2C.

Survey a broad spectrum of teachers to elicit recommendations for more effective

and relevant professional development, and assess the degree of importance that
professional development should have in teacher evaluation. Include the survey results
and recommendations for effective professional development and its use in teacher
evaluation in your portfolio. (ELCC 2.1; 2.3)
I conducted an online survey of classroom teachers at Fountain Rock Elementary
School. Being a small school, there are only ten (10) classroom teachers. We have parttime music, art, media, and physical education. The survey was made available to all
classroom teachers that taught at Fountain Rock in the 2104-2015 school year. That was
a total of nine (9).
The results of the survey of teachers at Fountain Rock Elementary detail mostly
dissatisfaction with the overall helpfulness of the professional development from the
2014-2015 school year. Most responses acknowledged that the effort was there and a lot
of hard work was put into the professional development, but overall most teachers feel
that it was ineffective. Teachers feel that too much was implemented. Teachers did not
have time to focus on implementing one item before there was something new to focus
on. The teachers want to feel support and positive reinforcement for implementing new
ideas or techniques. If they are doing something wrong, they want to know.
Teachers also thought there was very little meaningful follow through with new
initiatives. Teachers were given an opportunity to present their attempts at new ideas, but
very little was then done with it. Teachers would like authentic feedback and support to
improve. Teachers felt as though what they were doing was going well because lack of
feedback, but when the idea was revisited, negative comments confused teachers.
When asked what their ideal professional development included, responses were wide
ranging. The most popular response was that teachers want the topics of the professional
development to be more relevant and something they can use right away. The teachers

understand that there is pressure and agendas coming from central office to do things a
certain way, but teachers would like professional development related to their classrooms
at Fountain Rock Elementary.
When commenting on when professional development should occur, teachers
feelings differ. Some feel as though professional development should not occur during
Classroom Focused Instructional Planning (CFIP) meetings, which is where most of it
occurs at Fountain Rock. One response wants it to happen within the teacher workday.
That would leave the thirty (30) minutes between when students leave and teachers are
contractually allowed to leave.
Professional development should definitely play a part in teacher evaluation for a
multitude of reasons. First, at its core, education is a process that has no culmination.
Teachers should hold this to be true and subscribe to being life long learners. Second,
professional development is an important tool in developing staff to meet the vision of
schools, counties, districts, and states. Professional Development is the vehicle of change.
You can affect positive change through the development of your staff. One way to
ensure that teachers understand that it is a very important aspect of their craft, is to assess
how committed they are to learning information related to teaching. All teachers in the
survey agree.
One teacher said, I don't think they should be held accountable for PD that they are
forced to attend. I believe that many teachers grow and continue to develop on their own
as they research blogs, other county websites, as well as seek help from teachers in other
school buildings for ideas and help. A lot of what teachers do to become better for their
students is not documented on paper.

Recommendations for professional development:

Teachers feel as thought topics lack relevance to their day-to-day operations.
Approach this one of two ways: Either pick new topics with teacher input; which isnt
always feasible because of county initiatives; or, make a concerted effort to explain how
the information will be relevant to teachers. Teachers want the professional development
outcomes to be measurable and measured. Teachers want follow up and support that will
help them progress and master each new initiative.