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Recommendation One:
Structure the school day to allow sufficient time for direct planning, productive collaboration with colleagues, and overlapping time for mentors and mentees, all embedded within the school day.
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Role Group Strategies:
Teachers
Schedule planning periods at times that allow for teachers to work together as disciplinary or interdisciplinary teams.
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Finding Time for Faculties to Study Together
Murphy, C. (Summer 1997) Journal of Staff Development v.18 n.3
http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/murphy183.cfm
Carleen Murphy provides an extensive list of options used by different schools to create time for teachers to meet in “study groups.” Sample strategies include early release, late start, hiring substitutes, and involving parents or business partners in special activities.
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Making Time for Adult Learning
Pardini, P. (Spring 1999) Journal of Staff Development
http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/pardini202.cfm
This article highlights different methods used by eight schools across the country to create time for teacher collaboration. Strategies include early release, involving students in community service projects, allowing paraprofessionals to cover classes for a limited period of time, and reassessing how faculty meeting time is currently used. The author provides contact information for each of the profiled schools.
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Rethinking School Resources
Hawley Miles, Karen. District Issues Brief. New American Schools.
http://www.naschools.org/uploadedfiles/rethinking-resources.pdf
Based on her experiences with New American Schools, Karen Hawley Miles writes that schools need more resources to provide common time for teachers to work and learn together. She insists that teachers need time periods longer than 45 minutes to accomplish this work and suggests five ways that schools could create that time. Additionally, she provides recommendations of what districts can do to help schools create time and reports on the tradeoffs or challenges that accompany each strategy.
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Think Outside the Clock: Create Time for Professional Learning
Richardson, Joan. (2002). National Staff Development Council.
http://www.nsdc.org/members/tools/tools08-02.pdf
This article suggests strategies for creating time for professional development and describes a variety of approaches taken by specific schools and districts. The author suggests “banking” time by lengthening the school day, “buying” time by hiring more teachers or substitute teachers, creating common planning time, and adding professional days to the school year. She also lists ways to free teachers from instruction occasionally so that they can meet in disciplinary or interdisciplinary teams .
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Plan Thoughtfully for Team Time
Hirsch, Stephanie. (2002). Results. National Staff Development Council.
http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/results/res11-02hirs.cfm
The author argues that the key issue with encouraging professional learning is not finding the time but finding a way to use the time well. She recommends establishing expectations for team learning, specifying the content for learning team time, and teaching processes that encourage smooth meetings.
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Teachers
Use team teaching to free teachers from instruction on a regular basis and to allow for mentors to work directly with new teachers in the same classroom.
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"Finding the Time to Build Professional Development into the Life of Schools”
Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success.
NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE). (1996).
http://www.nfie.org/publications/charge/section2.htm
NFIE gives two primary recommendations for finding time for professional development: flexible scheduling and an extended school year for teachers. They recommend team teaching as a way to create greater freedom with scheduling and ample opportunity for mentoring relationships.
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Time: It’s Made, Not Found
Barkley, S. (Fall 1999) Journal of Staff Development
http://wilsontxt.hwwilson.com/pdffull/02131/1PVLJ/BS0.pdf
Barkley offers a variety of ideas for creating time for planning and collaboration, including restructuring the staff, using technology, and team teaching. He also describes one way in which schools can make 15 hours of time available for the faculty to consider more permanent methods to create out-of-class time for teachers.
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Teacher Teaming in Relation to Student Performance: Findings from the Literature
Spraker, Jean. (2003). Center for District and School Improvement.
http://www.nwrel.org/re-eng/products/TeacherTeaming.pdf
This report investigates the extent to which team teaching improves student achievement and the major factors of team teaching associated with effective learning. The author describes types of teacher teams and lists pertinent literature according to each type. She also includes an extensive, annotated list of resources.
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