Sustained classroom-embedded professional development through demonstration teachers¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

This strategy places experienced demonstration teachers inside classrooms for extended two-week residencies repeated throughout the year. Demonstration teachers observe, model, co-teach, and confer with classroom teachers during regular instruction, reducing student-to-teacher ratio and providing personalized modeling. The TLN partner insisted that 'staff development needs to occur in actual classrooms during regular instruction' and that school change 'basically happens one teacher at a time.'

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Demonstration teachers must be experienced educators respected by the host school
• Residencies must be sustained over an academic year, not one-off workshops

Constraints¶

• The strategy is labor intensive and proceeds one teacher at a time, making whole-school change slow

Target Learners¶

• Elementary and high school teachers in urban public schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Improved literacy and writing instruction through student-centered, workshop-based classroom practice

Claims¶

• More experienced teachers confer benefits to their colleagues and to the school as a whole, as well as to their own students [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Sustained teacher professional development with coaching and professional learning communities
• Instructional Coaching
• Deliver professional development through a 2-week summer institute followed by year-long on-site coaching

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Fred M. Newmann, Karin Sconzert. (2000). School Improvement with External Partners. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://ccsr.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/ExternalPartners.pdf