Transcript Title of Presentation: What is it?

Developing Systems of
Professional Development in
Transition: Resources &
Strategies
National Secondary Technical and Training Assistance
Center
October 20, 2007
Mary Morningstar, Ph.D.
University of Kansas
[email protected]
Diane S. Bassett, Ph.D.
University of Northern Colorado
[email protected]
Effective Professional
Development Is…
“sustained, intensive, ongoing and of high quality”
(Porter, et al., 2000; US DOE Eisenhower Program)
“Does not take place during workshops and inservice day
presentations, but in the context of professional
communities that have been locally developed to be
responsive to teachers’ needs” (McLaughlin, 1994)
Question for Today:
How can states develop comprehensive,
sustained, high-impact professional
development systems for transition?
Professional Development: Learning from the Best
How to Apply it to Transition
SEA Transition
PD Goals
LEA
Transition
Goals
(Hassel, 1999)
Step 1: Include critical stakeholders
 LEA personnel
 SEA personnel
 IHE personnel
 Community members, organizations &
agencies
 Family members
 Students with Disabilities/Consumers
Partnering with IHEs
 Include IHE personnel in planning for SEA and
LEA planning and development
 Work collaboratively with IHE personnel to
integrate transition content into degree programs
aligned with national transition standards
 Include IHE personnel in delivering conferences,
regional PD
 Collaborate with IHE personnel to develop
collaborative grants, research projects
Step 2: Develop a PD Needs
Assessment Process
 Identify strengths and gaps at all levels
 Utilize comparison groups from other districts
and other states
 Identify data sources
 Develop a plan that addresses gaps and ways to
collect data
Application to Transition:
 Assess for Transition Content (teacher competencies &
programmatic evaluations)
 Assess for Transition Policies and Compliance (SEA/LEA
Indicators data; policy review; compliance review
procedures)
Needs Assessment for Content
 Transition Taxonomy (Kohler, 1996)
 Quality Indicators of Effective Transition
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Practices (Morningstar, 2006)
TransQual Online (Cornell University)
NASET National Standards and Quality
Indicators
CEC/DCDT Standards for Transition Specialists
& Secondary SPED teachers
Secondary Teachers Transition Survey (STTS,
Benitez & Morningstar, 2005)
Step 3: Develop State, Regional,
Local Goals for PD
 Focus should be on statewide impact of PD
 Align SEA goals to LEA goals to school goals to
individual goals; involve IHEs in alignment of
goals
Application to Transition:
 Use data collected to identify goals for
comprehensive professional development (preservice coursework to in-service training)
 Consider goals targeting: (1) policies & compliance,
(2) effective practices, (3) consistent statewide
training/TA, (4) interagency collaboration
Step 4: Identify PD content,
processes and activities
 Content – What do transition stakeholders need
to know? How does this link to the needs
assessment & goals?
 Process – How will SEAs support & provide
ongoing PD to LEAs? How do LEAs ensure PD
embedded into daily staff activities?
 Activities – What specific activities can be
integrated into pre-service education and
ongoing PD?
2 Types of Learning Structures
FORMAL
 Scheduled at a particular
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time
Occurs for a predetermined period
Usually involves a
defined learning group
(i.e., team, department,
school, graduate class)
Has pre-determined
outcomes and evaluation
processes
Is planned, designed, and
facilitated by an expert
INFORMAL
 Uses all team members
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to bring their best ideas
(i.e., building a house)
Is educator-initiated and
directed
Occurs naturally as a part
of educator’s work
Can include formal or
informal mentoring
(Most of the award
winning schools used
informal structures over
formal ones)
Examples of PD for Transition: Process, Content & Activities
 State and Local Interagency Teams – (e.g.,
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www.sharedwork.org; Pennsylvania; Arizona, WI)
Regional Networks of Training and TA (e.g., CO, ID, MO, NM,
WI)
LEA Transition Mentors/Liaisons (e.g., ID, MO, WI)
Ongoing Program Evaluation & Action Planning (e.g.,
TransQual, Quality Indicators of Transition Needs Assess)
Parent Transition Liaisons (e.g., MPACT, PACER, WI)
Youth Development (e.g., State YLFs; National Youth
Leadership Network www.nyln.org)
Transition Outcomes Project (O’Leary)
State Transition Institutes + Post-Institute follow up (e.g., AR,
NM, OK, KS, CO, etc.)
Models of Success (e.g., Transitioncoalition.org; MO)
Online Communities of Practice (e.g., Sharedwork.org;
Missouri COP; Idaho COP)
SEA & LEA websites with transition information, resources,
etc. (e.g., CO, NM, CA)
Examples of State/IHE Partnerships
 State endorsement/specialization in transition w/
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online courses (Kent State)
College/university courses for degree or
certification (e.g.,GWU, KU)
Online Transition Certificate (KU TransCert)
Online non-instructor led modules (KU, CO*, CA,
IRIS Center)
SEA supported short-courses in transition
(Transition Coalition)
* In progress
Thinking Across State, Local, School Levels
 What systems and structures do you need
in place at the SEA level (e.g., website,
interagency team, statewide institute,
online modules, coursework/certificates)
 What systems and structures do you need
at the REGIONAL level (e.g., regional
training & TA; regional mentors, etc.)
 What systems and structures do you need
at the LOCAL level (e.g., local CTTs; LEA
liaisons, etc.)
What do you Need to Consider?
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What systems do you currently have in place for providing
professional development? Are they working? How is it
supported? What else do you need?
How are professional development needs determined? Do
you use a formal system to identify state/local needs? Is it
determined based on SEA priorities (e.g., new transition
forms, new policies/procedures with VR, etc.)
What standards, competencies or endorsements for
transition professionals are in place in your state?
What resources do you have for providing ongoing
professional development? (staff, TA Centers, RRCs, IHEs,
SIGs/SPDGs, online resources…)
How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your PD system?
What are your priority areas?
Online Resources
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KU Transition Coalition: www.transitioncoalition.org
NSTTAC: www.nsttac.org
IRIS: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/index.html
NASDSE Communities of Practice:
www.sharedwork.org
 NASET http://www.nasetalliance.org/
 National Center on Secondary Education and
Transition www.ncset.org
 NICHCY: www.nichcy.org
 DCDT Transition Standards http://www.dcdt.org/
 Transition Taxonomy:
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~kohlerp/pdf/Taxonomy.pdf
 California: www.calstat.org/transitionGuide.html