Deepening Practice: A Central-Office Initiative That Turns Professional Development on Its Head

• In Event: Interschool Collaborative Learning: A Vehicle for School Improvement

Abstract

Objectives
The Showcase Schools Program (SSP) is one of NYC DOE’s new programs that provides schools across NYC with an array of opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other. Twenty-seven schools were identified as having promising practices in a learning focus area related to the DOE’s Vision for School Improvement. All DOE schools are eligible to attend SSP visits and engage in additional professional learning following the visits. This paper will provide an overview of SSP, share findings from case studies of two Showcase schools, and discuss implications for the role of interschool collaboration in school improvement in large urban districts.

Perspective
SSP moves beyond the notion of “best practices” and instead creates structures that facilitate learning across schools. SSP seeks to be the vehicle for change by creating structures that facilitate learning across schools. The research base on professional development is clear – is it often narrowly defined and artificially detached from teachers’ day-to-day work (Fullan, 1995). Concomitant with that, forcing professional development on teachers and principals is equally problematic. If professional development is not woven into the ongoing daily work of teachers, it stands little chance of impacting student achievement (Corcoran, 1995; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1996; Guskey, 2000; Hargreaves, 1995). With that in mind, SSP creates opportunities that meet schools where they are, and provide them with a range of options to support them as they deepen their practice. This paper draws on the adult learning and professional development literature to identify the structures and conditions that led to schools’ decision to deepen their practice following a visit to a Showcase school, as well as the support schools identified as contributing to their growth.

Methods and Data
We will utilize a case study approach (Yin, 2014) to deepen our understanding of SSP. Researchers will follow two Showcase school experiences by observing the work schools do to prepare host visits, observe the visits, and analyze the professional learning work that follows the visits. Researchers will interview members of the host school team and visiting schools using a semi-structured protocol. Data will be triangulated through analysis of interviews and observations, Showcase visit feedback forms, pre/post online surveys of participants, and surveys of Showcase schools personnel.

Results
Preliminary data reveal that SSP fills a need expressed by schools. We found that providing access to promising practices and high leverage solutions to some of the city’s pervasive challenges was well received. The creation of authentic learning opportunities that Showcase schools offered their visitors became a starting point to conversations around practice. Visiting schools asked for opportunities to continue to engage in the work following their initial visit that extended beyond materials and resources. Additionally, we will share findings from our case study research on year two of SSP.

Significance
The experiences of both Showcase schools and their visitors confirms extant literature about the conditions that support adult learning and professional development that leads to school improvement, and extends this literature to include interschool collaboration as a vehicle for school improvement.

Authors

• Victoria J. Maslow, New York City Department of Education

• Zachary Millington, New York City Department of Education