Designing High-Quality Professional Development: Transferring Learning to Practice

Domains

Resources

The domain Transferring Learning to Practice is the most important for successful implementation when the learner returns to their work. These indicators involve ongoing support that will be provided to participants to guide implementation (Joyce & Showers, 2002). While some presenters may be available after the training for follow-up coaching, it is most common for the presenter’s involvement to end after the training session.

The presenter should:

Provide resources that clearly detail criteria for determining successful transfer to practice, such as a rubric, checklist, or guidelines with implementation benchmarks.
Provide resources to support implementation and further study.
Engage participants in planning how the first stage of implementation will look in their setting.

To support fidelity of implementation, the local provider should:

Provide ongoing two-way communication on the implementation of the practice. This ongoing coaching should be systematic and may occur in association with classroom observations, team meetings, or ongoing collaboration efforts.

The HQPD Checklist indicators in the domain Transferring Learning to Practice include:

18. Outlines criteria that illustrate a successful transfer of the critical concepts to practice.

Examples:

The presenter reviews an implementation checklist that details observable behaviors indicating successful practice.

Participants analyze the steps of a flowchart that outlines the sequence and decision-making points to complete a process.

The presenter reviews the practice profile rubric to be used to determine fidelity.

Participants work in teams to describe how sections of the implementation checklist might appear during instruction and engage in whole-group discussion.

The presenter reviews the implementation playbook that includes a list of the key components and descriptions as well as a checklist of the essential components of the strategy.

19. Ensures that participants leave with detailed action steps to apply their learning.

Examples:

Participating teams complete action plans that are shared with the trainer; plans include details on activities, timeline, resources required, and individuals responsible.

Individuals leave the training with due dates for implementing each component of the newly learned practice and a plan to reconvene after each due date to reflect on implementation and outcomes.

Interdisciplinary teams develop a strategy, including the timeline and process, to provide ongoing professional development across all school staff on the instructional strategies that were covered during the training.

20. Provides resources and technical assistance for continued learning.

Examples:

The presenter describes future trainings that directly build on the content from the current training.

The presenter shows participants where to find additional materials on the project website to support the learning objectives.

The presenter provides a link to online modules for more in-depth training on aspects of the content covered.

21. Establishes ongoing two-way communication (coaching) to improve the implementation fidelity of critical concepts.

Examples:

Project coaches schedule times with each participant to provide follow-up in-person and/or online support to increase fidelity in implementing the practice(s).

The presenter provides monthly two-hour webinars to discuss barriers, strategize solutions, and share observed benefits of participation.

Participating district teams plan three follow-up meetings to review videos of their own classrooms, based on a performance rubric, and provide additional support to each other on how to continually refine implementation of the practices.

The presenter facilitates the selection of accountability partners (peer coaches) in which partners set multiple meeting times to discuss implementation and brainstorm solutions to challenges.

Project coaches offer support to district-level instructional coaches, who are tasked with providing ongoing, in-district coaching around the content.