A Terrible Death to be Talked to Death

OK, so no one is dead yet. It's just "Teacher In-service."

Is there another term in the educational world that can suck the life out of an educator faster than that one?

The assumption behind teacher in-service is that it will improve teachers and their teaching. Who could argue against that? I don't know any colleague who would walk away from that opportunity.

Yet, the term has a stigma.

Here is my situation. Our school district is pushing hard the idea of Professional Learning Communities to create common assessments within each subject to improve student achievement. The model or framework that is being followed is the one created by Rick and Rebecca DuFour and Robert Eaker; one of their presenters regarding common assessment is Cassie Erkens, an English teacher form Lakeville, Minnesota who also is an educational consultant. The district has committed a great deal of time and money to make the professional learning communities a reality - a lasting reality.

Five years ago, the time and money was committed to Continuous Improvement models.

Seven years ago, it was Action Research Teams by schools and departments to develop standards.

About ten to twelve years ago, it was Mastery Learning.

About sixteen years ago, it was Outcome Based Learning.

All of these were initiatives to improve student achievement, and as of late, to avoid the difficult labels generated by the No Child Left Behind Act. None of them has lasted beyond five years (although it can be argued that Mastery Learning is an extension of OBE.) Veteran teachers have seen the track record of professional development that changes about every five years. "This is the next greatest thing that will save our district, our profession, and our students." Five years later, it's the next greatest thing. It gets harder each time the "next greatest thing" comes along for experienced teachers to buy into it. A pattern begins to develop and we begin to treat these initiatives as a fad.

The "ah-ha" moment is coming. Be patient.

Today's PLC in-service at the Cedar Rapids African-American Museum is a little different. One of my veteran colleagues, who has been through more of these "next greatest things" than I have, said:

"You know, most of these are the same damn thing - just different methods. None of this is rocket science."

A few moments after his statement, we were presented with a model for the process of common assessments. It looks suspiciously familiar to many of the models that are found in instructional design. Right now, our ID class is focusing on the Dick and Carey model. In my opinion, the CA model seems to have been influenced by this - as was, if I recall, the models of the process for continuous improvement, action research teams, mastery learning:

"What is your goal? What is your current status? What is the gap? How do you close the gap?"

Had I saved the reams of handouts from the last 21 years of teacher in-services, I'm guessing that many of the models and frameworks would look similar.

Ah-ha! These presenters haven't been bilking our district for millions of dollars! They've based their research on instructional design! (More or less.) We probably knew that already, at some level. I think this is where new teachers have it over the veterans. We vets may have seen more professional development, but it's easy to be jaded by the frequency of the next new idea. New teachers haven't learned those bad habits of preconceived notions, or perhaps they are more accepting of the new "next new ideas" because this is the first one they've experienced.

Think about your last in-service or professional development. Was it good for you? Was it good for your school? Colleagues? Your students? When we gripe about the last boring meeting, what is it we're griping about? The time away from students? The time away from what we're paid to do? The idea that you have a far better use of time than what's being plopped down in front of you?

If you ever get the chance to see Cassie Erkens, do so. If you have the power to lobby for professional development, lobby for her. Here's a short excerpt of one of her presentations: