Enlisting Classroom Teachers as
'Teacher / Researchers'

Teacher Centers are required to document the impact of their staff development efforts but lack the resources on their own to carry out comprehensive evaluations of their training efforts. However, Centers can extend the scope of their staff development evaluation by enlisting instructors to serve as 'teacher/researchers.'

Research-Support Roles for Teachers

There are a number of ways that teachers can serve as classroom-based researchers to provide important support to Centers in their program evaluation efforts:

Visiting the classroom of another teacher. Teachers can be trained as observers, visiting other classrooms to observe their instructional colleagues implementing new teaching practices. Visiting teachers can not only act as observers, but can offer constructive feedback to the instructor being observed. Furthermore, the visiting teacher can use a formal checklist to note how closely the observed instructor followed the expected steps of the instructional activity in which they had received staff development. (Note: It is important that information collected by outside observers for program evaluation not be used in any way to determine the overall 'job performance' of the observed teacher.)

Opening classrooms to observers. Teachers who invite observers into their classrooms also provide a valuable program-evaluation opportunity. Good candidates for classroom observations are instructors who are confident of their abilities and appreciate constructive feedback as they apply staff development initiatives in their classrooms.

Completing follow-up questionnaires (pdf) and surveys. Teacher Centers often use follow-up questionnaires or surveys to gain information about the effectiveness of staff development efforts. Teachers may be more willing to comply with requests to complete follow-up surveys in they are informed about them at the start of training.

Round Table, study, and focus groups. Teachers often find discussion groups to be sources of support as they attempt to use a new instructional practice or program in the classroom. These groups can also be an excellent source of program evaluation information. Periodically, a facilitator may ask group members a series of discussion questions about how a program is progressing in their various classrooms. Alternatively, the facilitator may invite teachers to attend a focus group to discuss the impact of staff-development initiatives on their instructional practices.

Evaluating materials for 'teacher friendliness'. When Centers offer a new workshop or course, they should not overlook the importance of selecting instructional materials that are 'teacher-friendly,' (e.g., avoid the unnecessary use of professional jargon, include examples to illustrate difficult points, etc.) If a Center is uncertain about whether course materials will meet the needs of participants, it may want to have instructors review the materials prior to the course and to provide feedback about their suitability for the intended audience.

Posting questions or comments to bulletin boards or other electronic forums. Many teachers now have access, through their school site or from home, to computer bulletin boards or other electronic forums. One application of this technology is to set up a bulletin board for teachers to visit to post questions, accounts of how they implemented professional staff development in their classrooms, and other comments. Teachers are likely to find such a service to be helpful in its own right. However, the archival information appearing on the site can also be useful to staff-development evaluators, who might, for example, note the number of instructors using the site or the quality of the questions posed. (As a side benefit, evaluators may learn of modifications or enhancements that teachers make to the training that improve its effectiveness in the classroom.)

Archival and other classroom information. Teachers have access to a great deal of information in their role as managers of their classrooms that can be very useful to the staff-development evaluator. Student grades, number and type of disciplinary office referrals, and student attendance records are just some of the information that can serve as measures of classroom impact of staff-development efforts.

Increasing Teacher Involvement in Research: Suggestions

Enlisting teachers as researchers is often essential to allow Centers to evaluate their training efforts. Here are several suggestions to increase teacher participation in research:

At the start of a course or workshop, give teachers an optional 'research interest' survey to complete. The survey may ask teachers, for example, whether they would be willing to visit another classroom as an observer, open their own classroom to observers, participate in a discussion or focus group, etc.

Incorporate a 'teacher/researcher' practicum component as an expectation for course participants. Teachers may be asked to develop one or more methods that they will use to evaluate the impact of the course on their own instructional practice and student performance. They would implement these evaluation methods and share the results with other participants as part of their course requirements.

Establish pairs of course 'training partners'. Course participants can be paired off as 'training partners.' During the course, each member of the pair would be able to provide constructive feedback to his or her partner about how well they implemented a particular procedure. Also, training partners may be receptive to visiting each other's classroom after the course to provide on-site feedback. Training partners may be one solution to obtaining longitudinal information about the impact of staff development in the classroom.

Select 'demonstration' classrooms. Teachers who are enthusiastic and supportive about training that they have received may be willing to have their site designated a 'demonstration' classroom and to welcome observers to visit and view a program in an applied setting. Information collected from these 'demonstration' classrooms can be a valuable supplement to other program evaluation efforts.