Case Studies: Overview | Boston | Chicago | Cincinnati | Philadelphia
Since 1999, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has helped the Boston Public Schools (BPS) define and create a professional development strategy that aligns professional development activities with the BPS's goals for improving instruction and promoting whole-school change. To identify additional resources for district improvement, ERS conducted an analysis that reported on professional development spending and activities. Activities were reviewed based on:
- How directly each activity aligned with the "essentials" - what was required of all schools by the district's plan for whole-school change
- How each activity matched up to the National Partnership for Excellence in Accountability and Teaching (NPEAT) principles of professional development
ERS' executive summary provides an overview of the analysis' findings, recommendations, and outcomes. This case study page is a synthesis of information made available in this summary and on the ERS website.
Findings
The findings, listed below, are explained in more detail on pages 4-5 of the executive summary.
- In 1998-1999, the Boston Public Schools spent significant funds on professional development for teachers, principals, and headmasters: $23.5 million or nearly 4% of the total budget.
- More than $5 million or 23% of funds spent on professional development in 1998-1999 was integrated into implementation of the Plan for Whole-School Change.
- More than $18 million or 77% of funds spent on professional development in 1998-1999 was not integrated into an overall strategy for implementing standards based reform.
- More than half of the district's spending on professional development came from outside funders - federal, state, private - increasing the challenge of strategic coordination and long-range planning.
Recommendations
ERS recommended that the district (1) develop a professional development strategy that establishes standards for professional development that are linked to the district's goals of improving teaching and learning through whole-school change and (2) evaluate all spending to ensure that it aligns with this strategy. Specifically, they suggested that BPS:
- Center responsibility for all professional development in one department.
- Align professional development resources with the superintendent's student learning goals and focus spending on fewer topics.
- Reexamine the activities of the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Practice (C&I), the Center for Leadership Development (CLD), The Lead Teacher program, and the Office of Instructional Technology (OIT) to link them to the superintendent's student performance goals and to school-level efforts to implement whole-school change.
- Build in more accountability for the quality and focus of professional development, through the Plan for Whole-School Change.
- Create a consolidated plan for external funding and integrate these funds to support the strategy and principles recommended above.
ERS performed a repeat analysis in 2001 which showed resources being used in more focused, integrated ways to support the district wide professional development strategy. An additional professional development review has resulted in recommendations to invest in developing principals and to create accountability around resource management. To read more about recent findings and recommendations, click here.