Professional development during a crisis and beyond: Lessons learned during COVID

Abstract

This article reviews a virtual professional development program for STEM faculty conducted in 2020 in which, due to COVID, faculty participants had to adjust their teaching practices. The study found that the program's structure, focus, and ability to foster community helped sustain faculty members. Participants shared lessons learned through virtual workshops they led for others on their campuses.

Mathematics coordinators as school team PD leaders before and during COVID-19

“…Content focus and active learning recuring appearance in both periods indicates their vitality in PD leaders’ preparation. PD leaders need to expand their specialized knowledge of mathematics as team PD leaders, they need to experience curriculum-based teaching materials and actively practice solution strategies that assist their facilitation of their team learning ( Borko et al, 2014 , 2021 ; Eddy et al, 2021 ; Loucks-Horsley et al, 2012 ; Prediger et al, 2019a; Smith et al, 2020 ).…”

“…PD experiences that engage in reflective didactical discussions that are focused on students' thinking and on instructional practices are essential to prepare PD leaders to orchestrate high quality discussions within their teams ( Borko et al, 2014 ; Loucks-Horsley et al, 2012 ; Smith et al, 2020 ). Expert support and group collaboration are vital during leaders’ PD, the first construct a future vision of strong professional skills to lead didactical discussions and the second models the facilitation of team collaboration ( Borko et al, 2014 ; Eddy et al, 2021 ; Polly & Hannafin, 2011 ). Earlier research revealed that providing novice PD leaders with experiences of didactical oriented feedback and reflection prepares them to conduct profound didactical discussions in their teams ( Baker, 2021 ; Darling-Hammond et al, 2017 ; Eddy et al, 2021 ; Loucks-Horsley et al, 2012 ; Smith et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Leaders and teams were required to adjust to online teaching and learning practices, maintain new forms of collaboration, and were in need of ongoing professional support ( Abedini et al, 2021 ; Bakker et al, 2021 ; Darling-Hammond & Hyler, 2020 ; Tsybulsky & Levin, 2019 ). Acknowledging the challenges faced by school teams, team leaders, PD coaches and PD designers during this time ( Cutri et al, 2020 ; Darling-Hammond & Hyler, 2020 ; Eddy et al, 2021 ; Hodges et al, 2020 ), we compare the PD program design and the support of the coordinators' LPI, as well as the coordinators’ applied team PD design and their LPI in practice, before and during COVID-19 period.…”

Roadmap to emergency remote teaching

“…This presented a large challenge when I had to transition everything I did into an online environment while I navigated a new role as chair. Through my participation in Cohort 3 of the SAGE 2YC program (Eddy et al., 2021; Macdonald et al., 2019), I learned from individuals who have traveled similar paths to mine, and I gained confidence in my abilities as a leader and an instructor during the online transition.…”

“…Prior to our abrupt transitions, we were all chosen to be part of a Community of Practice (CoP) within SAGE 2YC for a year‐long virtual professional development program (Eddy et al., 2021). Our cohort of Change Agents consisted of STEM professors from all over the country whose goals were to advance and support the success of all students at our institutions.…”