I am convinced that teachers have a love-hate relationship with staff development days at the beginning of the year. Think about it, you have been at home the whole summer, you are probably sick of your own kids and need a change of scenery, or you are ready to once again mold the minds of impressionable youth. Once you get to school, you are excited to hear about summer stories, i.e. births, fishing trips, makeovers, etc. (admit it, we are no better than the kids on their first day). This is the part that most of us come to love on the first day of school.
What teachers usually can’t stand are things like session topics, which usually are the same every year; length of time spent in those sessions, which could go up to (but not limited to) two hours long; and the simple fact that some people will never get time to set up their classroom for the first day of students.
A New York Times article entitled, “Principals Denounce Plan to Cut Two Training Days,” A tentative agreement reached between the city of New York and the teachers’ union would eliminate two days of staff development before the first day of school, saving the city $2 billion over 20 years by rolling back pension benefits for new teachers. The New York City principals union does not agree with this decision. “It’s very important that we set the tone correctly on day one,” says union principal, Ernest A. Logan.
Once again, education is looked at for a place to save money. I don’t understand what some people are thinking nowadays. If teachers are not educated, students will not be educated. If students are not exposed to as much as possible, they will not be well-rounded adults. I think that there are better plans than this that could be explored. The fact of the matter is staff development days are a joke to a lot of faculty, staff, and administrators. They are usually inefficient and the information that is given is usually something that was explored in a previous year. Staff development days are something that should be used for staff development. I would like to see districts do things that would help teachers excel with their continuing education. There are many teachers, like us, who seek continuing education credits to better ourselves in our profession. Why should we be subject to more staff development days that would not grant us any kind of credit? I would like to see districts reform their staff development days.
David,
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement; I enjoy a staff development day or two. They ease you into the grind of another school year.
A former principal jam-packed our session with speakers and activities. That is changed with administration turnover. The current administration has taken a very hands-off approach. We are free to work in our rooms to prepare for the first day of school.
The only exception is training for new programs and policies. I am praying that we keep our current grade book software. The last two years we have used two different versions. It is up to our principal to decide whether or not to renew the contract. If he chooses not to, it will be another day or two of training to learn a new system.
We occasionally have opportunities for continuing educational clock hours. Though, that is typically not the case.
Cutting them to save money is ridiculous. There are far more costly programs that should be trimmed before staff development days. They are basically telling teachers that they don’t need to learn and progress as professionals.
I too, wish there would be more vision and organization to staff-development days. We have adopted Professional Learning Communities. I think they are great. However, we commit fifteen to twenty minutes monthly to implementing. Our staff meets thirty minutes before first period. The meetings are poorly organized and there we are unknowing spectators in the process. Essentially, a great idea that is half-heartedly pursued becomes a waste of time. This is probably the perception viewed by bureaucrats and politicians.
All I could think when I read this was "Teaching gets more complex everyday. Our need for support and education grows daily. We face increased problems with behavior, social problems coming to school with the kids, and more....hhhmmmm?... what should we do to work on this?....I KNOW! Lets cut staff development days!" We let people with thought processes like this run school systems? That is scary. It just shows that administrators have to be careful setting priorities - the proper education of the children in their charge is their first responsibility. Yes they have to watch the purse strings but with all of the useless ways they spend money - for example, what exactly to the board members make? lol - they think cutting the training of their teachers is a good idea? It boogles the mind. What is really scary though is a school system such as New Yorks sets a precedent when they do this. I imagine any number of schools across the country will now see it as a good idea "because New york did it"
ReplyDeleteThey expect more of teachers all of the time and the requirements of NCLB are putting even more pressure on and they cut development.
Pretty sad, if you ask me
I would like to see staff development days reformed as well. My first year at Wahpeton, an entire afternoon was devoted to a woman who spoke about vitamins. It's not a joke. Vitamins. Maybe a 30 minute update about vitamins, but an entire afternoon? I think before school inservice should be to motivate teachers. Sometimes after inservice, I have a hard time remembering why I went into teaching. It shouldn't be that way! This time can be very valuable if it's used appropriately.
ReplyDeleteI have heard talk of this in my school district in Maryland doing the same exact thing in efforts to cut cost. I do agree with you that staff development can be, at times, a waste of resources. Especially at the beginning of the year where teacher have to set up their room, organize grade books, and finalize schedules. I do not think it is in the best interests of school to cut the first two staff development meetings because this were new rules or policies are explained to the staff. It will be very difficult to disseminate this information once the school year is in full swing. If development days have to be cut, then I would rather have them in the middle of the year when everyone’s schedule has become routine. This method would prove to be less of a distraction then canceling the first staff development meeting.
ReplyDeleteIt is becoming obvious that education is being targeted for a great number of cost saving efforts for states suffering from budget problems. Whether we are talking about cutting staff development, summer school or after school programs, the result is seen as de-valuing education.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think our state governments are focusing too much on short term solutions. Sure, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you will save money in the short term, but what about the long term. If we keep cutting programs that benefit students, especially high risk students, then I guarantee that criminal activity and incarceration will slowly but surely increase, resulting in tax dollars decreasing in education and increasing in our penal system.
With that said, this is not only about staff development cuts, its really about the lack of respect for education and the many mixed signals our federal and state governments send to schools, educators, parents and students. You can't have it both ways, improved student achievement and reduced educational opportunities for teachers and students. What are we thinking?
I agree staff development days have been a joke in the past, but I think that the concept is improving. I well remember the (election) year that the entire district's staff was forced to listen to speeches from the two candidates that were running for Supt. of Public Instruction. Hopefully that will never happen again.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that administrators try to put too much into those days before school. At that point, that is not what is uppermost on most teacher's minds. I always go in way early to get the Library ready for the new year so I don't personally feel unprepared, but many of my colleages do. Their response is that they aren't under contract for any early days so why should they work them. I think this is a little unprofessional, personally. Don't we do whatever is necessary to teach our class/subject?
Interesting topic. I would agree in that the first days back are exciting but I too hate the beginning of the year meetings. Due to the fact that I teach band, a lot of the meetings are on topics that do not help me at all with my teaching. They talk about raising math and reading scores and topics of that nature. I end up being bored and feeling that my time is wasted. If we could either use that time to learn more about what we each teach or have the school create courses that would count as credit for renewing our teaching certificate, it would make the time before hand more useful and appropriate to more teachers. Half the time, teachers complain that they spend the whole day in meetings and do not have enough time to set up their classroom. Even more time to do that would be beneficial and worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI can see the point behind cutting two development days as school budgets are strained more and more. While there are other areas that should be cut before this, hopefully this will have those in charge looking at how they can make the remaining staff days more beneficial.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to see more often is school administrators asking the staff what they would like to do on staff development days. I think staff input would allow for these development days to mean more to us if they are on topics that we deem necessary. I haven't had as many staff development days in my career as I have had this last year and many of them haven't been overly beneficial to the teachers. Staff development days are necessary, but if the staff determines them to be a waste of time, is anyone benefitting?