Professional development

Gearing up for effective teamwork

At CSBA’s annual Curriculum Institute in July, Christopher Maricle, a CSBA governance consultant, elicited a laugh from his seminar participants when he announced that, while a quick Google search produced over 200 million hits for professional development in education, it drew only a paltry 9 million hits for actress and notorious news magnet Lindsay Lohan. Perhaps someone should alert news magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Maricle’s talk that day took a look at professional development and its importance to education. “Create a system that’s better than what you inherited,” he urged his audience. He went on to suggest numerous methods for developing and sustaining a culture of ongoing learning that begins with boards but doesn’t exclude the ideas of district staffs, administrators and teachers. But Maricle’s exploration of what role boards should play in staff development isn’t all that common.

“Now, more than ever, it is critical that boards provide leadership to create a district culture that is committed to professional development at all levels of the district,” says Holly Jacobson, CSBA assistant executive director for Policy Analysis and Continuing Education. “Ongoing review and evaluation by the board on the ways in which [it] allocates resources, examines data and provides policy direction and focus for the district are all ways to demonstrate a commitment to its role in a professional learning community.”

Maricle couldn’t agree more.

“Simply put, boards can give their attention and funding,” Maricle says. “They can demonstrate deep respect for professional development,” he adds, by letting staff know, by their actions, that they are committed to a culture of lifelong learning, with the ultimate goal being more effective schools that produce better-educated students.

Attitude is everything

“Our board often asks, ‘What do you need from us?’ ” says Janice Friesen, a Castro Valley Unified School District board member. “As board members, we are on site frequently. I visit every classroom, in every school, every year,” she adds. “I go around and see everything that school is doing. It may only be for [a few] minutes, but I’m there.”

Such dedication is not unusual for a hands-on board member or administrator. And listening—to staff ideas, complaints and suggestions—plays a vital role in keeping communication channels open, not just from the top down, but also from the bottom up.

“Boards need to ask staff to in-service them,” says Bob Graeff, assistant superintendent of education services for the Ramona Unified School District. “Boards have an obligation to say, ‘Teach us. Show us what works.’ Then they can decide how to better place their energies.”

Kelli Moors, president of the Carlsbad Unified School District board, is another believer in eliciting feedback from administrators and teachers.

“It’s very important,” Moors says. “We have found that asking those on the front lines what kind of professional development they need starts the buy-in process. We also solicit this information from classified personnel.”

Sometimes board members focus on specific schools to establish their ongoing presence and show that they are engaged and interested in hearing from principals and teachers about what kind of guidance is needed. Subsequently, the board members deliver the acquired information back to their superintendent and the rest of the board to act upon. After that, staff development becomes a matter of coming up with the resources needed to pay for it and meeting district goals.

Sure, but how do we pay for it?

Understanding the necessity for professional development and finding the resources to sustain it can be opposite sides of the same coin. As committed as a school board may be to including dollars for training in its annual budget, sometimes in the push-and-pull of varying demands on a district’s limited resources, money for educating staff can seem expendable. Must Peter be robbed to pay Paul? And where and how should the funds be spent?

“That really is a struggle; I’m not going to kid you about that,” says Pete Schiff, superintendent of the Ramona Unified School District. “Every year, we try to put money aside to support the continuing issues we have in place.

“The state and federal government ought to develop more funds for staff development, and the funds shouldn’t get sucked up into salaries,” Schiff emphasizes. “We need [resources] for us to be the best we can be, with our senior staff, especially—who have the classroom experience but maybe not the latest training. Staff development is the lifeblood of our pathway to excellence. We have to have the right people on the bus, and we have to train them.

“Ultimately, the important thing is not the needs of the teachers, but how it impacts kids’ learning.”

As with most things worth accomplishing in life, planning ahead matters. Attention and resources early in the process often save on expenses down the road.

“In Walnut Creek, we base our resource allocation and priorities on our district and site strategic plans,” says Barbara Pennington, board president of Walnut Creek School District. “Our district plan has a specific strategy for professional development: ‘We will develop a cohesive professional development model that fosters common best practices so that students receive quality standards-based instruction in curricular areas.’ ”

Pennington says an accountability “loop” is in place at Walnut Creek.

“Our board holds the district accountable, but it works both ways—the district holds the board accountable, also,” Pennington says. “The board can’t ask for staff development without ensuring that resources are available to make that development happen. We do that through our strategic plan, which is revisited at least annually by a broad-based group of community members, certificated and classified staff, administrators, union leadership and parents.

“This analysis of progress on the plan by all of its stakeholders is how we are all accountable. If we haven’t made progress, we work on why, and make changes either to the strategy itself, its timing, or the resources involved.”

A unique and valuable source of funding for Pennington’s district for professional development and other purposes is the Walnut Creek Education Foundation K-12, a consortium of parents and business leaders who provide much-needed financial and volunteer support. As testimony to the financial circumstances that Walnut Creek and many other districts face, the foundation Web site states: “We exist because the funding our schools receive from the state is insufficient and not guaranteed ... to provide many of the educational programs and services required for a quality education.”

CSBA governance consultant Maricle knows only too well the difficulties schools face when it comes to tracking down badly needed resources. But he believes a powerful means of support is close at hand.

“The most valuable resource we have in education is teachers,” Maricle says. “I believe that teachers have the capacity to work with their colleagues to effectively identify and address the learning needs of students.

“It takes time, focus and persistence,” he acknowledges. “Dennis Sparks, of the National Staff Development Council, has said that educators must work under the belief that, ‘We already possess the ability and authority to improve teaching, learning and relationships.’

“The only way to gather more resources is to tap into the motivations of other people and organizations,” Maricle says. “For that reason, the most important activity of the board may be telling the community what the schools are accomplishing, what challenges they face and where they need help. Trustees must work with the superintendent to tell the community what the district needs in an engaging and compelling way.”

Making decisions, making time

Once resources have been committed, decision-making begins: What kind of professional development is needed? And where to find the time?

Many districts ask teachers to attend training in the days just before the school year begins or ends. Sometimes substitutes are brought in to allow teachers time during the school day for instruction. Mainly, boards and district personnel get creative: with time, with resources, by remaining alert.

John Roach, superintendent at the Carlsbad Unified School District, always keeps an eye out for professional development possibilities.

“We stay in close contact with what’s going on in Sacramento as budgets are being approved and new programs identified,” Roach says. “We also look at EdWeek, and we comb through every issue to see if there are opportunities. We also peruse the Federal Register. The education committee of the chamber of commerce offers grants. And we have the Carlsbad Foundation, a new organization. It’s about to release the rules for grant applications.

“There’s a curriculum director [at the district] who does some of that research,” Roach continues. “But all of us are always on the lookout for funding opportunities that will help improve our skills that will help improve student achievement.”

In most districts, personnel typically identify professional development possibilities through one or more of these means:

• Teachers and principals hear about and report on events pertaining to them or their colleagues

• District office staff learn of opportunities and pass the information along

• District superintendents monitor the range of sources open to them

• Board members frequently hear about training programs

County offices of education are also fertile ground for information about professional development opportunities. Ramona USD’s Graeff lauds his local COE in San Diego.

“We’re very pleased with out county office’s offerings,” Graeff says. “We’ll hear something at our county meetings and think, ‘That’s a great innovation. Let’s try that.’ ”

What really matters

Attention, funding and respect, as CSBA’s Maricle says, are the keys to successful professional development. Conscientious employees derive personal satisfaction from the professional fulfillment of work done well; they expect—and appreciate—training opportunities that help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Then everyone benefits.

“I really believe in staff development,” says Ramona USD’s Schiff. “It helps keep our people on the cutting edge; it helps keep that excitement.”

Marsha Boutelle (mboutelle@csba.org) is a staff writer for California Schools.