National Professional Development Program Research Articles

Transforming secondary teacher preparation for multilingual learners through translanguaging: Toward an integrated biliteracy and disciplinary learning framework

AbstractStudents designated as English learners and the broader group of multilingual learners continue to face restrictive learning environments in secondary classrooms despite existing research that demonstrates how integrating literacy development with authentic and relevant disciplinary learning benefits multilingual learners and all students. To address this issue, an interdisciplinary team of biliteracy and secondary content method scholars and teacher educators used funding through the U.S. Department of Education's National Professional Development Program to (1) articulate a cohesive framework that integrates biliteracy with disciplinary learning through research‐based instructional practices and (2) explore how English, math, and science secondary content method instructors apply this framework when working with preservice teachers. The researchers connected translanguaging pedagogy, content and language/literacy integrated approaches, and a practice‐based teacher education model to develop the Biliteracy and Content Area Integrated Preparation (BCAIP) Framework. They found that participating content area secondary method instructors made progress toward applying the BCAIP framework by building upon what they already do in support of diverse learners (i.e., foundational pedagogies) as they shifted toward biliteracy‐oriented pedagogy. The authors argue that situating translanguaging in a disciplinary learning context better positions secondary teacher educators to transform how they prepare preservice teachers to serve multilingual learners.

Inclusive education in Sweden

Background and aim: Teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education are taken to be critical to providing education that better meets pupils’ learning. Studies have therefore tried to clarify interaction between teachers’ attitudes and inclusive education. The present study reports data on teachers’ attitudes, self-efficacy and collaboration towards inclusive education in Sweden. Nation-wide data were collected from teachers before they joined a national professional development programme aimed at strengthening schools' competence in adapting teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils. Methods: Participants were 2,348 (51,6%) out of 4,553 targeted teachers that answered an online survey. The survey included three instruments: the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES), the Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education – Revised (SACIE-R), and bespoke questions about teachers’ attitudes towards collegial learning (TACL). Mean values and correlations were assessed. Responses to an open question about teachers’ expectations ahead of starting their training programme were analyzed in NVivo, using word frequency analysis. Results: Three-quarters of respondents show overall positive responses towards adapting their teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils. However, almost two-thirds of teachers do also report significant concerns about their ability to do inclusive education well. Scores remained largely unaffected by public or private school ownership, nor did the affluence of school catchment areas affect teacher scores. Conclusions: The self-reported attitudes, self-efficacy and collaboration among teachers in Sweden towards adapting their teaching to the conditions and needs of pupils support positive research conclusions: although they do have concerns likely to be founded on professional considerations, teachers are by and large positive about meeting pupils’ learning needs.

The long arc of learning: Perspectives and innovations from 20 years of U.S. National Professional Development Program projects

AbstractU.S. National Professional Development (NPD) grants can afford a longitudinal understanding of how teachers learn to support English learners. When NPD projects are completed successively and successfully, they can provide an even greater longitudinal arc of understanding. This article chronicles the designs and lessons learned across five NPD grants between 2002 and 2023. Each grant represents a snapshot in time, presenting a set of assumptions from the field, programmatic innovations, and insights from research outcomes. From highlighting the difference between incremental and radical pedagogical change and what it takes to move beyond individual teacher change to systemic change benefiting multilingual learners, the article outlines the succession of aspirations (capacity building, sustainability, and scalability), experiences, changing conditions, and data points framing lessons learned and new cycles of praxis. This article offers implications for theory, practice, and research. It stands as an argument for adapting, innovating, and moving beyond the status quo to inspire more innovation in teacher preparation for multilingual learners.

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and associated factors affecting emergency medical services professionals in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesEmergency medical services (EMSs) personnel are at high risk for developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). However, no studies have yet investigated the prevalence and effect of these disorders on the...

A national professional development program fills mentoring gaps for postdoctoral researchers.

The Postdoc Academy: Succeeding as a Postdoc was designed to build postdocs' skills in career transition, career planning, collaborative research, resilience, and self-reflection. This study examined self-reported changes in five skills as learners progressed through the course. Data were collected from participants who responded to both pre- and post-surveys and engaged with the course learning activities. Results from repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed that all of the self-reported perceptions of skills improved significantly upon completion of the course. Hierarchical regressions revealed that underrepresented minority learners had greater gains in their development of skills in career planning, resilience, and self-reflection. Qualitative analysis of learners' responses to learning activities found that postdocs perceived networking and mentor support as contributing factors to their skill advancement while tensions among multiple obligations and concerns of uncertainties were significant challenges to applying those skills.

TransECHO: A National Tele-Education Program for Expanding Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Care.

Purpose: Few clinicians have received training to provide comprehensive primary care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. This article describes the program design and evaluation outcomes of TransECHO, a national professional development program for training primary care teams on the provision of affirming integrated medical and behavioral health care for TGD people. TransECHO is based on Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a tele-education model that aims to reduce health disparities and increase access to specialty care in underserved areas. Methods: Between 2016 and 2020, TransECHO conducted 7 year-long cycles of monthly training sessions facilitated by expert faculty through videoconference technology. Primary care teams of medical and behavioral health providers from federally qualified health centers (HCs) and other community HCs across the United States engaged in didactic, case-based, and peer-to-peer learning. Participants completed monthly postsession satisfaction surveys and pre-post TransECHO surveys. Results: TransECHO trained 464 providers from 129 HCs in 35 U.S. states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. On satisfaction surveys, participants provided high scores for all items, including those related to enhanced knowledge, effectiveness of teaching methods, and intentions to apply knowledge and change practice. Compared with pre-ECHO survey responses, post-ECHO responses averaged higher self-efficacy and lower perceived barriers to providing TGD care. Conclusions: As the first Project ECHO on TGD care for U.S. HCs, TransECHO has helped to fill the gap in training on comprehensive primary care for TGD people.

Diving deep into numeracy, cross-curricular professional development

The numerical ability of Irish students in international and national assessments is weaker than for literacy, particularly among higher-performing students. The aim of this study was to design a national teacher professional development programme to encourage teachers at post-primary level to develop numeracy competency across the post-primary curriculum. The project explored how numeracy and mathematics can be integrated meaningfully and constructively in a range of carrier subjects and explore how these subjects can, in turn, influence the manner in which relevant concepts can be addressed in mathematics lessons. The theory underpinning the effective design followed a model of professional development incorporating four strategies. The study was conducted over three school years and the pedagogical approaches adopted by teachers in the cross-curricular integration of numeracy are presented. How the approach supported teachers’ learning is also presented according to a model of teacher agency in professional development and school reform, examining (i) individual practice (ii) outcomes (iii) perceived work context and (iv) school reform. The discussion points which arise describe the community of practice that evolved and the readiness of the participant teachers to embrace professional development in preparation for curricular reform.

Educating the Educator: Evaluation and Review of the ADMSEP Education Scholars Program.

ObjectiveThis report examines the first 8 years of the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP) Education Scholars Program (ESP) to determine the impact of the program on alumni careers and scholarship and their reception of the ESP. The 2-year longitudinal professional development program, launched in 2012, provides foundational knowledge to improve scholarship skills for faculty in psychiatry medical student education. The program is unique among national faculty development programs for psychiatry medical educators in its focus on scholarship and its requirement of completion of a research project in medical education..MethodsAll 19 graduates of the program were sent a 30-question survey that explored alumni perceptions of the impact of the program on their confidence to engage in educational scholarship and on their careers. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to examine responses to the multiple choice and open-ended questions. A PubMed search was used to ascertain papers published by alumni since completion of the program.ResultsGraduate survey responses indicated a high level of satisfaction with the key elements of the program. Alumni respondents reported positive perceptions of participation in the program on their careers as well as on their interest, confidence, knowledge, and skills to engage in scholarship. Nine alumni have had scholarly work published since completion of the program.ConclusionsThe ADMSEP ESP was highly valued by participants. It fills an important need for faculty in psychiatry medical student education by providing a national professional development program focused on scholarship.

Impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of mathematics in Ireland

Out-of-field teaching refers to the practice of assigning teachers to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. This paper reports on a study evaluating the impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of post-primary school mathematics in Ireland – the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching. Evidence of impact was collected from three surveys. Two surveys evaluated changes in the prevalence of out-of-field teaching before and six years after the introduction of the programme. The third survey investigated programme graduates’ beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching and mathematics learning, and reported changes in teaching practices. Outcomes of the programme included a reduction in out-of-field teaching of mathematics and increased opportunities for graduates to teach higher level mathematics in the senior post-primary years. These teachers also endorsed child-centred beliefs and reported teaching practices consistent with the problem-solving orientation of the new mathematics curriculum. The findings go some way towards testing a theory of teacher change in order to enhance our understanding of how professional development works to upskill out-of-field teachers.

Leadership Development Projects: Bidirectional Impact on Faculty and Institutions.

The Hedwig von Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program (ELAM) is a national professional development program for women that includes institutional action projects (IAPs). Although benefits of ELAM participation are well documented, the value of the IAPs has not been specifically evaluated. We explored the experience of ELAM Fellows and leaders from one institution to elucidate how institutional factors influence project implementation and outcomes. Fellows and deans participated in semistructured interviews. We analyzed the transcripts qualitatively to develop themes and describe factors that influenced IAP implementation and outcomes. We used the New World Kirkpatrick Model, an updated version of the widely used Kirkpatrick model of educational program evaluation, as a framework to elucidate how participants applied their leadership learning through project work, and to analyze early results of projects that indicated institutional impact. Project work had bidirectional impact on the fellows in the program and on the institution itself. Project enablers included: focusing projects on institutional priorities, obtaining sustainable support, and navigating institutional complexity. Leading indicators of institutional outcomes included contributions to institutional leadership and culture, and mutual enhancement of the reputation of the fellow and of the institution. By examining enablers and barriers for institutionally based projects conducted in a national leadership development program, we identified the drivers that facilitated application of leadership learning. Leading indicators of project outcomes reflected bidirectional impact on fellows and the institution, demonstrating outcomes at the highest levels of the New World Kirkpatrick Model.

Working Toward Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Math Teaching through a Year-Long Urban Teacher Training Program for English Learners

This qualitative study examined how participating in-service teachers demonstrated linguistically and culturally responsive mathematical teaching (LCRMT) competences after they completed a year-long National Professional Development Program grant-funded project. A two-dimensional LCRMT framework was developed to measure participating teachers’ mathematical and mathematics-related competences. The qualitative data source was from three in-service teachers’ observations and interviews. The interview and observation data were analyzed using open and axial coding and activity systems. Three themes emerged: 1) mathematics-related content teaching practices, 2) tools to support mathematics learning, and 3) teachers’ mindsets and attitudes towards English Learner (EL) teaching. The researchers then compared verbatim examples using activity systems to examine the following research question: How did participating urban in-service teachers apply linguistically and culturally responsive mathematics teaching competences for ELs learned at a university EL teacher training program to their actual mathematics teaching in the classroom? The results, in general, indicated that the urban in-service teachers demonstrated improvement of LCRMT strategies that they used in their actual mathematics teaching after they completed the university training. However, challenges in the areas of mathematical discourse competences and teachers’ sociocultural beliefs toward ELs revealed the need for ongoing professional support.

How Full Is Your Tank? A Qualitative Exploration of Faculty Volunteerism in a National Professional Development Program.

Professional development programs (PDPs) within academic professional organizations rely on faculty volunteers, but little is known about the volunteering process and experience. Our aim was to gain insights into the initial decision to volunteer, the experience of volunteering and the decision to re-volunteer or not (ie, remain or leave as a volunteer). The study setting was a PDP of the Academic Pediatric Association, the Educational Scholars Program. In 2014, 13 Educational Scholars Program faculty members participated in semistructured phone interviews. The authors performed a general inductive analysis of the data, inductively created codes, and analyzed coded data for emergent themes that led to the creation of a model for recruiting and sustaining volunteers. Four themes related to the initial volunteer decision and the decision to re-volunteer or not (self-interest and altruism, reputation of the program, relevant skill set, and doability), and 4 themes related to the experience of volunteering (emotional impact, career advancement and professional recognition, professional growth, and doability) emerged. The relationship among the themes led to the creation of a model of volunteering, involving a metaphorical volunteerism "tank" that is full when faculty initially volunteer and subsequently fills or empties as a result of dynamic interplay between the themes for each individual. Leaders of PDPs may find our model of volunteering beneficial for enhancing the emotional and tangible benefits and minimizing the logistical issues of volunteering. This information should contribute to success in recruiting and retaining the volunteers who are essential for developing and sustaining PDPs.

Online scaffolding in digital open badge-driven learning

ABSTRACTBackground: Digital open badges support competence-based professional development and criteria-based assessment of competences in digital environments. As the use of digital badges is growing rapidly, there is a need for in-depth pedagogical understanding to enable effective classroom application.Purpose: This study seeks to examine the stages of online scaffolding and instructional badging in the digital open badge-driven learning process. We researched students’ experiences of scaffolding in badge-driven learning.Sample: Data were collected from group online interviews (n = 6) with trained Finnish vocational teachers (n = 17) and students of vocational teacher education (n = 12) who earned badges of digital pedagogical competences in the national Professional Development (PD) programme called ‘Learning Online’.Design and methods: This qualitative study was conducted via data-driven content analysis. Hierarchically inclusive relationships were analysed in an ongoing comparison to examine the stages of scaffolding in the digital open badge-driven learning process. The findings were mapped against Salmon’s five-stage-model to represent individual and group thinking regarding a specific concept at a particular time.Findings: The findings reflect students’ experiences and provide insights regarding the optimal form of assessments and scaffolding. They further illustrate the challenges and opportunities involved in badge-driven learning from the perspective of professional development.Conclusions: Based on the findings, we raise questions for further research and suggest a practical approach to help teachers to plan and conduct scaffolding and instructional badging in the digital open badge-driven learning environment.

In the company of my sister-colleagues: professional counterspaces for African American women student affairs administrators

ABSTRACTAlthough conceptual models exist that describe the role of counterspaces in promoting well-being among marginalised individuals, not enough is known about the composition of professional counterspaces for Black women employed in higher education. The African American Women’s Summit (AAWS) is a national professional development programme in the U.S. known as a professional counterspace. Semi-structured interviews were used in this study to explore the experiences of seven African American women student affairs administrators who consistently participated in the AAWS between 2006 and 2011. Participants described the AAWS as a culturally homogeneous experience, infused with a variety of culturally responsive resources, that was delivered via a culturally intentional curriculum. Included is a discussion of the characteristics of professional counterspaces situated in Black feminist thought and a Counterspace conceptual model, which are the frameworks that grounded this particular inquiry. Areas of future praxis are also presented.

How Mentor Identity Evolves: Findings From a 10-Year Follow-up Study of a National Professional Development Program.

Despite academic medicine's endorsement of professional development and mentoring, little is known about what junior faculty learn about mentoring in implicit curricula of professional development programs, and how their mentor identity evolves in this context. The authors explored what faculty-participants in the Educational Scholars Program implicitly learned about mentoring and how the implicit curriculum affected mentor identity transformation. Semistructured interviews with 19 of 36 former faculty-participants were conducted in 2016. Consistent with constructivist grounded theory, data collection and analysis overlapped. The authors created initial codes informed by Ibarra's model for identity transformation, iteratively revised codes based on incoming data patterns, and created visual representations of relationships amongst codes to gain a holistic, shared understanding of the data. In the implicit curriculum, faculty-participants learned the importance of having multiple mentors, the value of peer mentors, and the incremental process of becoming a mentor. The authors used Ibarra's model to understand how the implicit curriculum worked to transform mentor identity: Faculty-participants reported observing mentors, experimenting with different ways to mentor and to be a mentor, and evaluating themselves as mentors. The Educational Scholars Program's implicit curriculum facilitated faculty-participants taking on mentor identity via opportunities it afforded to watch mentors, experiment with mentoring, and evaluate self as mentor, key ingredients for identity construction. Leaders of professional development programs can develop faculty as mentors by capitalizing on what faculty-participants learn in the implicit curriculum and deliberately structuring postgraduation mentoring opportunities.

Australian Learning and Teaching Council projects in the Mathematical Sciences: A retrospective

Since 2004, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) and its predecessor, the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, have funded numerous teaching and educational research-based projects in the Mathematical Sciences. In light of the Commonwealth Government's decision to close the ALTC in 2011, it is appropriate to take account of the ALTCs input into the Mathematical Sciences in higher education. We overview altc projects in the Mathematical Sciences, as well as report on the contributions they made to the discipline. References P. Adams, J. Alcock, M. Bulmer, et al., A new enabling technology for learning and teaching quantitative skills . Report to the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2008. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-new-enabling-technology-learning-uq-2006 P. Broadbridge and S. Henderson, Mathematics for 21st century engineering students . Report to the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 2008. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-mathematics-21st-century-melbourne-2006 G. Brown, Review of education in mathematics, data science and quantitative disciplines . Report to the Group of Eight Universities, 2009. http://www.go8.edu.au/__documents/go8-policy-analysis/2010/go8mathsreview.pdf Content Without Borders , online resource repository, http://oer.equella.com/ S. Jones, B. Yates and J. Kelder, Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Project: Science Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement . Report to the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/altc_standards_SCIENCE_240811_v3.pdf H. MacGillivray and T. Wilson, Quantitative diversity: disciplinary and cross-disciplinary mathematics and statistics support in Australian universities . Report to the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2008. http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-quantitative-diversity-mathematics-qut-2008 H. MacGillivray, Learning support in mathematics and statistics in Australian universities: A guide for the university sector . Report to the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2008. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-quantitative-diversity-disciplinary-qut-2006 D. Mallet, M. Nelson, A. Porter, et al., Discipline Network: Australian Mathematical Sciences Learning and Teaching Network . Australian Learning and Teaching Council project abstract listing, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-discipline-networkaustralian-mathematical-sciences-learning-and-teaching-network-2011 K. Matthews, P. Adams, S. Belward, C. Coady, L. Rylands, N. Pelaez and K. Thompson, Quantitative skills in science: curriculum models for the future . Australian Learning and Teaching Council project abstract listing, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-quantitative-skills-science-curriculum-models-future-uq-2010 A. Porter and C. Silveri, Building leadership capacity for development and sharing of mathematics learning resources across disciplines and universities . Australian Learning and Teaching Council project abstract listing, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-building-leadership-capacity-uow-2007 M. Sharma, W. Rifkin, S. Beames, et al., Fostering institutional and cultural change through the Australian network of university science educators . Australian Learning and Teaching Council project abstract listing, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-fostering-institutional-and-cultural-change-through-australian-network-university-science-ed T. Vu, A national discipline-specific professional development program in the mathematical sciences . Report to the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2011. http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/LE9-1248_Macquarie_Wood_Final%20Report%202011.pdf

A practice-oriented professional development programme to support the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum in Portugal

This article presents the extended workshop, a national professional development programme that was used in the preparatory stages of the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum for basic education (grades 1–9) in Portugal. These workshops are based on five major ideas—orientation towards practice, focus on students’ learning, collaboration, practitioner research, and change of professional culture. The evaluation shows that these workshops constituted a stimulating professional development setting that encouraged teachers to reflect about classroom practice and students’ learning and was quite successful in supporting an overall movement favourable to the orientations of the new curriculum.

Great expectations: Teacher learning in a national professional development programme

This paper reports findings from an evaluation of a national continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers in England. Data showed that the localised implementation, opportunities for interactive learning, and ‘collective participation’ were positive factors. Research participants reported difficulties, however, in ‘cascading’ knowledge to colleagues and in sustaining and developing their learning. It is argued that these limitations were rooted in an inconsistent theory of learning that underpinned the programme and a failure to conceptualise teachers as ‘lead learners’ in schools. Wider implications for the design of teachers’ professional development are considered.

Learning About Teams by Participating in Teams

As the work of academic health centers becomes increasingly oriented toward teams and collaboration, professional development in effective team skills becomes increasingly important. The authors sought to determine whether a transdisciplinary program for enhancing teamwork was effective in educating individual team members to translate lessons into productive outcomes of their own institutions' teams. Between 2006 and 2008, the authors used the Learning in Teams model of collaborative team development to design and implement two applications of a national professional development program for members of academic organizations' teams. The purpose of the program was to foster individual skill development in collaborative teamwork. Using pre/post surveys to determine changes in team functioning over the course of the program, the authors evaluated participants' perceptions of the effectiveness of their professional development programs' learning teams and of their home institutions' teams. They analyzed narrative reports of participants' institutional teams' progress for elements including team task management, member dynamics, and institutional outcomes. Pre/post self-assessments of team performance and participants' progress reports on their home teams revealed enhancement of team skills, including clarifying team charge, exploring team purpose, and evaluating team process. Program participants improved their team skills and enhanced productivity of their institutions' teams. The Learning in Teams model can support individual team skills development, enhance institutional team performance in academic health centers, and provide a basis for research in team skills development and team process improvement. It can be adapted to various programs to enhance skills in teamwork.

Crossings

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how online communities of practice facilitate the embedding of personal professional knowledge in a complex online environment.Design/methodology/approachThis research consisted of exploratory, interpretivist case research, using qualitative methods. Forty‐one individuals from five online communities in a national professional development programme were interviewed. Additional data were drawn from diverse online records. Data were coded via text analysis. A wiki was used for participant feedback.FindingsEmbedding of new knowledge was facilitated by individuals' crossings between different engagement spaces – communication and sense‐making contexts. Community members repeatedly crossed between online and offline, visible and invisible, formal and informal, and reflective and active engagement spaces as they sought to meet diverse needs. As they did this, they had to continually recontextualise knowledge, adapting, varying and personalising it to fit the function, genre and conventions of each engagement space. This promoted the embedding of professional knowledge. The complex online environment in which they operated can be seen as providing a situation of enhanced polycontextuality, within which multiple boundary crossings facilitated strong personalisation. At the community level, knowledge convergence was fostered by the recurrence of dominant, powerful mnemonic themes.Research limitations/implicationsAn opportunity exists to investigate the applicability of these findings in other online professional contexts.Originality/valueThe paper extends the concept of boundary crossing to crossings in a polycontextual online environment. It updates literature on communities of practice by outlining the dynamics of a complex online community system. It provides an explanation for how personal knowledge evolves to fit emerging trends and considers how information systems can support deep knowledge transfer.