Piloting PDUs The Process this Year
More than 250 educators submitted proposals for Professional Development Units that were approved last fall. Participants include individuals, collaborative teams and the entire faculties of Sabin Elementary and Bruce Randolph. Each PDU this year will be completed in April, and teachers and Student Services Professionals have two options.
Here is a recap of the PDU Pilot process and an explanation of the two completion options.
1. Spring & Summer 2005 Guidelines for the PDU were developed, including descriptions of the Study-Demonstrate-Reflect process. Sample PDUs were written for a range of positions in elementary, middle and high school and various student services disciplines.
2. Fall 2005 The PDU Handbook was distributed along with timelines for submitting a proposal, having it reviewed and completed. Teachers could earn graduate credit at no cost or could bank the PDU for payment under ProComp in 2006-07. Liaisons were recruited to work with individuals, groups and schools planning PDUs.
3. October 2005 Teams of Reviewers examined the draft PDUs and either approved them as written or asked for revisions. The revisions sometimes asked for more rigor, while others were judged to be too ambitious for the time available. Revised proposals were submitted through the liaisons.
4. Ongoing. The PDU Work Group has continued to develop criteria and procedures for completing a PDU, including how to structure the process next year and beyond when larger numbers of teachers and SSPs will be completing PDUs.
The original plan was to have educators submit a report that would be evaluated by teams of reviewers in April. The work group determined that it should honor this commitment, but offer a second choice that could be a model for use when PDUs are implemented on a larger scale, said Connie White, co-chair of the Transition Team and teacher lead of the PDU Work Group.
The second method developed for completing a PDU is an after-school session where teachers could share their PDU with peers in a structured process intended to help participants deepen their learning through new insights.
Option A Article/Evidence Review. Participants submit a report and artifacts that show evidence of their study, demonstration and reflection. This was the process announced last fall.
Option B Professional Sharing Session: Teachers and SSPs will meet in small groups to discuss three or four PDUs. Each educator completing a PDU would describe a success or challenge related to their Professional Development Unit. Reflectors including educators completing a PDU and others discuss how the teachers could further benefit or share their learning with colleagues. The educator listens, and then reflects back to the group what was gained from the process.
Both options were described at the PDU Mid-Year Event, and participants were asked to specify their choice. The Review Process was chosen by 78 participants, while 22 selected Option B, the Professional Sharing Session.
In the focus groups that evening, many teachers said they would choose the sharing session (Option B) in the future, but it was not what they were expecting this year, White explained. The PDU Work Group is committed to offering multiple options to ProComp participants now and in the future. The work group feels it is important to address the multiple learning styles of all our life long professional learners.