Professional Development Outcomes Planner and Survey

Planner Survey Doc

Staff development can have an impact on participants in a number of ways including: building awareness, increasing knowledge and skills of participants, and promoting changes that result in positive student outcomes. Impact may be seen as a hierarchy beginning with the goal of increasing participant awareness and culminating at the top of the hierarchy with the objective of promoting positive student outcomes. A proposed hierarchy for considering impact of staff development programs is provided below:

• Increased participant knowledge/awareness of issues related to the training
• Participant understanding of the relevance that the staff development can have for potential impact on their professional practice
• Impact on participant's behavior, methods, materials used in the classroom
• Positive impact on student/classroom outcomes (short term, transient)
• Positive impact on student/classroom outcomes (long term, sustained)

This hierarchy of staff development impact is not unlike the Staff Development Typology Hierarchy (Martin-Kneip, 1996) that describes a progression of intensity across professional development programs:

• Awareness programs
• Skill development programs
• Curriculum/assessment development and implementation
• Leadership development programs

The Staff Development Impact Hierarchy can help to clarify training objectives so that appropriate measures are used when evaluating program effectiveness. Training objectives should be clear from the onset of any substantial staff development effort. While it may be appropriate for some staff development efforts to raise awareness, increase knowledge or inspire educators, a comprehensive staff development plan will include trainings that result in long term positive impact for a wide range of educators and students. A program whose sole intent is on building participant awareness would yield weak outcome data if student impact were assessed. Likewise, an evaluation consisting only of participant satisfaction ratings would sell a program short if the program were successful at producing positive student outcomes.

It is a challenge for staff developers to assess impact of their efforts on participant outcomes and the students that they serve. The Staff Development Impact Planner helps staff developers to develop a clear outline of their training objectives. It can be used to plan staff development objectives at each level in the impact hierarchy. The worksheet prompts instructors to describe what one would observe if objectives of their training were being implemented in the intended setting. The planner also prompts staff developers to describe potential assessment devises for collecting information concerning implementation. Through this process staff developers can identify clear, measurable goals for the purpose of evaluating program outcomes.

Directions for Using the Staff Development Impact Planner & the Staff Development Impact Survey

At least three prioritized course objectives should be defined in observable terms by the inservice/course instructor. Objectives are listed by the instructor in the spaces provided on the forms. Throughout the course, instructors make sure that participants understand the course objectives and how to achieve them. Instructors identify both short and long term objectives, as well as how course objectives could be observed (assessed). Course participants may provide input as to how successful outcomes would be realistically implemented and observed in their classrooms.

After participants have had an opportunity to implement course objectives, they are asked to record honestly how they were able to implement strategies or use materials taught during the course using the Staff Development Impact Survey . Participants then describe the impact of the inservice/course on student outcomes (e.g., student behavior, appropriate use of materials, or academic outcomes).

Participants are asked to describe any impediments to successful outcomes, as well as strategies that made implementation easier and or more successful. This information can be used to address training needs for subsequent sessions in the course, and or to improve similar courses taught in the future. Course participants also have the option of providing contact information for follow up from the instructor. Participants should be assured that their identities will remain confidential.

• The Staff Development Impact Survey can be used to:
• Obtain summary information about implementation of course objectives
• Identify resource/training needs that will increase successful implementation of course objectives
• Obtain information about how teachers have successfully implemented course objectives that can be integrated into the ongoing course or future courses.

To incorporate feedback into an ongoing course, instructors may want to get feedback from participants throughout the course. A booster session may be planned weeks or months after the last course date so that participants can share their feedback after they have had the opportunity to implement the course objectives. This also enables the course instructor and other participants in the course to troubleshoot any difficulties experienced with implementation. Participants can also share effective strategies for making implementation easier and or more successful.

When follow up classes are not possible, instructors may obtain feedback by asking participants to mail the questionnaire after implementation. A self-addressed stamped envelope will increase participant response. Instructors may obtain additional feedback as well as provide ongoing assistance through providing their e-mail address on the questionnaire and inviting correspondence after participants have had the chance to implement course objectives.

Instructors can share the results of impact reports with sponsors such as Teacher Centers or school district staff development offices. Compilations of impact reports from a number of instructors can be used as part of a larger program evaluation of staff development efforts.

Participants attending courses and workshops are often diverse in their roles and the settings where they work. Thus, implementation may vary among participants. Instructors may want to guide staff development participants to define/prioritize implementation of course objectives in their particular role and or setting. These ideas can be shared with the instructor and other course participants.

The Staff Development Impact Survey may be used to document participant and student outcomes on a weekly basis. This ongoing measure may be used to assess staff development outcomes over time. Weekly assessment allows examination of outcomes as course participants develop their implementation skills, overcome any obstacles, and students begin to respond to resulting changes in the instructional environment.