Achieving all the aims of effective professional development with group PD and drop-ins

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has conducted extensive research into which ‘active ingredients of professional development’ ‘really work’, and have provided explicit guidance on what it takes to help teachers make meaningful improvements. 

The EEF found that for professional development to be effective, it needs to achieve four broad aims, each of which is enabled by a number of active ingredients or ‘mechanisms’:

• 1.
  Build knowledge: support teachers to know something valuable they didn’t know before
• 2.
  Motivate staff: help teachers want to change
• 3.
  Develop teaching techniques: assist teachers to be able to competently do things differently to better support student learning
• 4.
  Embed practice: ensure that changes made are sustained

The fourteen mechanisms of effective professional development are divided across these four aims:

Steplab helps schools to meet all four aims of professional development by incorporating each of the fourteen mechanisms through a coherent and balanced approach to professional development. 

Instructional Coaching is one powerful way to activate these mechanisms, but for schools not ready to facilitate a coaching programme or who take a different route for their PD offer, an impactful way to activate all fourteen mechanisms is to use a cycle of group PD followed by lesson drop-ins. 

The best approach is for group PD sessions to take place frequently with small groups or all staff together.  They can be as short as 10-15 minutes and usually see PD leaders focusing on the instruction of a specific technique based on school and teacher priorities. Modelling and rehearsal are key components of group PD, ensuring teachers can apply techniques to their own practice with fidelity. Lesson drop-ins follow (either by peers or leaders) not only to give teachers specific feedback on their use of the technique, but provide valuable data about the implementation of techniques across the school.

So how does a cycle of group PD followed by drop-ins help leaders build a balanced and effective professional development programme that meets all four aims of PD?

A group PD session carefully manages cognitive load; each session is focused on one precise teaching technique, taken from a goal which leaders have chosen and that will improve teaching across the school. Leaders are encouraged to run sessions as part of a context-specific, coherent PD curriculum, working on a goal at a time which leaders have identified as a priority within the school. 

By recapping the previous technique each session, leaders can provide coherence and offer PD that builds on prior learning. By looping back to the last step and drawing on feedback from drop-ins, we make it clear that PD isn’t based on a one-off or one-and-done model.

Leaders set and agree the highest leverage goals for teachers to work on, identifying those which will have the most impact on improving teaching across the school. Sharing the rationale with staff from lesson visits for the chosen goal and step immediately encourages buy-in. Teachers collectively working on an overall goal together unites them and builds connection and motivation. 

Group PD sessions are grounded in evidence; study modules are provided as part of the session and include an evidence summary built from academic research enabling leaders to present information from credible sources to motivate and build knowledge.

Precise praise is a key part of a group PD session. Leaders are encouraged to reflect on the previous step and this is an ideal opportunity to show a video of effective practice from within the school and share drop-in feedback or shoutouts from the previous week. Lesson drop-ins which follow on from group PD allow further opportunities to provide affirmation and reinforcement.

Each group PD session gives an opportunity for leaders to provide quality instruction on a specific teaching technique. Success criteria is then discussed and used when leaders use modelling (either through video or live models), supporting deeper understanding. 

Rehearsal is a key part of group PD sessions, giving all teachers a chance to plan and practise a technique in the context of their subject/phase, in an upcoming lesson before they use it in the high-stakes environment of the classroom. ​​Unlike many other professions, teachers are often expected to try things for the very first time in front of thirty pupils. Instead, group PD builds practical fluency outside of the classroom first. 

Social support from peers is a fundamental part of group PD, with teachers rehearsing in groups or pairs, able to give their peers specific and constructive feedback based on the detailed success criteria which Steplab’s granular steps provide. The drop-ins which follow group PD sessions provide another opportunity for further monitoring and feedback of techniques developed during each session.

Even a great group PD session won’t lead to meaningful change unless further mechanisms are also activated to embed practice. Each group PD session ends with a chance for teachers to action-plan, consider the real classroom context they might use this step in, and what prompts and cues may be needed (e.g. a post it note on a desk or a slide inserted in a presentation). Drop-ins consolidate this part of the session. 

Leaders use questioning and reflection throughout PD sessions to encourage self-monitoring.  In addition, we know that teachers are far more likely to remember and continue to work on small changes to their practice if they know a colleague will be popping into their lesson that week to see how it’s going and provide some precise feedback, ensuring more context-specific repetition.  

Building a programme of meaningful and coherent professional development is not easy. When leaders use a cycle of group PD followed by drop-ins, we can ensure that professional development activates mechanisms to ensure that teachers make sustained improvements to their practice.

To find out how Steplab can help your school embed an evidence-based PD programme, why not book a demo.