Critical Issue:
Providing Professional Development Activities for School-to-Work Initiatives

ISSUE: Successful school-to-work (STW) initiatives require academic and vocational staff who can integrate vocational and academic education, provide work-based learning opportunities in partnership with local businesses, and prepare all students for work or further education. These teachers, in turn, need professional development to gain a working understanding of the conceptual and practical applications of STW efforts.

OVERVIEW: As STW initiatives move from the planning stages to full implementation across the nation, professional development will play an essential role. School leaders can use professional development programs to communicate a shared vision of STW reforms and provide access to the skills needed to support those reforms. All staff - from vocational and academic teachers to counselors and administrators - should have opportunities for professional development in the following areas:

• Developing strategies for implementing STW programs
• Collaboration, teamwork, and mentoring
• Working in partnership with business, industry, labor, and postsecondary institutions to create a framework for transitional services and other activities connecting the school and the world of work
• Delivering effective school-to-work transition services for all students, including students with special needs
• Information about STW reforms for prospective and beginning teachers
• Leadership development to promote and sustain effective changes within the schools
• Developing nonsexist, culturally inclusive educational environments, where a diverse population of students and teachers work together as a community and where equity concerns are addressed at all stages of the teaching and learning process
• Evaluating teachers' attitudes about diversity and equity

GOALS: Vocational and academic teachers, counselors, and administrators will have systematic and consistent opportunities to develop a working understanding of STW principles and become familiar with the best implementation strategies through appropriate preservice and inservice preparation. At the same time, staff will have opportunities to develop internal leadership to foster a sense of professional community and a school culture that is receptive to continuous improvement.

ACTION OPTIONS:

• Implement a preservice professional development program to give beginning teachers an opportunity to think about future practice, develop goals, and learn about the guiding principles behind STW programs (Camp & Heath-Camp, 1992; Heath-Camp & Camp, 1990).
• Provide teachers and counselors with opportunities to understand their roles in STW programs, learn to establish collaborative relationships, work together on curriculum development, participate in the development of effective instructional strategies, and become familiar with administrative procedures that facilitate STW activities. (See Schmidt, Finch, & Faulkner, 1992.)
• School leaders should address "key questions regarding the professional life of teachers" (Paris, 1994) in order to identify professional and school development opportunities.
• Ask teachers to review and discuss case studies that describe real-life experiences in schools that are implementating mandated changes and improvements, which can help teachers apply concepts to actual situations (Finch, Reneau, Faulkner, Gregson, Hernandez-Gantes, & Linkous, 1992).
• Conduct workshops that allow role-playing in simulated situations that are commonly encountered when academic and vocational teachers are required to collaborate, implement change, and take on leadership roles to solve problems. (See Finch, 1992.)
• When appropriate, use distance education to bring information to staff. It is essential to select the most appropriate mode of delivery to meet the objectives of local staff development programs (Schmidt & Faulkner, 1989).
• Sponsor teams of vocational and academic teachers, counselors, and administrators to participate in national workshops featuring key implementation elements of STW programs (Faulkner & Finch, 1994).
• Provide release time for staff working together on STW components to participate in satellite teleconferences and other professional development activities addressing important topics and issues related to the conceptual understanding and implementation of STW programs.
• Participate in presessions organized by national professional organizations as part of their annual meetings and participate in networking opportunities to learn how other schools are operating and to exchange ideas and resources (Faulkner & Finch, 1994).
• Engage teachers in collaborative practices, including mentorship experiences.
• Provide professional development activities in which teachers and administrators from diverse backgrounds (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disciplines) work together to understand the importance of equity and equal access in educational programs, including knowledge and understanding of federal laws mandating equal access and participation in education.
• Develop partnerships with local industry to learn about all aspects of the industry, including planning, management, finance, technical and production skills, underlying principles of technology, labor and community issues, and health, safety, and environmental issues (Nielsen-Andrew, 1994). These partnerships may involve participating in internships and professional apprenticeships and shadowing supervisors in fields of interest.

Alan Phelps, director of the Center on Education and Work, and professor of educational administration and vocational education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, talks about tech prep staff development initiatives featuring summer internships in business and industry. Excerpted from NCREL's Rural Audio Journal (Vol. 2, No. 3), From School to Work - and Back Again: Youth Apprenticeships in Wisconsin (NCREL, 1994), (Audio Comment, 587k). A text version is available.

IMPLEMENTATION PITFALLS: Vocational and academic teachers, counselors, administrators, and policymakers must understand the role and impact of STW programs in the school operation as a whole. To achieve such an understanding and to address the learning needs of all students as envisioned in the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 , it is essential that all staff have access to active and systematic professional development opportunities. School leaders will need to provide alternative solutions to the lack of time to participate in professional development activities.

It is especially important that school leaders involve both vocational and academic teachers in STW reforms to overcome preconceived - and often differing - notions of responsibilities and status.

Furthermore, because STW programs encompass several issues and attempt to integrate vocational and academic education, some components may be stressed more than others according to the interest of the proponent groups - each pulling STW in a different direction. As a result, professional development to support STW reform could continue to be a mix of inconsistent policies and disconnected efforts.

Therefore, key leaders - both teachers and administrators - must have a clear vision for STW reforms in order to create a school culture in which all staff understand and share a common vision and to determine appropriate professional development opportunities.

DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW: A major concern about STW programs is whether they will make a lasting and meaningful impact on the way schools operate. Many question whether such programs can make a significant difference in education. To some practitioners, STW reforms are just another fad that will soon be replaced by other reforms.

ILLUSTRATIVE CASES:

For an excellent resource on school-to-work initiatives in general, see The Texas Toolbox: School-to-Work Initiatives. The following areas of this site provide information specific to professional development:

CONTACTS:

Center on Education and Work
University of Wisconsin-Madison
964 Educational Sciences Building
1025 West Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53706

National Center for Research in Vocational Education
Materials Distribution Service
Western Illinois University
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455-1390
Contact: Diana Burnell
(800) 637-7652, FAX: (309) 298-2869
e-mail: mimds@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
WWW: http://www.wiu.edu/users/micpc/index.html

Virginia Tech Office
National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
332 Lane Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0254

Dr. L. Allen Phelps
Office of Quality Improvement
University of Wisconsin-Madison
195 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison WI 53706-1380
(608) 263-2714
FAX: (608) 263-2081

Dr. Susan Faulkner
NCRVE Coordinator of Professional Development and Dissemination Activities
,
University of California at Berkeley
1995 University off Califfornia at Berkeley
1995 University Avenue, Suite 375
Berkeley, CA 94704

Dr. Curt R. Finch
NCRVE site director in charge of Professional Development Program
Virginia Tech Office
National Center for Research in Vocational Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
332 Lane Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0254

References

This Critical Issue summary was researched and written by Victor M. Hernandez, assistant researcher at the Center on Education and Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Date posted: 1995