By Priscilla Pardini

Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2000 (Vol. 21, No. 3)

Copyright, National Staff Development Council. All rights reserved

Policies and legislation that support quality staff development can be supported in a variety of ways. Sometimes, a personal conversation can help advance an issue. Sometimes, collaboration among interest groups does the trick. Sometimes, it means identifying the right piece of legislation and being ready at the right time.

Here, we offer you a set of snapshots of the work of the Staff Development Leadership Councils that NSDC created in late 1998. Each story is unique because each state is unique. But each offers lessons for others who want to do similar work in their states and provinces.

TEXAS: ‘We changed the rules’

It was spring 1999, and members of the Texas SDLC were dismayed by proposed teacher certification renewal requirements that did nothing more than encourage teachers to amass 150 hours of continuing professional education every five years.

"It put us in a tailspin," said Karen Anderson, administrative officer/staff development, for the Mesquite (Texas) Independent School District and an SDLC member. The requirement perpetuated a traditional vision of staff development that had been proved ineffective. "We wanted the state to move away from having teachers merely collect ‘seat time’ and put more emphasis on quality," she said.

Invited to testify before the State Board for Educator Certification, members of the SDLC, which operates as a subcommittee of the Texas Staff Development Council, suggested there might be a way to emphasize the quality rather than the quantity of staff development. "Ultimately, they heard us, listened to us, and redid the rules," Anderson said.

Specifically, the SDLC proposed a system of continuing professional education that considered not only the time a teacher spent at a workshop, but also whether the teacher’s participation in the workshop ultimately had any impact on teaching and learning. Under the SDLC proposal, teachers who attended a six-hour workshop would earn six continuing education credits. But those who could prove they had subsequently used strategies presented at the workshop in their classrooms, would earn 12 credits. And those who could prove that student achievement had improved as a result, would get 18 credits. "We wanted teachers to do more than just take the materials they received in staff development classes and put them up on a shelf," Anderson said.

Between July and November 1999, a group of Texas school districts, teacher organizations, and education service centers piloted eight programs aimed at linking professional development with changes in classroom practice and student results. Participants were asked to recall previous professional development experiences they believed had resulted in such links, and produce documentation or evidence substantiating their findings.

An evaluation of the pilots found that having teachers reflect on the connection between professional development, teaching strategies, and student achievement helped teachers grow and learn, Anderson said. Awarding continuing professional credits on a weighted basis also proved to be a strong incentive for teachers to take part in quality staff development designed to produce changes in the classroom. Anderson said the system also had ramifications for staff development providers, who would be forced to spell out exactly how their workshops and seminars increased student achievement. Anderson expects such a system to be piloted in the future for principals and other educators – such as counselors or school media specialists – seeking recertification.

Recertification was a defining issue for the Texas SDLC. "We all had a vested interest in this issue," Anderson said. "It brought us together every other week all summer long, at our own expense." The group is proud of what it’s accomplished. "We changed the rules, ran the pilots, evaluated the results and proved our hypothesis: that educators can show a link between what they learn in good professional development programs and results for students."

One of the first things Dale Hair did as a member of the newly formed Louisiana SDLC in spring 1999 was attend a training session where she and other SDLC members learned how to deliver "laser talks." Laser talks are two- or three-minute, tightly-focused verbal messages designed to identify a problem, propose a solution, or outline a plan of action. A time-tested lobbying technique, laser talks have proven particularly effective when trying to inform and influence time-strapped public officials.

A short time later, at a dinner at the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion, Hair learned firsthand just how effective a "laser talk" could be. A recipient of a 1998 NSDC Distinguished Staff Developer Award, Hair had been invited to the dinner by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu. The dinner and a meeting for state educators the following day had been convened by Landrieu to discuss education issues that would be heard before the U.S. Senate in the coming months.

"I decided I was going to take advantage of the opportunity," Hair said. "So I sat back and thought about exactly what laser talk I wanted to deliver. What did I want to leave at that dinner?"

Hair decided that, as an SDLC member, she most wanted to convey the importance of getting the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to endorse the NSDC Standards for Staff Development as a framework for improving teaching and learning. The standards call for such things as aligning staff development with school and district goals, establishing priorities on what issues to address by using student data, and addressing the need for quality education for all children through staff development. "I knew board approval was technically a formality," Hair said, "but I knew it also would be a leverage point when we made our case with local superintendents."

At the dinner, Hair delivered her laser talk to Paul Pastorek, one of three members of the state board appointed by Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster. She pointed out to Pastorek that the board had already endorsed curriculum content standards, adding, "And did you know there are also standards for professional development that might help ensure that all these other reforms actually succeed?"

Pastorek listened, and apparently liked what he heard. The next day, at the conference, he delivered the keynote address, which included remarks echoing what Hair had told him the night before. "I was amazed," Hair said. "It was my initiation into the way the political process works." Soon thereafter, the board endorsed the standards.

Hair is quick to point out that she should not get all the credit. Others also were working behind the scenes. That includes fellow SDLC members, members of the Louisiana Staff Development Council and state department of education personnel. She also credits members of the state board for their willingness to act. "I fell into an opportunity and got the ball rolling," she said, pointing out that her SDLC training had been timely as well as valuable.

But Hair knows that just because the state board has endorsed the standards doesn’t mean the standards will necessarily be used at the local level. She said one of the SDLC’s next challenges is to identify districts that have used the standards with good results and replicate their efforts.

Is it possible to create a statewide system that aligns professional development with state and local school district teaching and learning standards? That’s the goal of the Illinois SDLC, also known as the Alliance for Illinois Education.

"We knew that, in order for standards-based learning to succeed, teachers would need tools," said JoAnn Evans, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in Thornton Township High School District #205 in South Holland, Illinois, and a member of the SDLC. "And to get those tools requires high quality professional development."

If the SDLC accomplishes its mission, it likely will be because of the way it is organized – as a network of professional educational associations representing more than 30,000 teachers. "Our structure makes us aware that we have common interests, and that we can benefit from working together rather than competing with one another," Evans said.

The Alliance was convened in April 1998 by the Illinois Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in partnership with Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science, a professional development center for elementary school teachers responsible for teaching math and science. The Alliance is made up of 13 groups, including the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education, Illinois Association of Teachers of English, the Illinois Council for the Social Studies, the Illinois Reading Council, the Illinois Music Educators Association, and the Illinois Staff Development Council. The group was formed to provide collective leadership on policy and program issues that affect students and teachers, and to support standards-based education and professional development.

When the opportunity to become an SDLC arose, the Alliance applied, and was designated Illinois’ SDLC the following November. The designation entitles Illinois to additional resources from NSDC to support the Alliance’s policy work.

With the enactment of new laws in Illinois on teacher certification and certificate renewal, most of the SDLC’s work to date has involved defining and implementing high quality, standards-based professional development. The group drew up a "covenant" that serves as a blueprint for quality professional development. It holds that although educators have a right to "professional development that is rigorous, sustained, and integrates pedagogy with content," they also have a "responsibility to translate their professional development into practices that result in improved student learning."

Evans said the SDLC was dedicated to helping teachers sit down together and look critically at their work in the classroom. "It’s not just a matter of putting in time and collecting certificates," she said. "Our vision of professional development is one that involves collaborative learning and action research – the kind of learning we know makes a difference."

Evans said the SDLC provides an alternative voice for teachers who wanted to help set the direction of school reform initiatives. Unlike traditional teachers unions which are often associated with the political ramifications of policy, the SDLC gives teachers a chance to speak from the perspective of "my professional discipline," Evans said.

In this context, teachers focus on the best practices and highest learning standards in their content areas, Evans said. The fact that the SDLC represents so many teachers working across so many areas is particularly significant. "Certainly, there is a leverage in numbers," Evans said. "Collectively, you have a much stronger voice than many small groups. And with a perspective that covers the entire curriculum, we tend to focus less on special interests and more on what’s good for all."

JoAnn Evans
Asst. Supt. for Curriculum and Instruction
Thornton Twp. High School Dist. # 205
465 East 170th St.
South Holland, IL 60473-3481
Phone: (708) 225-4025
Fax: (708) 225-4004
E-mail: jevans@interaccess.com

Cheryl Gray
Executive Director
Illinois ASCD
800 Porter St
Lemont, IL 60439
Phone: (630) 243-9860
Fax: (630) 243-9862
E-mail: ccgiascd@inil.com

Dave Winans, a member of the Kansas SDLC, points with pride to a number of the group’s accomplishments over the last 18 months. Also known as the Kansas Learning First Alliance, the SDLC operates as a network of 20 educational organizations working to make Kansas "first in the nation in teaching and learning." To date, the group has developed a position paper defining quality staff development and spelling out its importance, addressed early literacy issues by distributing reading materials to teachers and parents, and trained SDLC members in media techniques.

But the group is also going after the hard, cold cash its members say is critical to providing the kind of quality staff development that can ultimately increase student achievement. The task involves a push for full funding of a 15-year-old state law on staff development. In the words of Winans, assistant superintendent for curriculum for the Leavenworth Public Schools, "This is not work for the faint of heart."

The Kansas Inservice Act, which was passed in 1985, was intended to provide up to $6 million a year in financial incentives to local school districts that offered staff development for teachers. Under the law, the state would match up to five percent of a local district’s expenditures on staff development. But Winans said school districts never fully embraced the plan largely because of administrative red tape and multiple restrictions on how the money could be spent. Over time, state funding for staff development decreased; last year’s appropriation stood at $2 million.

"It appeared that Kansas school districts have not wanted to participate in staff development, and that made it easy for budget makers, in times of tight money, to cut that fund. But in reality, there wasn’t ever enough money or enough information to help school districts create quality staff development," Winans said.

Now, local districts are caught in a vicious cycle. "Because of the limitations of the Inservice Act, school districts have not been able to provide quality staff development, which in turn has diminished the desire for staff development, which has made it easy for the state to diminish the amount of money they’re providing," Winans said. State funding for staff development is critical in a state such as Kansas, where spending caps restrict the amount of local money that can be collected and spent on schools.

Enter the Kansas SDLC, committed to making Kansas "first in the nation in teaching and learning." The group took its case for full funding of the Inservice Act to the Kansas State Board of Education. The board had been planning to recommend a $2.5 million appropriation to fund the act for fiscal year 2001. Based on input from the SDLC, the board doubled its recommendation, to $5 million. However, Gov. Bill Graves pared the appropriations recommendation back to $2.5 million.

Although SDLC members were disappointed, Winans is buoyed by the fact that the SDLC was able to influence members of the state board. Winans and the SDLC will continue their efforts to boost the appropriation. He also pointed out that the project represented the SDLC’s first major lobbying effort. "We learned a lot," he said. "And we haven’t given up."

Indiana schools won’t have to reinvent the wheel when in comes to quality staff development, thanks to a new recognition program developed by the Indiana SDLC. Beginning with the next school year, the SDLC will introduce its Gold Star Awards program to recognize exemplary staff development programs that have brought about positive change in the classroom.

"People are familiar with traditional kinds of staff development – taking a college course or going to a conference – that we know usually don’t work," said Sara Laughlin, director of Project Link, a statewide coalition of staff development providers and policy makers, and executive secretary of the Indiana Staff Development Council. "What we’re trying to do is identify successful, new programs they can visit and study."

Laughlin, who also is a member of the Indiana SDLC, said the idea for the awards grew out of state legislation adopted in 1999 which required all Indiana schools to have staff development plans that are data-driven, results-oriented, and linked to a school’s overall vision. The plan must also provide for staff development that, for the most part, is offered during the school day rather than on weekends or during the summer.

Laughlin praised the intent of the legislation, which is part of a bill that holds schools accountable for increasing student achievement. She said the staff development piece, which takes effect in 2001, demonstrated a "new interest in investing in teachers to improve schools." One disappointment: the legislation was never funded, an issue that will be revisited during a state budget session next January. Laughlin said the SDLC, which operates as the advocacy arm of the Indiana Staff Development Council, would lobby in favor of full funding for the initiative.

The Gold Star Awards program was designed after an aide to Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon told SDLC members his office had been unable to locate schools using the kind of staff development required by the legislation.

Laughlin estimated that fewer than 100 of Indiana’s 1,944 schools now have such staff development plans. The Gold Star awards, which likely will carry a monetary stipend, would identify and recognize such schools, as well as help educators struggling to put together staff development plans that would meet the legislative criteria.

Laughlin said a school seeking a Gold Star Award would submit a portfolio describing its staff development program and documenting how it improved student achievement. She said SDLC representatives would likely visit schools to validate the results. Laughlin said she expected many of the exemplary programs could and would be replicated elsewhere in Indiana.