from this time.
I wish all of the KPBSD community a safe and peaceful break. Happy New Year!
2 Comments
We used part of the PD time to check & adjust our school goal; it was a perfect time to do that…we know the direction to go once we return (rejuvenated) from break.
thanks for the comment- I’m glad that the day was well spent. Thanks for maintaining a good focus on a day when it is difficult to do so.