Assessment # 7: Professional Development Experience
1.a. Brief Description of the Professional Development Experienceand its Use in the Program
The Professional Development Experience is used to assess the candidate’s ability to plan effectiveteacher professional development to meet the literacy needs of students across the grades. This assessment occurs toward the end of the program, in the courseLSLS 7031: Principles of Organizing a Literacy Curriculum. This course addresses a wide range of issues and approaches related to planning, implementing, and supervising literacy programs in K-12 settings. It is designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to take a leadership role in designing effective instruction, developing and evaluating curriculum materials, creating a literate environment, and facilitating teacher professional development.
The Professional Development Experience primarily addresses IRA Standard 6: Professional Learning and Leadership. This assessment secondarily addresses one element of IRA Standard 4: Diversity.
1.b. Alignment of Professional Development Experience with Elements of
Standard 6: Professional Learning and Leadership.
Standard 6.1: Demonstrate foundational knowledge of adult learning theories and related research about organizational change, professional development, and school culture.
Candidates are expected to design a professional development experience reflecting current research on characteristics and components of effective professional development including modeling, scaffolding, and engagement of participants as active decision-makers. Further, the experience should incorporate authentic, contextually-based data, and should occur time.
Standard 6.2: Display positive dispositions related to their own reading and writing and the teaching of reading and writing, and pursue the development of individual professional knowledge and behaviors.
An integral part of the candidate’s professional development experience is his/her demonstration of positive attitudes toward his/her own reading and writing and modeling his/her ongoing individual professional development regarding the teaching of reading and writing.
Standard 6.3: Participate in, design, facilitate, lead, and evaluate effective and differentiated professional development programs.
Candidates are expected to design professional development experiences to support participants with differentiated knowledge, experiences, and dispositions toward the professional development topic.
Standard 6.4: Understand and influence local, state, or national policy decisions.
Candidates are expected to model the responsibilities and dispositions of professional leadership including attention to his/her role, as well as the potential roles of participants, in local, state, or national conversations and policy decisions.
Alignment of Professional Development Experience with Elements of
Standard 4: Diversity.
The Professional Development Experience must promote: Recognition, understanding, and valuing of the forms of diversity that exist in society and their importance in learning to read and write (Standard 4.1) and also promote participant engagement in instructional practices that positively impact [PreK-12] students’ knowledge, beliefs, and engagement with features of diversity (Standard 4.2)
1.c. Brief Assessment of the Data Findings
Since this is a new program, there are no data findings to report. Our previous program did not include an assessment of this type. We anticipate that this assessment will yield data relevant to candidate success in meeting IRA Standard 6: Professional Learning and Leadership.
1.d. Description of how the Data will Provide Evidence of Meeting the Standards
Data will consist of the total number of points obtained on the Assessment Rubric for the Professional Development Experience. A candidate who successfully meets each IRA standard associated with this assignment will obtain a score of 24-30 points. Evidence of our program meeting the standards will consist of having 90% of our candidates obtain a score of 24 points or more.
2.e. Professional Development Experience Assessment
The directions and format for this assessment, as they are provided to students, appears below.
Assignment: Designing a Professional Development Experience
In this assignment you will create a Professional Development Experience including a PowerPoint Presentation that could be presented in a professional study group, staff meeting, seminar, or workshop for paraprofessionals or teachers to assist these stakeholders in the promotion of literacy. The experience should:
- Increase the knowledge base for classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and/or administrators in the use of curriculum materials.
- Increase the knowledge base for classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and/or administrators in the use of technology-based materials.
- Increase the knowledge base for classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and/or administrators in the use of personal professional development plans.
Reflect an evolving and critical understanding of literacy instruction, demonstrated through multiple sources.
- Exhibit leadership skills in professional development as well as an awareness of and ability to describe the characteristics of sound professional development programs.
- Be relevant to the context identified.
- Include a rationale that is thorough and referenced throughout the presentation.
- Include goals that are thoroughly embedded within the activities, rationale, and research presented.
- Be designed for participants to be actively engaged in the entire process through decision-making, implementation, and reflection in a recursive structure reflective of their assessment of needs.
- Model strategies and approaches that can be taken to authentic settings and guide participants in their own quest for learning.
- Provide multiple methods and strategies for participant consideration and review and allow participants to reflect upon practices throughout the experience.
- Allow multiple opportunities to formally and informally evaluate the process as presented and opportunities to revise or deviate from the presentation as necessary.
- Include evaluation that is accurately reflective of the content, goals, and process described.
- Include PowerPoint slides that are well-organized, visually appealing, and incorporate more than just text or simple graphics to convey messages. References for this assignment can be placed on the last slide and should be in APA style.
2.f. Scoring Guide for Professional Development Experience Assessment
Does Not Meet Course Criteria/IRA Standard(0-1 point) / Moderately Meets Course Criteria/IRA Standard
(2-3 points) / Meets or Exceeds Course Criteria/IRA Standard
(4-5 points)
Topic
Selection, Rationale, and Goals
(Standard 6.1) / Topic is not related to literacy instruction, vague or too broad for the scope of the PD experience or audience identified. Rationale for topic is not provided or insufficient references are provided to establish the relevance; goals are missing or unclear / Topic is focused on a specific aspect of literacy instruction relevant to the context/audience identified for the PD experience; Relevant rationale for the purpose of the PD experience/topic selected provided, with appropriate references; goals for the experience are stated and tied into the events surrounding the experience / Topic reflects an evolving and critical understanding of literacy instruction, demonstrated through multiple sources within the ppt. and relevant to the context identified; rationale is thorough and referenced throughout the presentation; goals are thoroughly embedded within the activities, rationale, and research presented
Participant Involvement
(Standards 6.1, 6.3) / PD experience is limited; Opportunities for participants to identify issues or goals, and create solutions or processes to work toward goals are missing or cursory; key stakeholders (paraprofessionals, administrators, etc. . .) are not incorporated into the plans; structure of events is inauthentic or lacks substance / PD experience represents a scaffolded approach to development over time; Participants are actively engaged in identifying authentic concerns related to the topic, and then working toward viable solutions within the school context; PD includes components for or recognition of the roles of various stakeholders / PD experience includes modeling, scaffolding, and multiple opportunities over time for participants using authentic and contextually based data; participants are actively engaged in the entire process through decision-making, implementation, and reflection in a recursive structure reflective of their assessment of needs within the context as described
PD Educator Involvement
(Standards 6.1, 6.2, 6.3) / PD educator controls the entire experience with little or no input from the participants / PD educator serves as a coach and model for the participants, actively engaging them in the discussion and plan / PD educator serves as an active resource for the participants; guides participants in their own quest for learning; models strategies and approaches in authentic settings; provides multiple methods and strategies for participant consideration and review; participates in reflective practices throughout the experience; displays positive attitudes toward his/her own reading and writing and models his/her ongoing individual professional development regarding the teaching of reading and writing
Differentiation and Diversity
(Standards 6.3, 4.1, 4.2) / Limited attention to differentiation in the PD experience; limited or no attention to diversity in the knowledge base, strategies, and dispositions addressed / PD experience includes attention to the differentiated knowledge and experiences of participants. PD experience acknowledges PreK-12 student diversity. / PD experience supports learning for participants who range in experiences, dispositions, and knowledge regarding the topic. Methods and strategies of presentation and participant engagement are varied; context of PD experience supports risk-taking and community-building among participants. Knowledge and practical applications support participants in heightening their recognition and understanding of the importance of the many forms of diversity in literacy learning; concepts and instructional strategies will positively impact PreK-12 students’ engagement with features of diversity
Assessment and Evaluation
(Standard 6.3) / Opportunities for evaluation of the PD experience are cursory or non-existent; Assessment/evaluation opportunities are not accurately reflective of the content, goals, or process as presented in the PD plan / Multiple opportunities for evaluation of the PD experience in both formal and informal ways are provided in the PD plan; assessment/evaluation accurately reflects the content, goals, and process as presented in the PD plan / Evaluation/assessment is embedded within the PD plan; participants are provided multiple opportunities to formally and informally evaluate the process as presented in the plan and opportunities to revise or deviate from the plan as necessary are built into the process as presented; evaluation is accurately reflective of the content, goals, and process described
Professional Role, Presentation, and Style
(Standard 6.4) / PD educator does not model professional leadership with respect to policy decisions and/or does not model professional presentation in content conveyed;
multiple typos/grammatical errors; References missing or not in APA format; slides are busy, cluttered, or difficult to read / PD educator addresses the role of instructional leaders as participants in policy conversations. In his/her presentation of content, there areminimal errors; references present and in APA style; slides are self-sufficient, understandable, and organized in a logical, orderly manner / PD educator models the responsibilities and dispositions of professional leadership including attention to his/her role, as well as the potential roles of participants, in local, state, or national conversations and policy decisions. In presentation of content, PD educator has no errors; APA style is present; references included; PPT slides are well-organized, visually appealing, and incorporate more than just text or simple graphics to convey messages
Total = ______/30 points