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L421.2 Saunders, B., O'Brien, G., Hasenstab, K., Marcelletti, D., Saldivar, T., & Goldenberg, C. (in press). Site-based professional development for schools serving English-language learners. To appear in P. Schmidt & P. Mosenthal (Eds.). Advances in reading/language arts research, Vol. 9: Reconceptualizing literacy in the new age of pluralism and multiculturalism. Jossey-Bass.
Schools are being encouraged to establish ongoing, school-based professional development settings within and around the school day. Improving professional development programs for teachers is central to reforming and improving American schools. This is especially true in low-income, urban schools serving large numbers of language and cultural minority children. Such schools often have less experienced staffs and more new teachers with little, if any, pre-service training. While there is a growing literature documenting the benefits and challenges of school-based professional development, there remains a need for concrete descriptions of how to make such school settings work. This chapter describes how to design, lead, and sustain four specific school settings that, individually and collectively, can make a substantial contribution to improved teaching and learning: (1) teacher work groups, (2) grade level or department meetings, (3) the academic achievement leadership team, and (4) faculty-wide settings and training workshops. The chapter begins with background information on the projects in which these settings were studied and a set of core principles for effective school-based professional development. Then a section is devoted to each setting, including a general description of what it is, specific guidelines for success, and examples drawn from our experiences. |
