PRESS RELEASE

New Report Links Staff Development for Teachers
To Better Performance by Middle School Students

NSDC Finds Similarities in 26 Programs Producing Gains,
Describes Next Steps for Schools, Districts, States

CHICAGO -- April 17, 1999 -- Alarms about the academic trouble in America's middle schools have been sounded by researchers for the last decade, from the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. But a new report released today links reversing those findings and boosting student achievement to high-quality staff development for middle grades teachers.

What Works in the Middle: Results-Based Staff Development identifies 26 programs in English, math, science, social studies and interdisciplinary studies that have led to measurable learning gains. The report is the product of a two-year study led by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) with the participation of national content area and secondary school groups.

"We have found 26 examples of well-designed staff development efforts that have made a difference in student learning," said NSDC Executive Director Dennis Sparks. "Deepening teachers' understanding of the content they teach and expanding their set of instructional skills are clearly steps on the path to the only result that matters -- higher student achievement."

Three Houston-area schools using one math staff development program saw the percentage of their students passing Texas' statewide assessment roughly double, for example. Another math program was linked to a nearly 20 percent increase in students scoring at the national average or better on annual tests in Lowell, Mass.

"When a program's goals included increasing student achievement, the program did just that," said Joellen Killion, project director of NSDC's Results-Based Staff Development for the Middle Grades Initiative.

In addition to their focus on improving student results, the 26 programs had other common traits that the project identified as potential contributors to their success in lifting achievement:

Special Funding -- In particular, the math and science programs involved special funding from sources outside the school or school district -- the National Science Foundation, for example. Once the funding lapsed, some excellent programs were discontinued. This kind of reliance on external funding often relegates staff development to an incidental, optional status within a school system.

Time for Refinement and Implementation -- A number of projects -- Introducing Math Teachers to Inquiry, Iowa Chautauqua, Peoria Urban Math Program, and Reading in the Content Area, for example -- offered teachers time to create lessons and instructional materials. These tasks are essential, and may not fit in the typical daily planning time.

Use of Training -- Fully 85 percent of the programs included in the report relied heavily on the training model of staff development, which is only one of five presented in NSDC's Standards for Staff Development. After training, observation (in the form of demonstrations and classroom coaching) was the next most prevalent model of staff development used. Some exceptions were Introducing Math Teachers to Inquiry, Mathematics Renaissance, and Science Partnerships for Articulation and Networking, which provided training and other models of staff development.

Reinforcement -- Follow-up activities varied among the programs. Some such as Iowa Chautauqua have two meetings for teachers during the school year. Others such as Peoria Urban Math Program and Rice University School Mathematics Program have regularly scheduled observation and coaching in the classroom. Others such as Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching and Project Legal provided follow-up outside the classroom.

Access to Experts -- The development of teacher leaders in projects such as Introducing Math Teachers to Inquiry, the National Writing Project, Powerful Connections, and Science Partnerships for Articulation and Networking gave other teachers easy access to local expertise. This proximity increases the likelihood that teachers will seek and get assistance when they need it. In some programs such as Foundational Approaches in Science and Technology, Project Legal and others, the support was available through technology -- telephone, fax, e-mail, and electronic newsletter.

Support Materials -- Programs that provide teachers with sample lessons and other instructional materials help increase effective use of new strategies and content. For example, Project Success Enrichment and Student Team Literature provide materials to teachers in the early stages of implementation while they become familiar with new instructional practices.

The project found that even among the model programs, few included all the characteristics of content, process, and context outlined by NSDC's Standards for Staff Development.

Selecting the Programs

NSDC did not consider programs that only offered curriculum or materials in the absence of staff development for teachers. Roughly 500 programs were initially identified, but less than a fifth merited a close examination. About 80 were considered based on four rigorous criteria established at the start of the project by the National Advisory Panel. Nearly half of those programs had evidence of student achievement changes.

Beyond the program being defined as staff development, the principal criterion was evidence of student academic gains. Positive changes such as student attitude, classroom behavior, or use of learning processes alone were not enough to be considered. Report card grades were also deemed insufficient proof of increased learning. The advisory panel accepted evidence including test scores, portfolios, performance tasks, participation in higher-level courses, and other exhibitions with a defined standard of quality.

The advisory panel also established that a program must have been carried out at a number of schools to be considered a model. Successful use in several sites shows that success is related more to the design of the program, rather than the conditions in any particular school.

Finally, the programs considered all had to increase teachers' content knowledge in addition to any improvement in their instructional skills. This emphasis on content sets apart the findings from the project, said M. Hayes Mizell, director of Programs for Student Achievement at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, which funded the study.

"The new emphasis on standards and helping students meet them is just as challenging for teachers as for students," he wrote in the report's preface. "There simply is no substitute for teachers' participation in sustained and deep learning experiences they can draw upon to help students perform at standard."

What Works in the Middle: Results-Based Staff Development includes a 10-point list of next steps for policymakers and educators hoping to benefit from the findings. "This is not a shopping catalog. It is a catalog of ideas," said Stephanie Hirsh, NSDC's associate executive director. "It offers an unprecedented baseline for assessing staff development programs, along with the criteria needed to carry out those evaluations."

The National Staff Development Council is the leading organization in the field of professional development for educators. Its more than 8,000 members include state and local school district officials, university faculty, regional service center staff, principals and other school-based leaders, and teachers. They oversee the nation's efforts to upgrade teacher knowledge and skills through job-embedded training. In 1994, NSDC collaborated with 11 other organizations to write national standards for staff development and distributed them to more than 50,000 policymakers and practitioners.

Copies of "What Works in the Middle: Results-Based Staff Development" can be obtained from NSDC. The cost is $30 for non-members and $24 for NSDC members. Call (800) 727-7288 or fax your request to (513) 523-0638.

Read an article about this report in NSDC's "Results" newsletter


Read the Introduction to this new report


Download the compete report!