A Newsletter from the Center on English Learning Achievement WINTER 2002 A s we reported in the fall 2000 issue of this newsletter CELA has undertaken an implementation study to work with middle school teachers to put into place some of the findings of its recent research and assess the effectiveness of the intervention The new study is called the Partnership for Literacy In this issue of the Update we continue to highlight various aspects of the broad base of research on which the Partnership rests This time we focus on the essential characteristics of effective professional development A fuller description of these and other findings can be found on the CELA website http cela albany edu research EFFECTIVE professional development classroom begins in the S uccessful professional development in English language arts provides teachers with three kinds of opportunities It encourages teachers to be reflective practitioners engaging in a continuous process of questioning planning trying out and evaluating their teaching and their students learning It works toward establishing a professional community in which teachers rely on the collective expertise and mutual support of colleagues to inform their day to day judgments It provides opportunities for teachers to strengthen both their knowledge of research and theory conceptual tools and their repertoire of classroom strategies and approaches pedagogical tools This article summarizes the research on each of these topics REFLECTIVE PRACTICE The research on teacher thinking and teacher change1 presents a profile of the effective teacher as one who reflects upon her instructional plans and outcomes in order to discover or create those features of practice that best support student learning If teachers are to change their practice they need to have a sense of what is working and not working and what alternatives are possible Reflective practice enables such insights Schon2 uses the terms reflection in action and reflection on action to refer to a sort of interactive experimentation and feedback loop that teachers engage in to assess the effectiveness of strategies used or actions taken It is as if the teacher is seeking and receiving back talk from the situa INSIDE THIS ISSUE tion and making next step decisions in light of that talk Reflective practice has become a significant component in the teacher education literature most likely because it contributes in several ways to a climate for change First reflection and analysis provide a way of handling the inevitable tensions that result when new knowledge and skills bump up against teachers previous experiences goals and expectations about learning and teaching Honest discussion of these tensions opens up the possibility of change3 Second reflective practice is fundamentally empowering4 providing teachers with a sense of see Professional development on page 2 on the web at http cela albany edu CELA Publications 4 Self reflection model of professional development 6 Teachers views 72002 WINTER ENGLISH UPDATE 1 Professional development from page 1 F agency and control as they indings from CELA researchers and others suggest that effective professional define and confront probdevelopment programs are those in which teachers have frequent opportunities lems Such agency is an to engage in the following important component of effective change DISCIPLINE BASED LEARNING Teachers explore the knowledge issues and processes And third reflective central to the study of English language arts practice offers a context LEARNING ORIENTED ACTIVITY Teachers focus on student learning and achievement within which to address developing and adjusting instruction and curriculum to attain those goals the constructivist di5 PRACTICE BASED INQUIRY Teachers identify their own needs connected with student lemma the fact that learning using their colleagues and other resources to inform their day to day professional development professional judgments activities seek to influence teachers in particular ways PROFESSIONAL DIALOGUE Teachers rely on the collective expertise and mutual support while also giving them the of colleagues and others to debate issues question assumptions examine ownership and agency that practice and formulate possibilities for action a constructivist view of CONCEPTUAL AND PEDAGOGICAL LEARNING Teachers enrich their knowledge of reteaching and learning search based teaching and learning while also expanding their repertoire of requires classroom strategies and materials Within the context of ONGOING REFLECTION Teachers engage in a continuous process of growth nourished by reflective practice knowldiscussion research findings and access to a wide array of resources edge and strategies become something other than tools CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS Teachers work to strengthen their assessand techniques delivered ments and observations of student learning in order to monitor their own effecto teachers Rather they tiveness and establish new goals and plans offer frameworks for teachers to use in reflecting on not adequate to the ambitious visions individual choices9 current practices and for developing of teaching and schooling embedded When teachers come together for a alternative approaches to curriculum in present reform initiatives The shared purpose they can draw upon instruction and assessment test of teachers professional developeach other s expertise and also engage ment opportunities resides in their in activity involving new inquiry that PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES capacity to engage teachers in will move them to become a discourse Closely related to the notion of reflecstudy investigation and experimentacommunity of their own with more tive practice is the concept of a profes tion embedded in the routine closely shared goals ways of undersional community that provides an organization of teachers work day standing problems and potential effective context for teachers to raise and work year solutions This happens in part questions share problems and exInteractions with others in the through the creation of a new culplore the effectiveness of their teachlearning environment affect how we ture 10 This culture develops and is ing in other words to learn and think about express and put ideas to sustained by the emergence of comchange as professionals In her synuse8 In comparison to training experimon vocabularies points of reference thesis paper on approaches to educaences professional