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Illinois School Board Journal
May/June 2003

Staff development with a new twist

by Sherwood C. Dees

Sherwood "Woody" Dees retired as superintendent at Limestone Community High School, Bartonville, and is now a field service representative with the Center for the Application of Information Technologies at Western Illinois University in Macomb.

Staff development for teachers takes many forms in Illinois school districts. It may consist of a local, in-district workshop at teacher's institute, a school improvement day or in-service training. It may consist of graduate courses from a nearby university. It may consist of teachers attending an annual state conference with others from the same area of expertise or grade level. Or it may consist of teachers attending a regional workshop or meeting.

But all of these options inherently contain some disadvantages. First, all but graduate courses require teachers to miss school or students to not be in attendance. Second, sending teachers away to workshops or conferences can be very expensive. There's the cost of substitute teachers, travel to and from the conference site, registration fees, and meals and lodging if the site is not nearby. It is not unusual for downstate districts to pay more than $800 for a couple of teachers to attend a state association conference in Chicago, Springfield or St. Louis for two or three days!

Third is the mistaken belief that a "one-shot" in-service program can provide sufficient motivation to teachers to sustain long-term, systemic improvement in their teaching methods.

Last, but certainly not least, the loss of student contact time with their teacher results in lost learning. With ISAT and PSAE scores impacting a district's reputation, many teachers and administrators have grave concerns about teachers being absent from their classrooms.

Numerous studies have reinforced the principle that students engaged in academic learning time with a highly qualified teacher produce the greatest increases in achievement. Assignments left for substitute teachers usually consist of a heavy dose of unproductive seatwork solely intended to keep students busy, and consequently, behaving satisfactorily. There is no substitute for having the students' regular teacher in the classroom directing learning.

Despite these detriments, the need for staff development, particularly in the area of technology implementation, is at an all-time high!

But now a relatively small investment may provide big dividends for schools.

The Center for the Application of Information Technologies (CAIT) at Western Illinois University uses technology to bring staff development to teachers instead of taking teachers to the staff development. CAIT has three separate branches offering staff development opportunities.

Star-Online uses Internet access to 43 staff development modules in the areas of technology basics, Internet, technology and learning strategies, productivity and interactive multimedia. Teachers take an online survey to assess their level of proficiency on a topic and then follow the prescription provided by the service to learn and practice concepts aimed at creating proficiency in that topic.

The cost of an annual subscription to Star-Online is a scale, based on the number of users (teachers and educational support personnel), who can access the modules from any Internet-accessible site seven days a week, 24 hours a day!

StarNet uses a satellite dish to receive professional development broadcasts, as well as academic course instruction and student enrichment workshops.

Professional development opportunities are a series of broadcasts on numerous topics. Nationally known speakers such as Alan November, Rick Stiggins, Cheryl Lemke and William Daggett headline these telecasts, which can be videotaped by local districts for presentation at convenient times.

Academic course instruction in anatomy/physiology, French, German, Latin, marine science, music history, psychology/AP psychology, sociology and Spanish are available this school year. Student enrichment broadcasts include programs for primary, middle and high school grade levels. Primary and middle school broadcasts cover topics in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and the arts to supplement curriculum. High school students may enroll in SAT/ACT Review classes to help them prepare for these college entrance exams.

StarNet's license fee is $600 per site per year with unlimited access to professional development and student enrichment broadcasts. Courses run $600 per student for a yearlong course. Satellite dish installation (Dish Network) is not included in these costs and must be paid by the local district.

K-12 Professional Development Division customizes training to each district's needs. CAIT's Beverly Naslund consults with district administration to pinpoint areas of need, surveys staff for levels of expertise, designs specific professional development activities for the individual district and delivers those activities to the staff at local district sites. Costs for K-12 professional development programs vary with the size of the staff, number of training sessions and handouts needed.   CAIT can be reached for more information at www.cait.org/ or by calling (309) 298-1804. CAIT field representatives also are available to visit interested school districts.