Standards for Online Professional Development

The Southern Regional Education Board developed Standards for Online Professional Development.  These Standards expanded upon the National Staff Development Council Standards for Staff Development by including “important issues and topics unique to online learning.” (http://publications.sreb.org/2004/04T04-Standards_Online_Prof_Dev.pdf) 

Local and state education agencies play a key role in ensuring that online professional development meets both sets of standards; however, other educational institutions that provide professional development for local and state educations agencies must also ensure that their programs meet both sets of standards as well.  The matrix below was designed to explicitly demonstrate how the Institute of Professional Development meets the Southern Regional Education Board Standards for Online Professional Development.

National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Staff Development is available at http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm.

Standards for Online Professional Development is available at http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/toolkit/Standards.

e-Learning Context Standards

The Context Standards address key issues regarding who is to participate and what leadership, support and resources are necessary to provide quality professional development. This section adds the online perspective, expanding the National Staff Development Council Standards to include additional context standards and indicators illustrating how these standards are implemented.

Learning Communities

The program provides opportunities for educators to build online learning communities and to work together in pairs or teams, with access to follow-up discussions to share information.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Opportunities for participants to collaborate online during and following courses and workshops are provided.		Participants collaborate on social media sites during and after the courses.
Online professional development goals are aligned with the states’ and schools’ academic standards, as well as goals for student academic achievement.		Each course syllabus contains goals and outcomes.
Acceptable participation requires adherence to communication standards, and legal and ethical use of the Internet.		Participants engage in an “online orientation” that includes an acceptable use agreement.

Leadership

School and state leaders view online professional development as an integral part of the organization’s overall professional development plan.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
School and state leaders advocate online professional development for teachers, administrators, school boards and community leaders.		School leaders are encouraged to participate and lead teachers through the courses.
Online delivery is integrated into the organization’s comprehensive professional development plan.		School leaders select the professional development programs based on school wide goals and individual teacher needs.
Organizational leaders actively participate with staff in online professional development activities.		Teachers select professional development programs based on their needs and the specific needs of their students and school expectations.

Resources

Schools and states provide adequate and ongoing funding for the online program as part of the overall professional development plan.

Schools and states provide adequate resources of time, personnel and support systems for online

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Budgets for professional development include funds for online course development and revision, course evaluation, program management, instructors, technical support, and software and hardware upgrades.		The Institute of Professional Development has sufficient budget to revise courses based on course evaluation data, provide appropriately trained facilitators, host the Learning Management System and develop the content. This is not the burden for the state or local education agency.
A technology coach or mentor program is provided to support successful participants’ use of online professional development.		Academic support services are available to assist participants from the time they enroll in the course through completion.
The online professional development program provides the same incentives for the online participants as for participants of other professional development opportunities who receive incentives, such as stipends or credits toward recertification.		Participants may select to earn graduate credit, continue education credits or professional development points for participation in each course.
The essential technology infrastructure is in place to support online professional development programs.		Institute of Professional Development courses are built in the EPIC Learning Management System.
Participants should be provided with any needed technology training to enable their successful participation.		Participants learn to use the Learning Management System in the “online orientation.”
Schedules allow sufficient time for participants to collaborate, reflect online and implement new teaching strategies in the classroom.		The professional development courses focus on application and implementation of acquired knowledge by allowing sufficient time, ten weeks, for participants to complete the courses.
Partnerships with colleges and universities, businesses and other organizations are used to meet participants’ professional development needs.

e-Learning Process Standards

The Process Standards address key issues regarding what goals are to be achieved and how they will be accomplished. This section adds the online perspective, expanding the National Staff Development Council Standards to include additional process standards and indicators illustrating how these standards are implemented.

Data-Driven

Program priorities include participant online learning goals that are based on careful analysis of disaggregated student data.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
School professional development teams determine online program priorities based on current adult learning needs and gaps in student achievement.		State or local education agencies select the courses based on student achievement data.

Evaluation

Evaluations include diagnostic, formative (ongoing sharing between participant and instructor) and summative (to summarize participant learning), and online access is used to ensure that adult participant needs are met.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Program is designed to include online assessments with timely feedback to evaluate participant learning measure against program goals.		All courses include graded progress monitors that include an acceptable level of participant performance before credit or points are awarded.
Student grades, test scores and other schoolwide indicators – such as enrollment in classes, discipline reports and retention rates – may be used to measure the impact of online professional development programs.		The participant data that the Institute of Professional Development collects may be used by state or local education agencies to determine the student achievement impact.

Research-Based

Program supports online participant use of research to determine academic needs of students and successful learning strategies. 

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Program assessment data are routinely compared to national research in these five areas: Participant reactions to online professional development. (Was it time well spent? Was it meaningful to the participants?) Participant learning. (Did the online participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills and attitudes?) Organizational support. (Does the organization recognize and value the use of new skills gained in the online professional development?)		The Institute of Professional Development collects data in the following areas: Demographics, retention and engagement rates Assessment data on teacher course performance Self-report data from teacher perspectives on course quality and impact Participants are expected to implement the new skills or strategies in the classroom and are then expected to discuss the results in discussion forums. Local or State Education agencies may have access and use the data points described above to determine the impact on student achievement.

Design

Program uses appropriate technologies to present materials in a variety of ways, addressing a range of learning styles.

Program integrates face-to-face professional development with online professional development where appropriate.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Instructors select and use teaching strategies – including multimedia technologies and online tools – appropriate to the intended results of the program. Instructors choose face-to-face activities and online activities appropriate to participant needs. Programs support learner schedules by providing "just in time" online professional development.		Institute of Professional Development courses are delivered 100% online using the Epic Learning Management System. The course is composed of online instructional videos, readings, discussions, and progress monitors.
Instructors utilize online tools, such as discussion boards, e-mail and virtual classrooms to support mentoring, collaboration, implementation and reflection.		Facilitators lead the discussions on the discussion boards. The discussion boards are used to clarify understanding of the content and collaborate on the implementation outcomes.
Online course structure and navigation processes are clear, appropriate to the content and easy to use.		Each course in the Learning Managements System is outlined clearly on the sidebar of the course screen. Course navigation is learned in the “online orientation.”

Learning

Program incorporates a variety of online learning experiences to meet the learning needs of participants.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Online learning experiences are designed to meet participant needs and learning styles. Online learning experiences are linked to participants’ teaching assignments and curriculum areas.		Institute of Professional Development courses are generally content specific. For the courses that focused on pedagogy, teachers are expected to use their content as they implement the new techniques or strategies in their classrooms.
Assessment of participant online learning may include documented use of new knowledge and skills through videos or e-journals. To meet the learning needs of participants, online professional development programs should include a variety of learning experiences – such as video, audio, simulations, CDs, Web resources and access to experts in subject matter – as appropriate.		Documentation of new knowledge and skills is collected through discussions on discussion boards that may include links to teacher created content on their school or personal webpages.
Program provides means for online participants to solve technical and implementation issues, including successfully accessing courses and responding to participant questions.		Course facilitators and academic support specialists are available to assist participants throughout the course.
Combining online and face-to-face instruction (blended instruction) may be used to accommodate varied learning styles. Participants have opportunities for reflection and follow-up within the design of the program. Program includes a continuum of online courses to accommodate the varied readiness levels of participants.		Discussion boards and postings on social media sites are used as the conduit for reflection and collaboration among peers. Reflections are a required component of each professional development course.

Collaboration

Interactive communication tools – such as forums, chats and discussion boards – are used to develop and maintain a collegial online learning community.    

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Strategies are used that promote sharing and working together to achieve common goals.		Participants are expected to collaborate with peers by commenting on other participants’ posts. Facilitators monitor and evaluate comment posts using a rubric.
Course design provides opportunities for collaboration.		Participants have an identified number of comments required that they are required to make about others work.
Online instructors have specific understanding of the challenges and strategies for building an online learning community.		Facilitators have participated in online learning prior to facilitating a course and they receive specific training on leading online discussions.

e-Learning Content Standards

The Content Standards address key issues regarding quality and equity of access. This section adds the online perspective, expanding the National Staff Development Council Standards to include additional content standards and indicators illustrating how these standards are implemented.

Equity

Differences in learners’ cognitive and social characteristics, content background, attitudes and motivation, and technical abilities are addressed using appropriate online strategies.

Issues of equity in access to technology, infrastructure and course participation are addressed at the program and course level.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Online content and delivery are flexible and inclusive, to engage diverse learners and learning styles. Programs are compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. All online course materials are provided in a format that can be used by participants with a range of abilities and disabilities.		Course content is available to participants 24 hours a day for the duration of the course.

Quality Teaching

Program improves participant content knowledge and content-specific pedagogy.

Program instructors are highly qualified in their subject area and well trained in online course design and/or online facilitation.

Program prepares participants to use a variety of classroom assessments.

Online professional development program indicators:		How Institute of Professional Development meets this standard:
Program goals are aligned with state and local teacher-quality goals to improve participant content knowledge and content-specific pedagogy. Online program develops participants’ skills to implement research-based instructional strategies. Program initiatives are aligned with state and local goals to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards. Program models effective teaching in the online environment by meeting the learning needs of each participant, using collaborative learning activities and timely responsiveness to learners. Program provides participants opportunities to develop and implement a variety of classroom assessments.		The content for each course is research based and developed by national experts.
Program is delivered by an online instructor with content knowledge and the ability to communicate effectively in writing, as evidenced in the course syllabus, learning activities, instructions, threaded discussions and e-mail. Program is provided by an online instructor with knowledge of online learning strategies. Using these strategies ensures quality and frequency of participation. Program is delivered by an online instructor with a commitment to respond to participants with timely feedback to online activities and answers to questions.		Courses are facilitated by appropriately trained facilitators. Facilitators have demonstrated exceptional performance in similar graduate level courses. All facilitators have a master degree in education. The course content, including the syllabus, learning activities and discussions are standard for each course. Course facilitators have a job description that includes expected levels of participant interaction. All course facilitators are supervised and evaluated. Course facilitators are evaluated at the conclusion of each course by the participants. The participant comments are anonymously shared with the facilitator.