Supporting the Use of Authentic Assessment Through Relationship-Based Professional Development: Protocols for Implementation
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Supporting the Use of Authentic Assessment Through Relationship-Based Professional Development: Protocols for Implementation Center for Early Education and Development, University of Minnesota, written with funding and guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education, December 2015 Acknowledgments We are grateful for the ideas and contributions of many people who are currently involved in RBPD in a variety of programs in Minnesota. Although their contact information may shift, the following list includes contributors to this document: • Centers of Excellence, Michele Doctor, Minnesota Department of Education • Center for Inclusive Child Care, Cindy Croft [email protected] • Center for Early Education and Development, Vicki Hawley/Amy Susman-Stillman [email protected] • Head Start Practiced Based Coaching (PBC), Brenda Hall [email protected] (Training/Technical Assistance), Jeanne Dickhausen (Head Start Collaboration Office), and Gayle Kelly (Minnesota Head Start Association.) • Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children, Nancy Hafner [email protected] and Karri Kearns [email protected] • Minnesota Department of Education, Michelle Dockter [email protected] • Minnesota Department of Human Services, Kimberly Stone [email protected] • Minnesota Licensed Family Child Care Association , Barb Wagner [email protected] • Minnesota Reading Corps ServeMN, information from Kate Horst [email protected] • Numbers Work! and Words Work! Submitted by Beth Menninga [email protected] • Parent Aware Quality Coaches, Kim Stone (DHS), Cory Woosley and Deb Spaeth at Child Care Aware of MN. Programs can contact their local CCR&R, or School Readiness & Head Start can contact MDE. All programs and parents can visit www.ParentAware.org Programs and processes appear in full in Appendix B. The University of Minnesota Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) would also like to acknowledge those who contributed significantly to the development and review process of this document: Vicki Hawley, Amy Susman-Stillman, Ann Bailey, and Megan Cox. ii Relationship-Based Professional Development Center for Early Education and Development Table of Contents Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Terms and Definitions ................................................................................................................................... 4 Professional Development Outcomes .......................................................................................................... 5 Definitions of Coaching ............................................................................................................................. 6 Definition of Professional Learning Community ....................................................................................... 7 Other RBPD Models Currently Used in Minnesota ....................................................................................... 8 Implementation Approaches ........................................................................................................................ 8 Foundations ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Key Questions for Implementing RBPD ...................................................................................................... 13 Getting Ready: The What ........................................................................................................................... 13 • WHAT: “What are we planning to do?” .......................................................................................... 13 Getting Ready: The WHO ............................................................................................................................ 14 • Who are the RBPD providers (coaches)? Who is doing the work? ................................................ 14 Getting Ready: The HOW ........................................................................................................................... 16 The Process of Authentic Assessment Coaching: Stages, Processes, and Strategies ............................... 16 Stage 1: Laying the Groundwork for RBPD ............................................................................................ 16 Stage 2: Co-Creating the Relationship (B1 and B2) ............................................................................... 18 Stage 3: Ongoing Processes of RBPD ..................................................................................................... 19 Stage 4: Closure, Summary, and Celebration......................................................................................... 24 Appendix A. Processes Checklist for Relationship-Based Professional Development: ............................... 29 Appendix B1. Current RBPD Activities. ....................................................................................................... 36 Appendix B2. Current RBPD Activities (con’d) ............................................................................................ 42 iii Relationship-Based Professional Development Center for Early Education and Development 1 Supporting the Use of Authentic Assessment Through Relationship-Based Professional Development: Protocols for Implementation Overview What is the purpose of this document? This document provides a protocol for coaches, mentors, or other RBPD providers who support teachers’ use of authentic assessment. These various RBPD techniques include observation, feedback, reflection, mutual planning, and tracking goals. Although implementing authentic assessment is our focus, the approach is useful regardless of content. The document includes three components: 1. Terms and definitions. 2. Program-level considerations, with examples. 3. A tool to review steps in the process of relationship-based professional development. What is authentic assessment, and why is there a focus on authentic assessment in early care and education in Minnesota? The Early Childhood Assessment Project survey defines authentic assessment as the systematic recording of developmental observations over time (ongoing throughout the year) about the naturally occurring behaviors and functional competencies of young children in daily routines (actual work) by familiar and knowledgeable caregivers in the child’s life. Authentic assessment • is embedded within curriculum, • is a cooperative and collaborative process, • is intended to help professionals and parents learn more about children, • assesses what individual children can do, and • makes assessment part of the learning process (Bagnato & Yeh Ho, 2006, p. 16; Morrison, 2000). Relationship-Based Professional Development Center for Early Education and Development 2 Results from recent studies show a continuing need to expand the knowledge, skill level, and implementation of authentic assessment in early education settings in Minnesota (Center for Early Education and Development, 2014). In 2014, as part of the Minnesota Early Childhood Comprehensive Assessment System, the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) at the University of Minnesota surveyed early childhood professionals about their awareness and use of authentic assessment. Our purpose was to learn more about how much early childhood care providers knew about authentic assessment and they used it. Slightly more than 700 respondents from family child care, center-based child care locations, Head Start, and school-based services answered the survey. The purpose was to identify existing knowledge, practice, and gaps regarding using assessment to inform practice with young children. Although respondents reported attending past training sessions, the data enabled CEED to identify future training topics. The survey suggested that professional development (PD) providers and early educators agreed on the support systems they believed would be most beneficial for early educators: • Onsite support with a mentoring/coaching component. • Support for embedding assessment into daily routines. • Video demonstrations of specific assessment practices. • Support on how to use assessment data to inform practice. In a separate survey in spring 2015, data were gathered about the extent to which people are currently using aspects of RBPD in their work. Those data were analyzed and shared in a report to the Minnesota Department of Education. Why was a protocol commissioned to describe how relationship-based professional development can support teachers’ use of authentic assessment? Relationship-based professional development (RBPD) is a mode of professional development where the relationship itself is the vehicle through which teachers grow in knowledge and practice. Traditional content-based professional development (training and in-service) may provide definitions, descriptions, and demonstrations of skilled practice. Yet despite increased focus on assessment in recent years, providers still struggle to define and apply authentic assessment in their work (Susman-Stillman, Bailey, & Webb, 2014). The RBPD approach is based on literature that suggests relationships help people grow in different ways than classroom-based training (Neuman & Wright, 2010). This protocol serves primarily as a guide that can clarify roles, purposes, and procedures