The smell of sunscreen. The taste of cool watermelon. The sound of laughter and splashing at the neighborhood pool. These are the signs; school’s out and kiddos are home. The hectic pace of campus life has paused long enough to greet summer. For many, this is the ideal time for participating in professional development. Students are not a consideration and teachers do not have as many demands on their time. There is an old school of thought that reasons a teacher is only working when she is with her students. As educators, we fully realize that this is absolute nonsense! We know that this narrow view of a teacher’s work is ruled by the notion that time with students is of singular importance; that teachers are mainly deliverers of content; that curriculum planning and decision-making rest at higher levels of authority; and that PD is unrelated to refining and improving instruction.

The summer months provide teachers with an opportunity to participate in the development of curriculum; for studying and sharing effective approaches for reaching an increasingly diverse population of students; for discussing effective ways to implement standards; and for continuing their own learning. However, all of this time invested in summer PD is for naught if, as instructional leaders, we do not consider that teachers are more likely to apply their new learning if they receive feedback and support while testing out and fine-tuning these newly acquired ideas and strategies. This statement suggests that teachers need, and even desire, regular opportunities for gauging and reflecting upon the effects of the new strategies and approaches while students are in school.

One of the ASCD consultants that works with our district shared that following a recent two-day PD session she facilitated, a small group of excited teachers approached her. They shared with her that they had already texted and arranged a time they could meet with their principal to discuss how they might use what they learned. They desired to take their new learning for a spin around the campus and sought the support of their principal.

The question we face as leaders is how to find time for teachers to practice and reflect upon what they learn. In many ways, learning for teachers is similar to that of kids. Howard Gardner (1993) suggests that kids need time, experience, and multiple opportunities to learn important concepts. Research in professional development tells us that teachers need the same. They need time and multiple opportunities to wrestle with and experience their new learning. It comes as no surprise that finding time is easier said than done.

Leaders throughout our district continually seek ways to carve out teacher time. A long-standing expectation in our district is that teachers plan together as teams. Common planning time allows teachers opportunity to plan lessons and find ways to fold new curriculum strategies into their lessons. A few campuses have found success in carving out extended planning time for teachers. These common or extend planning times are further supported through the use of instructional coaches. At the middle school level, our district utilizes content area specialists (instructional coaches) who are able to provide expert support for teachers as they implement new practices in their classrooms. Another district-wide practice involves teacher data teams meeting regularly to analyze results from various assessments. The teams work together as they consider what the data is telling them about student learning; discuss ways to improve student achievement; and work on refining future assessments to gather more useful student data.

Each of these strategies for folding in time within the school day comes with a word of caution. Setting high expectations for how teachers utilize the PD time is critical. After all, assuming that our goal is always improved student performance, we need to assure that we clearly communicate how this time is to be used, while demonstrating the value and purpose of the PD time.  

The point is, summer PD is a great jumping off point, but it’s only the beginning. On-going PD is vitally important and must be woven into the fiber of a teacher’s day in order to continually fuel new ideas and refine teaching practices. We must provide teachers with opportunities to develop, master, and reflect on new approaches to working with students.

Dr. Glenda Horner is the Coordinator for Staff Development in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, Texas.  She has participated in ASCD’s On-Site Capacity Building services. Go to www.ascd.org/oscb to learn more.