Anticipating and Supporting the Trajectory of Professional Growth: A pilot study of Teach For America teachers in a DC Charter School. Rachael Gabriel, Dept. of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education

The good news about Teacher Professional Development: Retention (Wong, 2004) Job Satisfaction (Woods & Weasmer, 2002) Teacher Quality (Duffy, 2004; Darling-Hammond, 2009) Teacher Effectiveness (Darling-Hammond, 1997; Allington, 2004)

The bad news about teacher professional development “nothing has promised so much and has been so frustratingly wasteful as the thousands of workshops and conferences that led to no significant change in practice when teachers returned to their classrooms” (Fullan, 1991, p 315). The consensus among researchers and teachers surrounding elements of effective PD is rarely carried out in schools (Richardson, 2004).

New vs. Old Paradigm Old ParadigmNew Paradigm One-shot workshops Talking heads One-size-fits-all Passive Training model Ongoing Embedded Active participation Collaboration Alignment with personal and school goals for growth Content-focused Garet, et al., 2001; Hawley & Valli, 1999; Darling- Hammond & Richardson, 2009

Research Questions Is there a pattern to the types of Professional Development that are most valued by alternatively certified beginning teachers across content areas? Is there a common trajectory of professional growth in terms of: Reflection?Collaboration? Do these patterns suggest proactive strategies to anticipate and support the needs of alternatively certified teachers?

Participants 6 teachers that began teaching in Teach For America at a DC public charter school. Alternatively certified. Beginning teachers. Placed in a setting that struggles with retention. 1 st year 2 nd year 3 rd year femalemalefemale ReadingSpecial Ed: English ScienceSocial Studies MathSpecial Ed: Math

Theoretical framework: Theory of Situated Learning in Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) Theory of Transformative Learning (Mezirow, 2000)

Resources for PD Charter SchoolLocal University Teach For America Mentor teacherVisiting mentorProgram Director (mentor) In-service days2 courses per semester PD Workshop Saturdays and “learning teams”

Methods invitation to participate. Phone interview 5 open-ended questions about their preferences for PD and habits of reflection. Sociologically constructed and in vivo coding Thematic analysis across narratives Narrative analysis: first-year teacher narrative

Findings Teachers valued PD that: Allowed choice Was tailored to their needs and interests Had a specific focus Was content-specific Allowed them to interact with content/grade-level peers Allowed participation and application

Findings Teachers did not value: Programs that didn’t align with their personal or school-wide goals for growth Programs aimed at a wide audience Programs whose rationale wasn’t obvious Redundancy Grad school in general: mismatch in expectations leads to lack of investment in the structure, but not the content.

Teacher Learning, Not Teacher Training There is a sense among participants that PD should be differentiated and responsive. “tailored”“window-shopping”“fit”“specific” Researchers agree: Garet (2001), Mezirow (2000), Hawley & Valli (1999), Darling-Hammond & Richardson (2009).

Ratings for PD Charter SchoolLocal UniversityTeach For America Mentor teacherVisiting mentorProgram Director (mentor) In-service days2 courses per semester PD Workshop Saturdays and “learning teams” Teachers consistently rated their colleagues as their most trusted source of professional development.

Patterns of collaboration with colleagues 1 st year teachers: colleagues as resources “I can go to her for anything…” 2 nd year teachers: colleagues as reflection partners “He’s really my sounding board” “He listens to me vent.” “Someone I can bounce ideas off of.” 3 rd year teachers: colleagues as collaborators “the best part of my job is getting to watch other teachers” “being able to plan with my department chair has totally changed my teaching”

Patterns of reflection 1 st –year teachers: problem- solving. 2 nd -year teachers: problem identification. 3 rd -year teachers: synthesizing what they observe from colleagues.

suggestions Back-to-back observations Opportunities for choice during in-service days Proactive, ongoing discussions about the rationale and utility of graduate coursework. More opportunities for peer observations in the 2 nd and 3 rd years Use the extensive research base on professional development to evaluate and design future programs.

Future research Larger sample More diverse sample: is there a difference in the needs and interests of teachers from different preparation routes? Content-specific inquiry: exploring the documented strength in math over reading for students of alternatively certified teachers.

Rachael Gabriel University of Tennessee, Knoxville