The last installment closed with, “What’s the difference in the quality of work produced by their “clients”? I have my own thoughts on the matter. They come down to a couple of issues: marketing, leadership (at the school district level), and learner accountability.“
This installment focuses briefly upon leadership at the district level. There’s a connection between district-level decision-makers and their employees taking online courses as it pertains to quality results. More importantly, the mechanisms (or lack thereof) in place, culminating in the decision to offer online professional development to the masses, reveals much about what I’ll refer to as a “Spirit of Excellence” in the decision-making process, among others to be considered.
Simply put: Is there a solid plan in place at the district level that takes into account the needs of the teachers as they relate to professional development that will will lead to increased student achievement? It’s one thing for educators to say that they need to learn how to to create web pages. It’s another issue altogether for teachers to state that their students have not performed consistently well with assessment items requiring authentic performance, critical thinking, collaborative work, and higher-level cognitive processes.
What I’ve observed is that several districts purchase subscriptions for their teachers that allow them to take as many guide-led courses as they can “cram” into the subscription period – typically one year. During that time, it’s not unheard of to know that there are those who will take as many as ten (10) concurrent courses! The real “kicker” is that these districts, in addition to purchasing the subscription, will offer the online venue as a way for teachers to move up the pay scale. If teachers want to add graduate credit to their list of benefits, they simply pay a fee to a list of two or three institutions. More often than not, the quality of work, even when the “graduate hours” option is chosen, is minimally produced, even though assessment rubrics are provided at the outset of class.
From the learners comes this interesting tidbit: Those at the district level are only interested in receiving verification in the form of a certification of completion. That being the case, how are those at the district level truly ascertaining what is needed in terms of professional development, quantitatively measured, that will be offered to teachers and ultimately result in academic growth to the students? Does the district have a mechanism in place to monitor whether or not the projects developed online are being put to use in the classroom so that the students receive the benefit of their investment? That which I described above is common in several states that will remain unnamed. However, suffice it to say that those district “planners” have a very weak plan in place that is most assuredly teacher-centric. If they aren’t squirming in their seats, they should be. Next up: Marketing and Professional Development.
