A Comprehensive Professional Development Program to Prepare Effective Teacher Leaders in Science
The study was conducted during implementation of the NCOSP professional development program. One component of this program was an 80 hour residential summer academy (SA) delivered at Western Washington University during 2005, 2006, and 2007. Each SA included approximately 40 hours of content immersion (Physics, Biology or Earth science). During the content immersions, Teacher Leaders were in groups of 25-40 led by a team of three to five facilitators made up of higher education faculty (including a content specialist for that subject area) and at least one K12 Teacher on Special Assignment. In addition to providing subject-specific content to the K-12 teachers, the Summer Academy sessions introduced "How People Learn" as a unifying framework for learning and modeled this framework in the context of the immersions. Focused discussions of pedagogical strategies consistent with that framework were conducted at appropriate times in the sessions, sometimes supplemented with video recordings of naïve student conceptions of the content under consideration. The remaining 40 hours of the academies were focused on development of classroom and curriculum connections, collaborative practices, and leadership skills. The evaluation of the three two-week Summer Academies included: 1) Content assessments (pre, post, and delayed post), 2) Satisfaction and impact surveys at the end of each SA, 3) Interviews of a sampling of teachers during the course of the SA; and 4) A survey administered toward the end of the school year following each SA to examine the impact of the previous SA on their teaching practices.
Learning Community Forums (LCFs) were offered in the academic year to extend the experiences provided to the teacher leaders during the summer and to promote reflection on their learning as they began to implement new strategies. These day-long experiences were offered approximately 5-7 times per year and were held regionally to accommodate the large geographic span of the project. The LCFs provided learning experiences in the morning and typically left afternoons less structured to allow for discussions and collaborations among Teacher Leaders within and across districts. These afternoons provided significant opportunities for teachers to learn from one another and strengthen the Teacher Leader network. Satisfaction surveys provided a measure of the extent to which Teacher Leaders felt the programs met the intended goals. Impact surveys administered annually examined the impact of the series of LCFs on Teacher Leaders' knowledge and practice. A sampling of Teacher Leaders were selected for classroom observations to assess the extent to which changes in practice were consistent with reports from the impact survey. Student performance data on the state science assessment were analyzed over the four year period to determine the impact of instruction on student learning.
The summer professional development program for 2007 capitalized on the knowledge and skills that Teacher Leaders had developed over the previous three years and mobilized this group to engage their peers in professional learning communities focused on science content, instructional strategies, collaborative practices, and student assessment. During a five-day planning week, Teacher Leaders worked collaboratively with higher education science faculty and K12 Teachers on Special Assignment to design a 3-day content-focused professional development experience to initiate their professional learning community, which they went on to facilitated later that summer. Teacher Leaders were surveyed to assess the extent to which the five-day planning week prepared them to support teachers in their building as a professional learning community. Satisfaction surveys were also administered after the initial 3-day workshop to assess the teachers' perceived impact of the experience. Their responses served as a measure of Teacher Leader effectiveness.
These learning communities continue to collaborate during the 2007-08 academic year, with support from K12 Teachers on Special Assignment, Higher Education Science Faculty, and partnership staff. Forums during the academic year now involve both Teacher Leaders and their principals to address leadership challenges in supporting effective instruction, collaboration, and assessment building-wide. These forums provide principals and Teacher Leaders a chance to learn and work together so they can support and sustain their professional learning community. Satisfaction surveys provide a measure of the extent to which participants feel the programs are meeting the intended goals.
