Brown County School District, Mt. Sterling, Illinois

Superintendent Craig Hiatt, Ed.D., and the progressive school board of the Brown County School District 1 (Mt. Sterling, Illinois) saw the value of creating a customized professional development structure to address multiple needs. With a history of one-shot inservices that typically did little to impact student learning and achievement, the district's leadership team sought a different approach.

Fewer than 25 percent of the faculty had earned master's degrees, and the others had little financial incentive to drive 75 miles to obtain one from the nearest university. Dr. Hiatt worked closely with Western Illinois University (WIU) to create a semicustomized master's degree program for his faculty. Classes were offered on-site, and the program was partially funded by the district. Unlike the conventional approach to earning master's degrees—with one or two teachers working on different degrees independent of each other—this program involved a critical mass of 29 teachers from Grades PK–12.

Teachers who had not read professional journals, or whose only conversations in the teacher workroom had been about students or families, were suddenly creating a different climate within their buildings. They began studying together and completing group projects. They read journals and textbooks, created innovative lesson plans, and performed online searches, and all assignments were tied directly to their classrooms. The building principals reported that these experiences literally "changed the talk around the water cooler." Teacher insight, knowledge, and passion for learning and teaching were increased to a new level of professionalism.

Reflecting on the experience, teacher Susan Woodward said,

"If, as teachers, we hope to encourage critical thoughts in others, we must engage in it ourselves. It is easy to become too busy to read thought-provoking articles about teaching. However, this has been one aspect of the class I have really enjoyed. To share a recently read article with colleagues seems to bring up our level of professionalism. Our conversations have changed, and we find ourselves sharing recently read material during the school day."

Jane Post, another teacher, recalled that the Book Exchange, an assignment for the group's planning class, had been an idea in her head for years. With the team working together, it finally became a reality. It was so successful that the teachers and students wanted to repeat the process every year. Post considers herself a different educator as a result of the knowledge she gained during the master's cohort.

Teacher Kim Dormire added,

"As a staff, we have worked together as never before, to make improvements in our school and district. There is a drastic improvement in communication, and we are comfortable enough with each other to express our ideas and opinions without feeling stupid or awkward."

Every participant was amazed with his or her professional and personal growth and agreed with Donna McCaw, Ed.D., WIU associate professor of educational leadership and cohort leader, who emphasized that reflection is a key part of proactivity. The combination of research, experiential learning, and immediate application to their students created an effective learning environment for all 29 teachers.