Embracing the Inherent Messiness in Urban Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 60-83
Author(s):  
Inese Berzina-Pitcher ◽  
Akesha Horton ◽  
Leigh Graves Wolf ◽  
Christopher D. Seals ◽  
Punya Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The U.S

This chapter discusses the philosophies and practices that drive the MSUrbanSTEM Leadership & Teaching Fellowship Program. This multi-year project offered a professional development program to three cohorts of K-12 STEM educators from Chicago Public Schools, one of the largest urban districts in the U.S. This chapter provides a holistic view of the program, focuses on the strategically developed curriculum and the theoretical bases for the chosen pedagogy. In addition, because the sustainability was an integral part of the program, the chapter describes the role of sustainability fellows. Finally, the authors provide some findings about the teachers' growth and development.

A New Understanding of our Confusion

2017 ◽  
pp. 582-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Seals ◽  
Akesha Horton ◽  
Inese Berzina-Pitcher ◽  
Punya Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Stem Instruction ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The U.S

This chapter discusses the philosophies and practices that drive the MSUrbanSTEM Leadership & Teaching Fellowship Program. This multi-year project offers a professional development program to a selected cohort of K-12 STEM educators from Chicago Public Schools, one of the largest urban districts in the U.S. This chapter provides a holistic view of the program, shares the fellow selection process, and focuses on the strategically developed curriculum and the theoretical bases for the chosen pedagogy. This allows the authors to explore the psychological and philosophical principles, based on the idea of accepting confusion, and embracing failure in beliefs about pedagogy and STEM instruction, which are used to expand the skills and abilities of these selected urban school teachers. Finally, we provide some initial findings about the teachers' growth and development both in their efficacy and leadership abilities.

scholarly journals An Examination of Factors Correlating with Course Failure in a High School Computer Science Course

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven McGee ◽  
◽  
Ronald I. Greenberg ◽  
Lucia Dettori ◽  
Andrew M. Rasmussen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
High School ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Development Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Graduation Requirement ◽  
School Computer

Across the United States, enrollment in high school computer science (CS) courses is increasing. These increases, however, are not spread evenly across race and gender. CS remains largely an elective class, and fewer than three-fourths of the states allow it to count towards graduation. The Chicago Public Schools has sought to ensure access for all students by recently enacting computer science as a high school graduation requirement. The primary class that fulfills the graduation requirement is Exploring Computer Science (ECS), a high school introductory course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. The number of students taking CS in the district increased significantly and these increases are distributed equitably across demographic characteristics. With ECS serving as a core class, it becomes critical to ensure success for all students independent of demographic characteristics, as success in the course directly affects a student’s ability to graduate from high school. In this paper, we examine the factors that correlate with student failure in the course. At the student level, attendance and prior general academic performance correlate with passing the class. After controlling for student characteristics, whether or not teachers participated in the professional development program associated with ECS correlates with student success in passing the course. These results provide evidence for the importance of engaging teachers in professional development, in conjunction with requiring a course specifically designed to provide an equitable computer science experience, in order to broaden participation in computing.

scholarly journals Evaluating Pedagogy and Practice of Universal Design for Learning in Public Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lora Lee Smith Canter ◽  
Laura H King ◽  
Jennifer B. Williams ◽  
Debbie Metcalf ◽  
Katheryne Rhys Myrick Potts
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
K 12

How can education change to meet the demands of effectively educating an increasingly diverse student population with the skills, knowledge, and abilities they need to be productive and successful citizens in the 21st century? One possible solution is to create classrooms, teachers, and schools that embrace the progressive and inclusive practices espoused by Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In addition to being rooted in UDL pedagogy, classrooms designed to meet the challenge of 21st century education need to substantially integrate and utilize advances in technology. The vanguard of literature to date in UDL could be characterized as rhetorical advocacy. That is, UDL literature is in the early stages of introducing and promoting UDL pedagogy, but to date there is not a research base strong enough to establish UDL as a scientifically validated intervention (Edyburn, 2010). UDL might sound like a good idea, but until the research base turns the corner from advocating to assessing and measuring UDL outcomes, the promise of this approach will not be realized. This article describes a study exploring effects and outcomes of a professional development program on the perceptions and practice of UDL principles in K–12 public school inclusive classrooms, and could be one step toward bridging the gap from a good idea to a solidified best practice. Specifically, this study investigated a professional development program’s effect on teachers’ perceptions, conceptualizations, and implementation of UDL principles and practice in their classrooms.

scholarly journals Fostering Transformative Learning in an Online ESL Professional Development Program for K-12 Teachers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Sprow Forte ◽  
David Blouin
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Professional Dispositions ◽  
K 12

This qualitative study examines evidence of transformative learning surrounding sociocultural issues in the K-12 classroom of in-service teachers, while participating in an online English as a Second Language (ESL) professional development program. Using inductive data analysis, precursors and catalysts to transformative learning were identified to understand the ways in which 24 purposefully sampled participants experienced learning. Areas explored included ways in which the candidates participated in critical reflection of their own perspectives, ways in which this process affected their meaning making of their experiences, potential for action in changing their practice as ESL educators, and transformative learning features present throughout their learning experiences. Findings reveal evidence of perspective shifts in this context that complement the professional dispositions identified as important for K-12 teachers: the importance of carefully choosing resource materials in professional development, and the necessity to encourage critical reflection in course activities.

Strategies to Support LGBTQ+ Students in High Schools: What Did We Learn in Chicago Public Schools?

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110064
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Jarpe-Ratner ◽  
Booker Marshall ◽  
Maham Choudry ◽  
Marisa Wishart ◽  
Bianca Reid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Health ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Measure Data ◽  
School Staff ◽  
Lgbtq Students ◽  
K 12

In 2013, the Chicago Public Schools district received funding from the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement a series of strategies aimed to reduce HIV, STIs (sexually transmitted diseases), and related risk behaviors among students. One such set of strategies included “safe and supportive environments” (SSE), aimed to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other LGBTQ+ students. SSE strategies included professional development and technical assistance provided to K–12 school staff (teachers, administrators, social workers, etc.) to implement the following practices: support for transgender and gender nonconforming students in accordance with district guidelines, use of LGBTQ+ inclusive curricula, posting of signs and symbols of support, and creation of Genders and Sexualities Alliance student clubs. To monitor progress and performance, both quantitative and qualitative process measure data were collected. Quantitative data consisted of key metrics such as number of staff trained and surveillance data collected through school health profiles in collaboration with the CDC. Qualitative data were gathered to understand barriers and facilitators to implementation of SSE practices via interviews with 55 school staff members and four focus groups with 31 high school students. Results indicated an increased uptake of all SSE activities across the 5-year funding period. Findings also reveal additional needed supports, such as increased availability and offering of professional development for all staff, support for staff in engaging parents, and ensuring the LGBTQ+ inclusive sexual health education curriculum is experienced as such by students. Current work to address these needs is described.

scholarly journals Teacher Professional Development in Brazil: Colonization of Teachers’ Voices

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Master's Thesis ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Professional Development Programs

This paper focuses on professional development practices implemented in Brazil, and the influence of post-colonial views in the power-relation between the ‘educational authorities’ or ‘experts’ and teachers. The paper addresses how this relationship in professional development is mostly ‘one-sided’, as often it does not include the 'voices' of teachers. Rather, it prioritizes the assumptions many  ‘experts’ have towards teachers’ needs for growth, in which the choices of topics and the kind of professional development programs to be designed often follow an ‘one-fits-all’ model or banking education as defined by Freire (1970). This paper emerged from the author's experience during her Master’s thesis research (Nascimento, 2010). She addressed the challenges of teaching in public schools in Brazil, and its implications in a social justice context. Through the lens of different teachers who participated in a volunteer-based Canadian/Brazilian teacher professional development program, the research investigated in which ways the inclusion of teachers' voices in professional development programs could affect teachers’ performance in a Brazilian context. During four years over the summer, Canadian teachers and Brazilian teachers worked together on a professional development program that aimed to encourage teachers to share their teaching experiences and reflect on their practice.

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