Powerful Conversations About Staff Development
February 17, 2004, Shelby County Instructional Services Center
Summary of Regional Meeting

On February 17, 2004, over 60 participants from 21 schools and ten other individuals from the district office, facilitators and Best Practices Center attended a meeting of schools involved in the “Powerful Conversations about Professional Development” project.

The theme of the meeting was “Closing the Achievement Gap: Strategies for Success.” Identified outcomes for the day included:

• Deepen your understanding about proven strategies that help close the achievement gap;
• Brainstorm action steps for your school;
• Begin to develop an action plan for your school;
• Learn from each other.

Keynote speakers for the meeting were Mike Looney, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Margaret Allen, Director of Professional Development, both with the Montgomery Public Schools. Mr. Looney and Mrs. Allen spoke from two perspectives as former principals and now members of the leadership team of a school system. Highlights of their presentation include:

• Mike. Looney suggested that the most important key to improved teaching and learning in a school was school culture. He referred to the book, The Little Engine That Could, and stressed the importance of developing a culture where teachers truly believe that all students can learn and where no excuses are given or accepted for students not achieving.
  
• One key strategy to helping all students be successful is having teachers regularly examine student work. Mr. Looney suggested that teachers should meet together to examine work assignments given to students and ask the following questions: What do we want our student to know? Does the work provide evidence that they know it? How can we redesign/retool to make the assignment more effective for student learning? This approach, suggested Mr. Looney, then becomes one of the most powerful triggers for effective professional development because it helps schools focus on data to drive instructional decision-making.
  
• Margaret Allen stressed the importance of building a strong learning community in schools. “Learning communities build kindred spirits,” she said. She talked about the importance of recognizing that most powerful professional learning “happens where you are … in schools.”

Both speakers shared personal anecdotes about how building a learning community based on a culture of high expectations for everyone in the building helped both teachers and students improve their performance.

After the keynote presentation, attendees participated in a reflection exercise using the Working Toward Excellence Journal’s issue on Schools that Beat the Gap. They were asked to review the characteristics of high performing high poverty schools listed on pages 10-11 of the issue and respond to the following questions: What were the big ideas in the article? What do all the schools (levels) have in common? Did anything surprise you? If so, what? (“Schools that Beat the Gap,” Working Toward Excellence Journal, Volume 3, Numbers 1&2, Winter/Spring 2003),

After lunch, participants were asked to take the discussion to a higher level by beginning to develop an action plan to address the achievement gap in their school. Working with their school colleagues, participants were given a brainstorming exercise (attached) that encouraged them to identify 1-2 factors of high achieving schools that would made a difference in student achievement in their school. At the conclusion of the exercise, several schools shared the preliminary ideas that they had developed.

The next meeting of schools involved in the Powerful Conversations about Professional Development Project will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center.