Implementing a PD Consultation Process in a State Preschool Program

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Professional development (PD) can be a key lever for supporting preschool teachers’ provision of high-quality teaching (Institute of Medicine & National Research Council, 2015), which is necessary to promote children’s learning and development (Mashburn et al., 2008). However, a gap exists between the type of PD that has been shown to benefit teachers’ practice and that which is most commonly delivered in preschool programs (Hamre et al., 2017; Winton et al., 2016). Researchers often test intensive, pre-packaged PD models that tend to rely on resources external to preschool programs. Although much research has documented the benefits of these PD models (Brunsek et al., 2020; Egert et al., 2018; Markussen-Brown et al., 2017; Werner et al., 2016), the available but limited data on PD at-scale suggest that they are not typical of most teachers’ PD experiences.

This study describes a PD Consultation process situated within a larger research-practice-partnership (RPP) between a university-based research team and early childhood leaders at a state education agency. At the time of the RPP, the only requirement from the state was that school districts must offer lead and assistant teachers 15 hours of PD per year, but the form and focus of PD was decided by each district. Although districts provided the state with a brief overview of their PD plan, detailed information was not collected and the provision of PD and its quality was not well-understood statewide. Addressing this gap, the goals of the PD Consultation process were to obtain more detailed information about PD quality across a state preschool program and to provide data-driven technical assistance to each school district around improving the quality of their PD (i.e., consultation that was individualized to districts’ PD needs).

Statewide implementation of the PD Consultation process, including the development of a PD Rubric and Questionnaire, is described. The PD Rubric was used to understand the baseline quality of PD offered to preschool teachers across 122 school districts and to guide individualized PD consultation calls between district leaders and consultants. Data related to the quality of PD across districts and districts leaders’ satisfaction with this process are presented. Findings indicated that the area of PD with the greatest room for improvement was providing PD that supports teachers to refine their teaching skills, as opposed to providing teachers only with new knowledge or general discussion. District leaders found the PD Consultation process to be valuable, particularly talking with their consultant.

The study adds to our understanding of what typical PD looks like at scale and illustrates how the field might begin to narrow the research to practice gap. By supporting district leaders to design and deliver the types of PD experiences that research indicates are most likely to improve teachers’ practice, teachers can more effectively support children’s learning and development in the preschool classroom.

Authors

• Ann Partee, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Amanda P Williford, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jason Downer, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author