Using stakeholder feedback to improve online professional development opportunities

Abstract

Traditional professional development is often characterized as being expensive, time consuming, and lacking impact. In contrast, online professional development provides greater flexibility and is becoming increasingly popular for school personnel. In this article, we report the process and outcomes of gathering feedback to adapt traditional in-person to online training differentiated for the participants to maximize utility, efficiency, and effectiveness in meeting the needs of key stakeholders. Focus groups were conducted with teachers, administrators, and other specialists to gather feedback on content as well as how online learning modules (OLMs) could be tailored to meet specific school site and team needs. We discuss our findings in the context of continuing efforts to improve general and specific professional development opportunities.     

Trends and practices in functional behavior assessments completed by school psychologists

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) utilize direct and indirect methods to collect data on student behavior to generate a functional hypothesis and drive intervention development. School psychologists are trained to conduct FBAs and use them regularly in schools. However, no evidence exists describing the specific practices used by school psychologists when they conduct FBAs. In this study, 199 respondents completed a web‐based survey developed using expert review and cognitive pretesting. Most respondents reported their gender as female (87%), were between 30 and 39 years old (50%), and practiced at the Specialist level (57%). Respondents reported receiving training in FBA across multiple sources and utilizing multi‐method data collection methods when conducting FBAs. A large amount of variability was observed in the specific instruments used by school psychologists, with a substantial proportion using forms that were not standardized or pre‐constructed. Implications for current practitioners, trainers, and researchers are described.     

Judgment‐Based Scoring by Teachers as Professional Development: Distinguishing Promises from Proof

The engagement of teachers as raters to score constructed response items on assessments of student learning is widely claimed to be a valuable vehicle for professional development. This paper examines the evidence behind those claims from several sources, including research and reports over the past two decades, information from a dozen state educational agencies regarding past and ongoing involvement of teachers in scoring‐related activities as of 2001, and interviews with educators who served a decade or more ago for one state's innovative performance assessment program. That evidence reveals that the impact of scoring experience on teachers is more provisional and nuanced than has been suggested. The author identifies possible issues and implications associated with attempts to distill meaningful skills and knowledge from hand‐scoring training and practice, along with other forms of teacher involvement in assessment development and implementation. The paper concludes with a series of research questions that—based on current and proposed practice for the coming decade—seem to the author to require the most immediate attention.     

What makes a cMOOC community endure? Multiple participant perspectives from diverse cMOOCs

Imagine the challenge of being immersed in a dynamic learning network where you play brinkmanship with being overwhelmed by a plethora of information, comments, and conversations on a topic of intense interest to you. Through adept facilitation, the comments and encouragement of fellow participants, and your own perseverance, you develop a network of personal connections which serve as metaphorical flying buttresses creating enough stability that you are able to learn in a new, yet profoundly meaningful way – the connectivist massive open online course (cMOOC) way. Through the lens of autoethnography, five seasoned educators collaboratively reflect on their motivation for participating in their initial cMOOC. They analyze their lived experience, what they found most engaging, and most importantly, they grapple with why cMOOC communities often endure past official end-dates. This article attempts to provide insight into the thrill and depth of learning and connection possible through participation in cMOOCs.     

Boarding schools: A longitudinal examination of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous boarders’ and non-boarders’ wellbeing

Improving educational outcomes for Indigenous Australian students is a key strategy to helping Indigenous people reach their full potential. This has resulted in well-intentioned efforts by Australian educators and governments to ensure Indigenous children have positive school experiences. However, Indigenous students still lag behind their non-Indigenous counterparts in educational outcomes. This is particularly so for Indigenous students living in rural and remote parts of Australia where educational opportunities are limited, especially in high school. One solution to this problem has been to enrol these students in boarding schools in urban and metropolitan centres. While research on the success of boarding schools for Indigenous students is scarce, what little that does exist is not encouraging. The focus of this research was to examine the effects of boarding for Indigenous (n = 11) and non-Indigenous students’ (n = 158) wellbeing (N = 1423) in two large private boys’ schools. Participating students aged 12–18 years old completed a survey measuring wellbeing constructs on two occasions, 12 months apart. Non-Indigenous boys were generally higher in wellbeing compared with Indigenous boys. There was also evidence of improved social wellbeing beyond that of non-Indigenous boarders over time. Overall, while evidence of merit was weak, boarding schools may benefit their Indigenous students’ development in social wellbeing.