Proposal for Restructuring
Staff Development Time for School Improvement
The Instructional Support Team of Urbana District #116 in Urbana, Illinois, developed the following proposal for restructuring staff development time.
"During the contract negotiations of 1994, the Board of Education and the Urbana Education Association (UEA) began discussing the issue of time and the current academic calendar. Although the issue was too complex to be resolved during the negotiation process, various questions about restructuring time for school improvement were raised. In September of 1994, Program Council considered various staff development to the Instructional Support Team (IST), a body with representation from each of the schools. One of the functions of IST is to design and oversee a program of staff development that leads to increased student learning and to plan in-service days for that purpose.
After study and discussion through the 1994-95 year about adult learning, change, and professional development programs, IST is recommending that Urbana District #116 move to a new model of staff development. Previously, staff development centered around two or three days of in-service approved on the calendar by the Illinois State Board of Education. Other staff development programs were scheduled for non-contractual time or on released time. This model assumes that periodic in-service days are sufficient to introduce teachers to new ideas and to improve practive in the classroom.
However, recent research and best practice show that ongoing professional development is required if significant changes in instruction are to result. Teachers learn best when training, practice, feedback, individual reflection, and group inquiry are part of the professional development program. Massing staff development into three days in Urbana Schools #116 does not promote the systemic changes necessary as we move forward in the school improvement process. If we are to substantially change the way education is delivered in our schools--and we must if we are to increase the number of students who meet high academic requirements, we must change the way we deliver our staff development program.
This thinking is supported by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory studies, which report that staff development programs based on the following assumptions have direct and positive effects on instructional improvement and on school improvement:
In order to provide the kind of district program that will involve all staff in continuing growth in using the instructional strategies and curriculum that encourage and nurture maximum learning for children, the IST proposes that the district use banked minutes (the time accumulated daily beyond the 300 required instructional minutes), which would provide for released afternoons for staff development over several months. This plan fits the Illinois State Board of Education guidelines for school improvement. The district would be in compliance with the number of minutes of instruction required by the State of Illinois, and the staff development time would allow for the necessary training, implementation, and support a staff needs to make significant change.
The proposal is that students are dismissed at 12:45 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the following months: October, November, December, February, March, and April. The two-hour professional development program would begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 3:30 p.m. for each of the six sessions. The specific programs would be developed to fit into Urbana School Improvement plans, which focus on the following areas: Technology, Multicultural Education, Assessment, Community Involvement, and Instructional Strategies to Increase Student Achievement.
Following the more generally designed August in-service days, which allow for one day for districtwide in-service focus, one day for building-level focus, and one day for grade-level and department focus, teachers and professional staff would select from a variety of programs that would allow for consistent and routine input, practive, feedback, and reflection. In order to keep programming in line with school improvement planning and the process, IST developed and approved the following guidelines for the ongoing program: These guidelines were approved in October 1995.
Criteria for Strand/Course Development
All proposed strands and courses must meet the following criteria in order to be approved for inclusion in the program.
For example, during the August in-service, a workshop on increasing student achievement in writing might be conducted. Subsequent offerings for the six-month program might be "Using Journals to Improve Student Writing," "Understanding and Using the Write-On Illinois Assessment Instrument," or "Better Writing Using Technology." The participant would select one of these three writing options and stay in that option for all six sessions. This would provide the time for input, modeling, guided practice, and reflection, which lead to significant change.
Designing a released time staff development program that allows for this kind of consistent and systematic follow-up assures that all staff are engaged in the school improvement process, allows time needed to nurture change as programs are implemented, and establishes an expectation of constant and consistent professional growth. A plan of this kind develops a professional learning community that supports and sustains strong schools."