Educator Participation, Collaboration, and Professional Learning A Report for the Collaborative | January 21, 2019
|
ABC CREATE is partnering with Sevenzo this year to strengthen the ways in which we connect educators for ongoing learning and meaningful collaboration across the collaborative. The first project, a report for the collaborative on educator participation, collaboration, and professional learning, was completed in January 2019. A second project, district professional development (PD) redesign, is underway this spring.
ABC CREATE Report Sevenzo worked with ABC CREATE to collect feedback and insights in November and December 2018. They conducted an administrator survey, teacher and non-instructional school staff survey, set of interviews, and observations of two ABC CREATE convenings to gather information. Roughly 500 individuals from eight of the collaborative’s 14 districts responded to the surveys. These include: Allegheny Valley, Apollo Ridge, Armstrong, Kiski, Leechburg, New Kensington Arnold, Plum Boro and Riverview. 
“The connections that you make between districts [is the biggest benefit]. This is unheard of. It doesn’t happen normally that you have rival school districts working together to be better at something. I saw the value immediately in what I’ve done in my classroom.” — Educator | ||
Since ABC CREATE was formed in 2015, teacher learning and action has been a priority and valued mechanism for change. While the idea of engaging “teacher champions” has been part of the collaborative’s plans from the beginning, ABC CREATE currently does not have a good understanding of the landscape in which teacher peer-led learning is occurring. Thus, this report focuses on one particular lever for change that cuts across the collaborative’s strategic goals: educator participation, collaboration, and professional learning. The report aims to help ABC CREATE better understand the current state of educator peer learning and collaboration within the collaborative, and to outline potential opportunities for enhancing future engagement and impact. Written by Sevenzo in the winter of 2019, this report captures feedback from individuals within the collaborative school districts, and offers recommendations to the network’s leadership to help meet strategic goals.
District PD Redesign
With support from The Grable Foundation and Sevenzo, several school districts in the ABC CREATE collaborative are taking a deeper look at their professional development (PD) systems and identifying small changes for greater engagement and impact. The participating districts have the opportunity to:
- Gather teacher and administrator perspectives on PD in their district using an online assessment.
- Engage in cross-team discussions to better understand the current state of PD in the district.
- Collaborate and learn from other local districts who are enhancing their PD systems.
- Make small changes to better meet the needs of teachers and students.
“I have a better understanding of what perceptions teachers have regarding the focus, direction, and goals of our PD. It helped me to refine what I have thought compared to actual perceptions." - Participant
"The conversation, open and candid, was refreshing and helped me see a broader perspective." - Participant
To learn more, please contact Meredith Bortz at [email protected].
Sevenzo is a non-profit whose mission is to connect educators to create more caring, inclusive, and impactful learning environments for their students. Visit www.sevenzo.org to learn more.
