Staff Ed: written by Sofia Williams
On Oct. 24 and 25, a third of Costa’s teachers were required to attend professional development training that aimed to facilitate the implementation of professional learning communities. While the use of professional learning communities would be beneficial for Costa students, teacher absences caused by the development schedule disadvantaged students and teachers alike, demonstrating a need for the program to be reorganized.
Professional learning communities are teaching models that create standards for common assessments and analyze data from student performance to provide extra assistance to students who may not have fully grasped a concept when it was first taught. With Costa’s new professional development model, one third of all teachers will be absent for either two days in October, December, or January.
During the training, teachers engage with a professional learning coach, who explains the research behind the model’s effectiveness and how it can be implemented in various departments at Costa, according to Principal Dr. Karina Gerger. The Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC) provides Costa with accreditation, which is reevaluated on a three-year cycle. Since this year marked the beginning of a new cycle, Costa was required to create new goals and reform its professional development model. While in previous years professional development took place solely during the two days before school started, the two additional development days require teachers to attend seminars during the year in order to more effectively implement professional learning communities, according to Gerger. Professional learning communities are a vehicle for Costa to work toward its new goals for many years to come, and this year’s professional development was an introduction to that process, according to Gerger.
The use of professional learning communities in class would allow Costa students to better comprehend information they are learning, and would reduce stress for students by providing them with the proper resources to academically prosper. According to a study by the Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research, schools who practiced professional learning communities saw an 85.9% increase in standardized test scores for math. If Costa teachers based their instructional model on data from student performance, students would better comprehend the subjects being taught to them. While the ideas presented in the professional development are valuable for Costa students and teachers, the organization and scheduling of the development days had a negative effect on the Costa community, per Costa English teacher Lisa Cook.
Despite the benefits of professional learning communities, the way in which the development programs were executed worked to the detriment of students and teachers. As a result of teachers being absent from class for two days out of the week, there was a lack of available substitute teachers, making it difficult for classes to be productive, according to Cook. If Costa were to use the professional development days at the beginning of the year, it would alleviate pressure placed on teachers to obtain substitutes for their classes. According to Gerger, professional development before school begins would allow for a more consistent teaching model to be used throughout the year. With this year’s model, teachers are only able to put their training into practice in January, after every staff member has received the information. If the seminars took place before the year began, teachers would have more time
and opportunity to refine the methods they were taught during the training. According to Cook, many teachers had to spend time outside of school creating several plans to account for the possibility that their class would not be covered by a substitute. This issue could be resolved through a more effective use of the two professional development days at the beginning of the year, rather than taking teachers out of class for two days during the year.
Costa’s new professional development schedule negatively impacts students and teachers by disrupting instructional time, according to Cook. The previous model was more efficient and less stressful for staff. However, the message imparted by professional development is important and should be used at Costa to help students better understand topics and increase academic performance.
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