1. 6/2/20151 Making the Case for Online Professional Development Linda Pittenger Kentucky Department of Education Online Learning Institute 22 March 2006

2. Online Professional Development 2 Introduction Identify the “What”  Define your purpose Develop the “Why”  Engage policymakers Find the “How”  Offer a sustainable model

3. Online Professional Development 3 Introduction In Kentucky today:  Kentucky Virtual High School  3.5 years  30 Online PD Courses plus x Communities of Practice  11 Facilitators on contract  Higher Education  Education Professional Standards Board  Kentucky Virtual University

4. Online Professional Development 4 Introduction Division of Secondary & Virtual Learning Direct report with curriculum, instruction & assessment – not part of Ed Tech Enabling & Advising function – no authority to make decisions beyond our own program No legislation or state-level policy on OPD

5. Online Professional Development 5 The What - Define Your Purpose Doing something better or doing something new?  Offering an alternative to face-to-face?  Offering an add-on to face-to-face?  Offering a replacement for face-to-face?  None of the above? Models?  Self Study or Facilitated?  Wholly online or hybrid?  Singleton or systemic? Will you build or buy?

6. Online Professional Development 6 Defining Your Purpose Online Professional Development Is Not Putting Professional Development Online

7. Online Professional Development 7 Define Your Purpose In Kentucky  All facilitated  Build with those who will use  Three Classes of Service – Three Classes of Support:  Single purpose/ single course  Enhanced/ usually wrapped around face- to-face  Comprehensive/ communities of practice  We do not compete head-to-head with traditional PD

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12. Online Professional Development 12 Defining Your Purpose What professional development experience does the organization value?  Fosters deep understanding  Centers on critical activities of T&L rather than abstractions  Builds on investigation of practice using real work in real world settings  Values/cultivates a culture of collegiality  Is sustained, intensive and woven into the everyday fabric of the teaching profession  Kleiman, 2004

13. Online Professional Development 13 Defining Your Purpose The organization also values:  Saving time  Saving money Will you save time and money? Is this sufficient rationale for online PD?

14. Online Professional Development 14 The Why – Engaging Policymakers Tightly align with the strategic agenda at the executive level of the organization Bring forward the opportunity to do what cannot be done otherwise, with quality Be savvy about the relationships among impact, risk & cost, but Don’t hesitate to market OPD as disruptive innovation

15. Online Professional Development 15 Engaging Policymakers In Kentucky 2000 – eight regional service centers providing technical assistance & F2F PD to districts and 840 staff 2006 – No regional service centers and 340 staff How do we respond to district needs for assistance and high quality PD?

16. Online Professional Development 16 Engaging Policymakers Understand the current investment in things called “PD” Understand the current measure  Time on task? Offer funding models and measures related to performance Offer good practice in OPD based on SREB Model Online PD, etc

17. Online Professional Development 17 Engaging Policymakers High School Reform – Building Capacity Highly qualified teachers and high quality teaching  Pedagogical skills  Content knowledge Leadership  Induction and mentoring  Leading the school through change

18. Online Professional Development 18 Engaging Policymakers Ability to group and regroup learners based on:  Role  Interest  Readiness  Schools of similar demographics  Teachers of students with similar needs High degree of customization  Core content plus specialized modules  Custom courses Immediacy – students & classrooms Strong P16 enabler

19. Online Professional Development 19 Engaging Policy Makers Know the research behind the issues of urgency – EdTrust  Long-term impact of poorly prepared teachers on students  High impact practices Help make the connections

20. Online Professional Development 20 Engaging Policy Makers Parallel appeal to teachers Equal access Rigorous & challenging Personalized education Accountability for performance Ability to manage time & place Opportunity for community with like-minded educators

21. Online Professional Development 21 The How – Offer a Sustainable Model Staffing  Facilitators and Developers  Build the cadre from the participants  Who owns Quality Assurance? Encourage replication at local level  Administrators & master teachers as online learning leaders Funding  Recurring line item inside – not in addition to - major project budgets  Identify discretionary funding sources  Avoid a per seat cost

22. Online Professional Development 22 Offer a Sustainable Model Content, Content & Content Build a repository of reusable content for Instruction & PD – require that developers take both into consideration Developers do not own the content Teachers can take their work products back to use in the classroom Build courses in modular format Partner very strategically

23. Online Professional Development 23 The Bottom Line Engaging every teacher in high quality, professional growth experiences that lead to higher levels of achievement for an increasingly diverse population of students is not an opportunity or an add-on to what we are already doing – it is a professional, economic and moral obligation

24. Online Professional Development 24 Key Points Be very clear about  What online is ( and is not)  Why online is uniquely responsive  How online can be sustained Under Promise & Over Deliver

25. Online Professional Development 25 Linda Pittenger Linda.Pittenger@education.ky.gov www.kvhs.org Linda.Pittenger@education.ky.gov