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Staff Development and Student Achievement:
Making the Connection in Georgia Schools
Executive Summary
July 1998

Do differences in the ways schools provide staff development for their teachers account for some of the variation in student achievement across Georgia schools? Since 1985, Georgia has allocated funds for staff development under the Quality Basic Education Act, one of the most comprehensive statewide initiatives for school improvement in the United States. In fiscal year 1998, the state appropriated over $35 million to address staff development needs of schools and school districts. The Council for School Performance evaluated the connection between the investment in staff development and student achievement.

The general strategy for the investigation was to select a sample of higher and lower achieving schools across a full range of socio-economic status, to gather data on staff development in these schools, and to test the extent to which the characteristics of staff development varied in the two groups of schools.

Figure 1.
Higher Achieving Schools Focus Staff Development on Student Performance

There were clear differences in staff development in the two groups of schools. In lower achieving schools, staff development was considered a function with little connection to classroom results; in higher achieving schools, it was more an authentic collegial effort to improve student performance (see Figure 1). In both groups, however, staff development had similar content and was provided by similar sources at similar times during the day and year.

Staff development in the higher achieving schools included more collaboration on decisions about staff development, a greater focus on students, a greater focus on the classroom, more use of effective training processes, and more support from leadership. There was an excitement in these schools when teachers and administrators talked about working together to find ways to have a greater impact on students (see Figure 1).

Central to their discussions about staff development was what happened to their students, what happened in their classrooms, and what happened in their schools. They approached their staff development collectively and professionally (see Figure 2).

Staff development in lower achieving schools included a more individualistic and haphazard approach to staff development, a greater emphasis on certification renewal and stipends, less use of effective training strategies, and less support from school leadership. Teachers tended to complete needs assessments and sign up for courses or conferences with a focus on their individual needs or desires, rather than on the school’s collective needs based on student data. Thus, the job of school leaders in these schools was primarily one of processing the paperwork necessary for teachers to be able to participate in the selected activities and to receive credits and/or stipends for their participation.

Guidelines for Effective Staff Development

The five questions below represent the characteristics of staff development in the higher achieving schools in Georgia identified in this study. Each question is followed by a series of conditions that, if present, would likely lead to a yes answer to the question.

Guideline 1: Is leadership for staff development provided in the school?

School improvement plans and goals provide direction for staff development.
School administrators provide strong support for staff development.
Part or full-time school staff members have multiple staff development responsibilities.
Sufficient resources, including time and funding, support staff development.
Staff development activities are integral to school operations and expectations of the school.

Guideline 2: Is the faculty collectively involved in staff development decisions and implementation?

Teams (grade level/leadership/department) have staff development responsibilities for planning decisions, delivery, and implementation.
Training in adult collaborative skills occurs regularly for teachers in the school.
The school uses a collaborative process for staff development decisions.
The decision process emphasizes results measured by student and teacher changes.
Teachers see staff development participation as essential to being professional.

Guideline 3: Is staff development focused on improving student performance?

Desire to improve student performance drives selection of staff development.
Teachers participate in staff development in order to have an impact on students.
Data on student performance are used in planning staff development activities.
Results of staff development are monitored by changes in student performance.

Guideline 4: Is staff development focused on the classroom?

The desire to improve curriculum and instruction drives staff development selection.
The desire to incorporate technology in instruction influences staff development selection.
Classroom observations, lesson plan review, and skill acquisition assess staff development results.

Guideline 5: Are training strategies that promote positive outcomes used in staff development activities?

The format for staff development is organized in an ongoing series of workshops.
The rationale and principles behind the new skills are explained.
New skills are demonstrated live or through videotape.
Sufficient guided practice is provided in the training.
Peer coaching/observation is part of the training.
Peer study groups are part of the training.
Sufficient follow-up and support for implementing new skills are provided.
The change process is studied and used to guide innovations in the school.

Based on the findings in this study, we make three primary recommendations for improving the impact of staff development on schools in Georgia.

Our primary recommendation is to take steps to enable low achieving schools to become more like the high achieving schools with respect to the conduct of staff development and school improvement. These steps include:

Figure 2.
How Higher Achieving Schools Collectively Involve Faculty in Staff Development

The primary mechanism to address Recommendation #1 is to generate intensive staff development for principals and lead teachers in low achieving schools. If the larger districts and Regional Education Service Agencies do not currently have providers who can offer this type of service, then a state or regional initiative to identify and train a cadre of providers needs to be instituted (see Recommendation #2).

The large district offices and the Regional Education Service Agencies—the primary providers of staff development in Georgia—need to help build capacity in schools so that implementation of staff development training will occur. Currently, follow-up to ensure implementation is largely a function of the schools rather than the providers.

The research literature on staff development and school improvement supports the position that major changes in student achievement occur when the content of staff development represents an upgrading of curriculum and instruction—the kind of repertoire expansion not common in most schools—and is designed to generate full implementation. Staff development that will have an impact on student achievement requires long-term programs embedded in the school year, not just one-shot sessions. It requires the theory, demonstration, practice and feedback, not just a lecture on the strategy. It requires collective study of student learning, not just individual reflection on implementation. And it requires a workplace structured by leadership to support ongoing collaboration about improving teaching and learning.

We recommend that the state initiate a program of staff development for the providers of staff development. Such a program would:

Recommendation # 3: Using Incentives to Increase the Use of Research-Based Staff Development:

For the greatest potential impact on student performance, district and school administrators need to structure incentives for participating in staff development that focus on student performance, focus on the classroom, and collectively involve a school's faculty. Some strategies for increasing participation in research-based staff development are: