Let’s make this the year that learning sticks

A collective sigh. The casual stack of materials you brought along to cut out while you listen. More than one not-so-subtle glance at the clock. The running list of all the things?you’ll have to do once you finally get back to your classroom so you can get ready for students.

If any of these?moves sound familiar, chances are you’ve sat through required professional development that’s left you feeling . . . less than developed.

Traditional teacher professional development can be a hit-or-miss affair. While professional development is meant to equip educators with strategies to support their students, ineffective PD can often fall short of its intended goals, leaving teachers uninspired and failing to bring about meaningful change in the classroom. It may not even be that the information being delivered is bad or misaligned to research or student needs. But without meaningful support to actually implement best practices, sit-and-get professional development fails to drive real improvements in student outcomes.

Quality instruction for kids, but not adults?

If you’re familiar with structured literacy, you already know about the research that supports effective teaching practices. Explicit and systematic instruction is the gold standard for teaching foundational literacy. But what about best practices for teaching adults? Research actually has a lot to say about that as well, and very little of it aligns with the typical half- or full-day PD sessions that many districts and professional development organizations provide. This likely isn’t shocking news to teachers, either. Only about a third of teachers found reading professional development to be very useful. What’s more, the same study found that a mere 11.1% of teachers report having a great deal of influence in determining the content of professional development programs.

Reimagining professional development

Here at The Literacy Architects, we believe that professional development should be applicable, digestible, responsive, and relevant to the unique needs of educators. It’s with these guiding principles in mind that we’re reimagining professional development through the lens of our framework: Professional Learning Cycles for Successful Implementation.?

Allow us to break it down for you:

1. Learn: Building the Foundation

Professional learning (PL) cycles start by establishing a baseline understanding of best practices, which is common across many development formats. But building this foundation has to be more than lecture-style learning about general instructional strategies and research. Studies have found that professional learning that prioritizes instructional practices over content and practice-supportive materials (e.g., curricula, assessments, lesson plans) over principles and precepts is more effective.

We know that learning about general instructional strategies and research is not enough. Instead, at The Literacy Architects, we focus our?PD on actual literacy routines that are evidence-based and aligned with the science of reading. For example, over the course of 12 weeks, we lead K-2 teachers through a PD series that shows them how to make sense of their universal screener data, administer and analyze an additional diagnostic assessment, plan targeted structured literacy lessons, and implement a variety of routines in the lesson – from different ways of doing a phonemic awareness warm-up, to a multi-day decodable text routine. Teachers receive?actionable resources to?continue their instructional journey long after the PD ends.

2. Collaborate: Purposeful Connections

The PL cycle continues with collaborative learning. By collaborating with peers, teachers can gain valuable insights, share successful strategies, and collectively problem-solve to address the specific challenges encountered in teaching. According to a 2022 review of research, collaborative efforts that incorporate knowledge sharing among teachers lead to improved instructional practices and student outcomes. By collaborating with peers, teachers can generate fresh ideas, exchange resources, and collectively design lessons that incorporate evidence-based practices, ultimately leading to improved student engagement and reading outcomes.

Instead of going it alone, we believe teachers should learn about instructional changes in a supportive, safe, and collaborative environment. A goal of our PLC model is to build community with teachers, so they end the series with a network of colleagues they can continue to turn to throughout the year. We do this by intentionally planning our sessions to include time to discuss and celebrate with colleagues -- providing teachers with structured time to work together?and support one another within a community that enhances both learning and implementation.

3. Teach: Incremental Implementation

Effective implementation doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, research suggests it can take from two to four years to fully and successfully implement evidence-based programs, practices, or effective innovations. But what happens when implementation efforts barely make it off the ground? Many one-stop professional development programs don’t make an effort to support implementation, leaving teachers on their own to figure out how to put research into practice. Unsurprisingly, this type of training isn’t likely to lead to success. “Discovering what works does not solve the problem of program effectiveness. Once models and best practices are identified, practitioners are faced with the challenge of implementing programs properly. A poorly implemented program can lead to failure as easily as a poorly designed one” (Mihalic, Irwin, Fagan, Ballard, & Elliott, 2004).

The third stage of the framework is rooted in implementation science, guiding teachers through initial implementation of best practices by encouraging them to teach small, focused elements of effective literacy instruction in their classrooms. This bridges the gap between theory and practice, ensuring that teachers don't just gain knowledge but also the confidence to apply it. Embedding incremental implementation into the professional learning cycle ensures that teachers have the opportunity to ask questions, troubleshoot difficulties, and receive on-time feedback and support for the work they are doing in the classroom. This ongoing support serves as an implementation driver that makes instruction both more effective and sustainable.

4. Reflect: Onward and Upward

The fourth stage of the cycle is reflection, which is a critical component of effective professional learning cycles, benefiting both students and teachers alike. Intentional reflection has the potential to support teachers in their ever-changing educational environment, combat imposter syndrome, and feel empowered to enact meaningful change.

Instead of hoping that teachers make time for this powerful practice, we believe that time for reflection should be carved out within the professional learning framework to support continuous improvement and implementation fidelity. Within our PD model, teachers engage in structured discussions with colleagues, gaining?insights into their teaching experiences. They?independently reflect through journals that provide a private space for self-assessment and have continued access to expert facilitators as their reflections prompt questions.

An additional benefit to embedding reflection within a professional learning cycle is that it uniquely motivates teachers to continue the learning and implementation process. The cycle’s iterative nature ensures that teachers progressively refine their practices in both a meaningful and sustainable way, all while receiving ongoing support.

In a landscape where effective teacher professional development is a pressing need, The Literacy Architects' framework and our?Literacy Masterminds PL?model offer a promising way forward. By aligning learning, collaboration, teaching, and reflection, our?approach addresses the shortcomings of traditional PD, ultimately leading to the successful implementation of evidence-based literacy instruction that benefits both teachers and students.

What We're Working On

Exciting news! We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new online resource page, expertly curated with FREE literacy resources for teachers, instructional coaches, reading specialists, and administrators!?

Access is easy and free! Our downloadable resources are available to everyone at no cost. All you need is an internet connection and a passion for literacy.

Spread the word! Please help us make structured literacy accessible to all by sharing this exciting news with your colleagues. Together, we can empower more people to read, write, and grow!

Visit today: https://theliteracyarchitects.com/free-resources/.

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