The following post is from Emily Miller Payne, please read on...Jackie
Taylor

 

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I agree with David and Renee about the need for systematic
accountability of the effect of professional development on the field of
adult education. I concur that the field needs to fund projects in order
to develop processes for determining accountability. Accountability in
professional development needs to be a priority at the national level if
we want it to be respected and valued.  

 

That said, Texas has made some important first steps in addressing the
disconnect between adult education professional development and the
impact it has on teacher quality and ultimately on the success of their
students.  Initially, in the mid to late 1990s, the Texas Education
Agency (TEA) began funding systematic professional development through a
state-wide consortium of PD providers.  Additionally, TEA funded a
5-year project to develop an adult educator credential model; staff on
that project developed content areas based on input from the field and
the literature, developed strategies and options  for teachers to access
professional development, and conducted a pilot and field test of the
model. All of this field work was done prior to TEA's discontinuation
funding for the PD consortium and the credential project.  In 2003, TEA
(Texas LEARNS) again funded a system of adult education PD through a
series of regional professional development centers (called the Regional
GREAT Centers of Excellence), and they once again funded the adult
education credential project as a companion program to the centers.  

 

At this point, in the absence of a set of practitioner standards, the
credential project, with PD support from the regional centers, does
offer a systematic and (relatively) standardized way for Texas teachers
to participate in focused and sustained PD. Teachers pursuing the Texas
teacher credential use individually developed PD plans and have the
latitude to use a variety of resources and activities.  Under the Texas
model, teachers apply the knowledge and/or skills they learned; evaluate
the effects following the implementation of the knowledge and/or skills
in their classrooms; and submit written reflections that focus on the
instructional outcomes following implementation of newly acquired
knowledge and/or skills.  This effort represents an initial step that is
necessary in order to begin building a standardized accountability
system for evaluating adult education professional development.  What we
lack is long term research into the impact of professional development
on teacher quality and the subsequent effect of professional development
on student progress. Although this research isn't funded at this point,
Texas adult educators and state leaders are mindful of the need to
evaluate the impact of teacher PD on student learning, and professionals
across the state continue to discuss ways to fund projects to conduct
such research. Here in Texas, we are fortunate to have state leaders
(Joanie Rethlake and Federico Salas) who support our efforts by funding
regional PD centers and the credential project. We continue to look
forward to a time when a fair, equitable, and reliable accountability
system for professional development will be implemented.

 

For a look at the six core content areas and other details of the Texas
teacher credential, visit the website at:

http://www.tei.education.txstate.edu/credential/                       

 

 

Emily Miller Payne

ep02 at txstate.edu       

 

 

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