Against the Odds: Professional Development and Innovation Under Less-Than-Ideal Conditions (2001)

This article reports surprising accomplishments of teachers who, despite overwhelming obstacles, are creating new learning opportunities for their students and are taking advantage of electronic technologies to support those innovations. Prior research has found that certain conditions should exist in a school for teachers to pursue professional development so they can implement useful applications of technologies in their classrooms. Examples of these conditions include administrative leadership, shared vision, opportunities for reflection and collaboration, a long-term professional development plan, and other supportive conditions. However, in many schools those desired conditions do not exist and there are formidable obstacles to creating those conditions. This report summarizes some of the findings of a research project conducted over a period of two and a half years with about 100 teachers in a pre-k-12 school complex that is part of a large, hierarchical school system. Teachers having a common vision fo r innovative practices worked in small teams to plan, implement, and evaluate new practices in their classrooms and school In this article some aspects of these innovations are described. Essential elements of the strategies Vanguard for Learning used for professional development are described and factors contributing to the teachers' ability to make such dramatic accomplishments against the odds are described. Ways in which these strategies can be adapted in other school settings are suggested. Context Teachers are being asked to learn new methods of teaching, while at the same time are facing even greater challenges of rapidly increasing technological changes and greater diversity in the classroom... [given such challenges] relatively few teachers (20%) report feeling well prepared to integrate educational technology into classroom instruction. (US Department of Education, 1999a). The importance of teacher development with respect to technology is recognized by many. The US federal government has created initiatives and funding opportunities for local education agencies to implement continuous professional development for teachers, administrators, and other individuals to further the use of technology in the classroom, library, or learning settings in the community. (US Department of Education, 1999b). Over the past fifteen years or so, educators, researchers, and technologists have documented principles that serve as a foundation for successful professional development practices. (Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998; Becker, 1999; Coley, Cradler, & Engel, 1997; Means & Olson, 1995; Brand, 1998; National Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE), 1996; NFIE, 1998; Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), 1995; CEO Forum on Education & Technology, 1999; Coughlin & Lemke, 1999). The research reported in this article corroborates many factors that have been found by oth ers to be important in teachers' professional development and successful implementation of new pedagogies and technologies in the classroom. This study is, in addition, very sobering with respect to the difficulty or perhaps impossibility of creating those desired and essential conditions in a large school system. Structural, cultural, and political characteristics of a school system may be such that it is unlikely to resolve fundamental obstacles in the near term, despite valiant efforts of some administrators. This study provides a theory of action and evidence of dramatic successes achieved through short-term strategies that can be adapted for use in other school communities. SCHOOL SYSTEM CONTEXT: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY (DODEA) The DoDEA is comprised of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) and the Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS). DoDDS serves dependents of US military and civilian employees in foreign countries. …