Professional Development

STEP works with the Ministry of National Education (MEN for its initials in French) to build the capacity of its personnel to offer high-quality training and support to Madagascar’s growing numbers of teachers and schools. Based on STEP’s successful pilot program in the provinces of Toliara, Fianarantsoa, and Tamatave, MEN is expanding the program nationally with technical assistance from EDC.

The New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers that are federally funded to implement the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In doing so, NYCC engages the New York State Education Department in using research-based findings and rigorous evidence. The Center provides technical assistance services to meet the Department’s priority needs and further the key initiatives of the US Department of Education. Additionally, the NYCC works with the State on emerging needs based on new statutes and policy mandates.

In this three-year NSF Informal Science Education grant, CSE is training and supporting a new cadre of science trainers in eight states and, in so doing, is studying the implementation factors that contribute to the ability of state-based afterschool networks to increase the quality and quantity of project-based science delivered in afterschool programs.

Working with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) Office of Progressive Support and Intervention, EDC supports middle and high schools identified as “in need of corrective action” (i.e., they have not met Adequate Yearly Progress standards for three years). EDC Turnaround Facilitators work on-site in assigned schools two days a week, providing leadership and teacher development aimed at instructional improvement and student achievement. Project staff also give RIDE staff feedback and recommendations to improve services to districts and schools.

The Shaqodoon program was created to provide Somali youth with greater access to training, internships, work and self-employment opportunities in order to productively engage youth and add to the stability and development of the region. Shaqodoon is Somali for “jobseekers”.

This project is developing a series of online professional development modules for school counselors—middle grades, high school, and postsecondary student service professionals—that focus on career counseling and college preparation. The modules use a learning community approach where school counselors will participate in the project as a cohort and engage in structured online discussions with their colleagues and the instructor during each of the module sessions.

EDC is developing an online professional development course on China based on the content of Primary Source’s The Enduring Legacy of Ancient China. This course will be designed as a model that may be part of a series of online courses based on other Primary Source content areas. EDC will also provide online facilitator training to prepare online facilitators selected by Primary Source to deliver this online workshop to teachers in participating school districts or to other teachers recruited by Primary Source interested in this content.

This project studies the effects of an EDC-developed professional development program, Fostering Geometric Thinking Toolkit, on teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs). It tests the hypothesis that geometric problem solving invites diagramming, drawing, use of colloquial language, and gesturing to complement mathematical communication and affords teachers opportunities to support ELL learning.

Building Collaboration for Mental Health Services in California Schools is an initiative funded by the California Department of Education through California’s Mental Health Services Act. This project aims to engage mental health and education professionals in an effective planning process to prepare for implementing California’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in schools.

This project is developing an online course for K-8 mathematics instructional coaches in rural areas and small schools who do not have access to regular district-wide professional development. The course builds participants’ coaching skills through the use of classroom artifacts—including student work, videotapes, and transcripts drawn from the classroom. Additionally, the project exams how online learning and instructional coaching change teachers’ instructional practices and increase student achievement.