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Temple University Center for Research
in Human Development and Education |
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How ReflectionConnection
Can Help Train Highly Qualified Teachers
128
by
Joan Pasternak
Temple University
Historically, state policymakers have paid little attention
to the form, content, or quality of professional development. Such matters have
been left to the discretion of local boards of education and district
administrators (Corcoran, 1995). However, given the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Act of 2001 requirement that all students must be taught by "highly qualified
teachers," states and districts now must ensure that a plan is in place that
responds to these demands.
The combination of first-rate teacher training, high
standards for certification, and meaningful professional development work in
concert to provide and retain high quality teachers. NCLB defines a "high
quality" teacher as one who has been fully licensed or certified by the state
and has not had any certification or licensure requirements waived on an
emergency, temporary, or provisional basis. In order to receive federal funds,
states must guarantee a plan assuring that all teachers of core academic
subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-
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2006 school year. The plan must also include measurable
objectives for each school and district to increase the
percentage of teachers receiving high-quality professional
development. In response to these mandates, more than 25
states have enacted legislation to improve teacher
recruitment, education, certification, and professional
development (Darling-Hammond, 1999).
NCLB
requires that 25% of federal monies be devoted to
professional development activities. According to the
Education Commission of the States' (ECS) summary of NCLB
requirements (Hill, 2002), professional development must be
of high quality, sustainable, intensive, and
classroom-focused. It must enable teachers to become highly
qualified, give educators the knowledge and skills they need
to help students meet challenging state academic content and
achievement standards, and advance teacher understanding of
effective instructional strategies.
MAR*TEC's Online Professional Development Tool
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Technology in Education Consortium
(MAR*TEC) is addressing the demands for improved
professional development through the creation of
ReflectionConnection (RC), an online tool that can be
used by teachers or administrators to engage in an
interactive, virtual learning community for the purpose of
improving their professional practices. RC provides teachers
with a collaborative environment where they can gain
insights into their teaching through self-reflection and the
feedback of colleagues. Its close alignment to the
requirements set forth by NCLB suggests that RC will enhance
any professional development program.
RC revolves
around three features-reflection, feedback, and wrap-up-that
promote an in-depth and insightful look at teachers'
practices. The "presenting teacher" identifies appropriate
artifacts for analysis-a piece of student work, teaching
materials, and related Internet links. The materials are
then uploaded to the website. The presenting teacher
identifies the critical topic she wants to address and
writes her reflection. The next phase is peer feedback.
After considering what was written in the initial reflection
and looking at the project information, student work, and
other documents, colleagues give feedback. The last phase of
RC, the wrap-up, provides a threaded discussion for the
participants to reflect on the entire process. Teachers can
use this phase to sort out what they have learned and to
determine next steps.
According to
the ECS, the National Partnership of Excellence and
Accountability in Teaching, the National Staff Development
Council, and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education
agree on what constitutes quality professional development:
a focus on the intersection of content and pedagogy. RC is
primarily a pedagogical tool, but it also allows teachers to
examine their students' work to determine whether their
content knowledge was sufficient to achieve the project
objective. By reflecting on the assignment and getting peer
feedback, teachers can more easily assess students'
knowledge in the academic content areas.
opportunities for practice, research, and reflection.
Teachers using RC can assess their teaching and explore
various approaches to instruction with colleagues. The new
ideas learned from the feedback and the wrap-up discussions
can be tried out in the classroom and then reexamined in
another cycle of RC. The process is ongoing and assists
teachers in making informed decisions about their
curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
elements of collegiality and collaboration among teachers
and principals. According to McLaughlin and Talbert (1993),
teachers are more likely to align their teaching practices
with research, best practice, and national standards when
they are part of a school-based professional learning
community. RC can bring together teachers who are struggling
in similar ways; they can learn new material and to try out
different approaches for reaching students.
sustainability. A study conducted by Joyce and Showers
(1995) found that only 10% of teachers will implement a new
strategy without follow-up support, whereas 75% to 80% of
teachers who are given access to post-training support in
the form of planning time, collaborative reflection, problem
solving, or coaching actually integrate new strategies in
their professional practice. Because RC is
participant-driven, ongoing, and focused on student work, it
offers the support teachers need to help them examine and
modify their own practices.
alignment to state content standards. Teachers may use RC
to determine if their assignments move students closer to
academic standards. RC provides a pull-down menu of
standards. Any group using the site can upload selected
standards to satisfy their state requirements. Teachers who
are familiar with the standards can use this menu simply as
a checklist; others can use the standards as a point of
reference.
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