Strategies for Engaging Educators in Professional Development

Finding professional development resources is easy. Finding high-quality, effective, and engaging professional development is more elusive.
 

11 Ways NMSI Provides Engaging Professional Development

“There’s a sort of disconnect,” said George Zuo, an associate economist at the RAND Corporation, and the lead author on a report from a national survey of 8,000 K-12 teachers. “The specific needs that teachers had were not always aligned with what professional development was able to provide.”

At National Math and Science Initiative, we focus on meeting the specific needs of teachers by providing them with educator-driven professional development resources. Here are 11 professional development teaching strategies that deliver results and support the essential demands of today’s teachers.
 

1. Sift Through the Clutter to Identify Big Rocks

Each classroom and teacher will have individual goals they want to achieve. Various grade levels have certain objectives that need to be met. Each building in a district will have unique needs. However, when it comes to facility-wide or district-wide training, it’s important to focus on 3-5 essential and universally relevant goals – these are often referred to as the “big rocks” that everyone rallies around.

That doesn’t mean that the small needs are ignored, but professional development teaching strategies that meet the needs of the majority will create enthusiasm across a greater segment of those in attendance. And in some cases, addressing the big issues will spark ideas and solutions for other challenges.

Common collective big rocks for professional development may include district or building culture, creating a mindset of AP® opportunities for all, introducing STEM in earlier grades, mentoring programs, resources for deep content learning, reversing educator burnout, classroom crowding, and other broad issues.

Ideally, teachers should be given the opportunity to provide input that will inform the professional development (PD) needs, goals, approach, and content so that it’s relevant and engaging.
 

2. Determine Measurable Goals Based on Desired Outcomes

These targets will vary, depending on your district’s or school’s rocks. The collective measurable goal could include an X% increase in students passing Advanced Placement® exams, certain achievement test results, improved daily attendance, X number of STEM lessons developed for K-3, reduced teacher attrition, or other objectives that have broad buy-in.
 

3. Establish Rapport and Create an Open Environment

In some communities and districts, training has a negative connotation – rightly so, in certain situations. But you have an opportunity to reset expectations when you energetically present engaging content rather than assigning irrelevant professional development modules.
 
When PD is delivered by an enthusiastic educator who truly understands the attendees’ perspectives, it opens minds to new ideas. It’s essential to create a learning environment with ample opportunity for interactive dialogue between the presenter and teachers, rather than speaking at those who are in the room or on the video call.



“There are a lot of STEM organizations with a one-way teaching approach where they give you a bunch of information and that’s the extent of it,” said Andromeda, an 8^th grade math teacher who has participated in NMSI professional development programs. “NMSI is definitely an innovative leader in education and provides an exchange approach (with teachers) during professional development.”
 

4. Utilize Relevant, Timely Data – But Don’t Get Bogged Down

Effective professional development teaching strategies include the use of statistics from reputable resources. This provides a snapshot of the current education landscape and emerging trends. When possible, local data should be used to identify how the district aligns with – or diverges from – the national trends.
 
It’s also perfectly acceptable – and wise – to recognize which trends are less relevant for your particular community, student population size, makeup, geography, budget, resources, or other factors. Most importantly, don’t let a focus on data distract from the goal of equipping educators to head back to their classrooms with increased confidence, renewed enthusiasm, tangible teaching tools, and action plans they can implement immediately.
 

5. Identify Roadblocks and Opportunities

Once a rapport has been built and the energy level rises, it’s time to address the elephants in the room – the potential barriers to achieving the goals. Stating both the obvious and less-than-obvious concerns can set the stage for collaborative problem-solving.
 
Leaders should direct this aspect of professional development pragmatically and optimistically, recognizing the importance of barrier awareness without having a defeatist approach.
 

6. Incorporate Group Activities and Collaborative Learning

After reaching this stage of a professional development session (or within a series of sessions), it’s a great time for the teachers to use their collective insights to work together on problem-solving or classroom simulations.
 
In addition to knowledge expansion and learning reinforcement, collaboration facilitates relationship-building, which is a powerful benefit of quality professional development teaching strategies. Ideally, these relationships will continue beyond the PD activities and evolve into peer support systems that sustain educators during difficult days.


 

7. Create Take-Away Tools and a Framework for In-Class Application

Although successful professional development teaching strategies incorporate a positive and energetic learning environment, participants don’t want a “one-and-done” training experience. Teachers crave actionable concepts and tools they can take back to the classroom, such as:

• Proven behavior and classroom management approaches

• Learning math/science/ELA standards, content, and pedagogy

• Creation of new – or adaptation of existing – curriculum materials

• Analysis of student assessments and direction for ways to leverage these insights

• Guidance for addressing student mental health and diverse class populations

• Access to ongoing content resources, coaches, and other support

 
The bottom line: Teachers want relevant and practical, standards-aligned classroom practices that empower them to have a significant impact on each and every student they encounter.
 

8. Offer Break-Out Sessions for Deep Content Learning

As the demands for a global STEM workforce continue to expand, it’s essential for students to be exposed to STEM learning from a very young age – with continued rigorous math and science education provided throughout high school.
 
High-quality instructional materials are one of the drivers of improved student learning outcomes in the STEM disciplines. Yet, the path to successful implementation and knowledge transfer is met with a variety of challenges.
 
Equipping teachers with deep content knowledge and pedagogies that deliver an effective education experience to their students set learners up for success. Specifically, evidence-based, targeted professional development that focuses on grade-level and subject-specific knowledge can mitigate many common obstacles.
 
At NMSI, we help educators prepare students using this approach in our cornerstone professional development offerings.



The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) conducted an independent evaluation of NMSI’s Professional Development Services impact using a randomized cluster trial with 48 NMSI schools and 48 comparison schools in 10 states.¹
 
Surveys asked teachers to indicate how much NMSI improved their content knowledge, instructional skills, techniques, and strategies. You can get the full guidebook online, but here are two key data points to get you started:

• More than half of the respondents (56%) said NMSI contributed to a “major” improvement in their content knowledge.

• ​Similarly, 60% of surveyed NMSI teachers indicated improvement in their instructional skills and strategies.

 

9. Leverage Technology

We all recognize that technology can be both a friend and a foe. When used effectively, weaving tech tools into PD sessions provides variety in content delivery, offers interactive options and reinforces other training approaches. It can also be used for follow-up lessons or ongoing professional development.
 
Even if technology isn’t used within your professional development teaching strategies, addressing trending tech issues is essential in today’s learning landscape. With increased access to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, educators of all ages and backgrounds need to stay informed about what resources are available to support their teaching efforts.
 

10. Provide Coaching and Mentoring Opportunities

Relationships are everything. Well, they may not be everything, but peer and mentoring relationships are the life preservers that teachers desperately need today.
 
In fact, more than half of educators (55%) say they’re considering leaving the profession earlier than planned, according to a recent NEA member survey. And while teachers are often burned out, Professor of Education at Bowdoin College Doris Santoro, says that demoralization may be a more accurate term to understand the roots of educator dissatisfaction and exhaustion. Our nation’s classroom heroes are absolutely depleted.
 
NMSI addresses these issues by creating communities of support that educators can tap into. Led by expert coaches, NMSI’s Teacher Villages provide private forums to collaborate, problem-solve, and network with like-minded educators across the country. And just as athletes have increased respect for coaches who are former athletes, teachers benefit greatly from coaches who have been in the classroom themselves.
 
Studies show that a robust teacher-coach relationship positively impacts both teacher practice and student achievement. NMSI coaches are trained to help teachers grow and thrive, with 100% of our coaches being current or former educators themselves. They help inform teachers about best practices within their content area, while supporting them through personalized development plans that align with their goals, interests, and unique needs.
 

11. Follow Up, Measure, and Identify New Rocks

Oprah Winfrey reminds us that, “We can't become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” Professional development teaching strategies should embrace the concept of continued growth, evaluation, and goal-setting.
 
Just as students are given new expectations when moving up a grade level each year, teachers should challenge themselves to see annual growth that benefits them and their students.
 

Professional Development Teaching Strategies That Work

High-quality professional learning is essential for moving the needle on student achievement, but there can be barriers to finding and delivering effective PD solutions. Choosing NMSI to support your district’s professional development needs can provide the results you’re looking for. Here’s what two educators say about our approach:
 
“The hands-on activities, the networking and the collaboration with people all across the nation provided that sense of togetherness while we’re trying to get better at what we’re doing,” according to Keri, a high school chemistry teacher. “[NMSI] can guide you through their content, you can actually email them and you can actually reach out to the coaches. I feel like it’s a community and a family.”
 
Ricardo Lopez, superintendent at Garland ISD in Texas speaks about the impact on the mindset within their district, “What I’ve seen is that the culture and the belief system have shifted to a college-for-all mentality. A lot of it is in the strategic structure in the partnership with NMSI.”
 
If you’d like to learn more about NMSI and how we can help you put effective professional development theory into practice, please reach out today.
 
¹CRESST. (2021). 2017-2019 Implementation Evaluation of the National Math and Science Initiative’s College Readiness Program. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles.