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Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2007
Sherwood "Woody" Dees retired as superintendent of Limestone CHSD 310, Bartonville, in 2002, and has worked with United Star Distance Learning Consortium for the past year.
Just as districts want to provide the best educational opportunities for their students, teachers also need access to quality professional development. But when budget dollars are in short supply — especially in a rural district — the options also can be in short supply.
Several years ago, faced with district budget cuts that restricted travel, Chrisman Elementary School Principal Dan Moore looked at alternative ways to bring professional development to his staff.
Chrisman CUSD 6's rural location — along the Illinois-Indiana border about 25 miles south of Danville — and budget limitations prohibited bringing in educational experts. But leaving staff without professional development for several years was not an appealing option.
Since he couldn't send teachers out or bring workshop speakers in, Moore decided to use technology to allow his staff to participate in professional development and subscribed to United Star Distance Learning Consortium (www.usdlc.org).
"USDLC professional development has been a life-saver for Chrisman," Moore said. "It is so good I have told neighboring districts about it."
Over the next few years, Chrisman elementary teachers participated in several professional development activities, including STAR-Online. Its 52 modules expanded teachers' knowledge and skills in applying educational technologies in their classrooms. Completing modules not only increased their technology skills but also allowed teachers to earn CPDU credits.
Teachers also enjoyed the flexibility of the online program. They were able to work individually or in small groups, at school or at home, and with timely feedback and mentoring from resource specialists at Western Illinois University.
"USDLC provides the opportunity for teachers to earn CPDUs with quality presentations and at their own convenience," said Cathy Spung, a special ed teacher at Chrisman.
The teachers also studied the "No Child Left Behind — Achieving Academic Excellence" series. Based on the need to improve reading test scores, the faculty focused on "Achieving Student Success in Reading Literacy."
This strand's topics include:
"It is easy to view the professional development when your schedule allows," said Marilyn Fischer, a first-grade teacher. "They are well done, and they show practical classroom applications of the various topics discussed."
Fourth-grade teacher Penny Cook said one technique in particular stood out for her in the Reading Literacy strand: a teaching tip for struggling readers called "Say something."
"I tried this with my fourth-grade class while we were reading the novel Maniac Magic," Cook said. After reading a section she modeled this type of questioning by saying, "I don't get this part. What do you think? Stop and tell me something."
"Because there is really no right or wrong response, the students really enjoyed this technique," she said.
Every topic contained a "spotlight" feature at the end of the overview, produced by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. These spotlights on success provided Chrisman teachers with interviews and field trips showcasing classroom teachers working with a variety of classroom resources and strategies used in schools as far away as Ontario, Canada, and Perquimmons, North Carolina.
Several Chrisman elementary teachers duplicated these activities and found that their students are highly engaged and motivated by them — so much so that the teachers adopted them as a regular part of their curriculum.
"Seeing different approaches modeled by teachers in 'real' classrooms gives me a better idea of how to implement new ideas in my own classroom," said Susan Wyatt, a third-grade teacher. "When a person attends a workshop, he or she leaves it with many new great ideas. But with USDLC professional development, you get an idea of how to manage time and classroom behaviors because you see it happening rather than hear about it.
"A great benefit of USDLC Professional Development for Chrisman is being able to earn an extra personal day," she added.
This extra personal day is an incentive Moore has been able to use to motivate his faculty to participate in professional development at a very low cost. In fact, Moore said, "Our district has saved thousands of dollars by not having to pay workshop, mileage and meal fees. We also do not have to hire substitutes since the teachers do not have to leave the building."