Creating a seamless connection

by Stephanie Hirsh
RESULTS - November 1997

NSDC members frequently call me seeking names of school districts with comprehensive staff development plans. One criterion for identifying quality plans is how closely a district meets the NSDC standard on alignment.

In recent years, more districts have identified goals for student learning and adopted improvement plans at the district, site, and often department levels. These comprehensive plans are typically developed by a broad-based team that includes representation from all levels of the organization including stakeholders and often students. A compelling mission and clear expectations for measuring student learning typically guide such plans. The mission and objectives, in turn, guide the selection of staff development strategies that will enable the district to achieve its goals.

Such planning requires a new relationship between staff development, central office, and the schools. Once staff development goals are identified, the staff development department (which in smaller districts may be one person who has multiple responsibilities) determines what is most effectively done at the system level and what should be delivered at the schools. Many times, the staff development department becomes a service agency for the schools.

In A New Vision for Staff Development which I co-authored with Dennis Sparks, we said, "Staff development becomes a means to an end rather than an end in itself; it helps educators close the gap between current practices and the practices needed to achieve the desired outcomes. This comprehensive approach to change assures that all aspects of the system --for example, policy, assessment, curriculum, instruction, parent involvement--are working together with staff development toward the achievement of a manageable set of student outcomes that the entire system values."

In New Vision, we cited districts in Connecticut, Nebraska, and Colorado as examples of districts that sought improvement through comprehensive planning with staff development as a core component. In the Aurora (Colo.) Public Schools, a 27,000-student district in suburban Denver, staff development takes it direction from the district and school improvement plans. The district initiated the process in l989 and today the entire system is guided by five core learner outcomes and content standards for each curriculum area.

According to Kay Shaw, Aurora's staff development coordinator, "Nearly all student and staff development courses in Aurora are aligned with the content standards and the five learner outcomes...If the course doesn't support our mission, content standards, and learner outcomes, then district resources should not be allocated to support it."

Consider these questions as you assess your current plan and its alignment with NSDC's standard:

• Are district and school improvement plans and processes of high quality?
• What is staff development's relationship to district and school goals for student learning?
• What criteria will guide what staff development is designed and delivered?
• Are adequate resources set aside to ensure staff development can fulfill its obligations to district and school improvement goals?
• What steps will ensure that staff development decision making is aligned with district and school improvement plans?