I happen to agree with Robin's comments. Program -PD is only as effective as policy and personnel (administrators) require it to be. When it is not supported it tends to be wasted effort - especially when the PD does not have an impact on classroom teaching practices or student performance goals. I think Robin hit the nail on the head when she said it evaporates when teachers know they don't "HAVE" to continue doing what they were trained to do. I think one obstacle that leads to this isn't so much teacher turnover ( though that is a big one) but also, administrative apathy. Training is done because they feel they have to not because they want to and then they don't have time to truly dedicate to find out if the training was effective or being utilized and then teachers feel like they wasted their time or that the training was pointless. My favorite comment from teachers is that "I've always done it this way" as if that is the only way something can be done - or when someone looks at me and tells me they thought it was 'interesting and cute' but you can tell from their comments that he/she has no intention of ever truly implementing what they have just been trained on. For PD to be effective, everyone has to support it and understand the need and essentialness or inter-relatedness of all the pieces - from the training to the classroom to the assessment to student performance.



Regards,
Katrina Hinson




>>> <robinschwarz1 at aim.com> 5/15/2008 4:06:47 pm >>>


 Mariann and list-- I find that the most important element of all is policy change at the program level. Without that, all the effort soon evaporates either as teachers know they don''t HAVE to continue doing what they were trained to do, or because there is staff turnover and the effort is lost.?? Robin Lovrien Schwarz 


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mariann Fedele <MariannF at lacnyc.org>
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Sent: Wed, 14 May 2008 12:49 pm
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 2133]  Program-based PD your thoughts










Hello PD list colleagues,

Program-based PD is becoming a topic of great interest and growing
practice in the world of adult education. What do you think are some of
the key resources/tools/examples anyone interested in this topic should
know about? 
For those of you who have conducted program-based PD what have been the
benefits and what have been the challenges? If the sky were the limit,
what do you think would help in meeting the challenges (trainings,
technology supports, tailored technical assistance)? 

Look forward to hearing from you soon!

Mariann

Mariann Fedele
Director,
NYC Regional Adult Education Network
Literacy Assistance Center
Moderator,
NIFL Technology and Literacy Discussion List
32 Broadway 10th Floor
New York, New York 10004
212-803-3325
mariannf at lacnyc.org 
www.lacnyc.org 


----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov 
 
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment 

Provide feedback by May 30th on the AALPD Quality Professional Development 
Standards:
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/AALPD_PD_Quality_Standards_Feedback 
 
Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki 
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development