Key Action II.6

Determine the Plan for Training Teachers and Leaders

What is the goal?

The goal of this key action is to provide teachers and leaders with up-front and ongoing training experiences that deepen their knowledge of how the curriculum works and set the foundation for strong instruction. This key action completes your planning for professional learning that you started in Key Actions II.4 and II.5. Your systems for supporting planning, coaching, and training should align and form coherent supports for teachers.

Why this key action is important

Training teachers and leaders on the curriculum is necessary, but not sufficient, for effective implementation. Training is not a single discrete step, and checking this box will not lead to home-run implementation. However, skipping this step is guaranteed to result in problems. You tackle this last so that you can incorporate all of the training needs you identified across the other key actions as you prepare to launch. Remember, you are not just training teachers and leaders on how to use materials. You are also training them on the vision of great instruction and expectations for students and how these materials can serve that vision.

Explanation of language

We use the word training in this key action even though we know that there are strong opinions about words such as training versus professional development versus professional learning. We use the word training because this key action really is about the specific training (delivery of knowledge and skill) as opposed to the broad umbrella of professional learning, which would include coaching and collaborative planning. We heard from early implementers, quite consistently, that some straightforward training is important. If this is one of those words that feels restrictive, remember to read the coaching and planning steps to find practices that reflect a broad view of professional learning.

steps

guiding questions

notes & resources

  • 1.
    What is our current approach to teacher training?
  • 2.
    What time do we currently have in place for teachers and leaders to attend training across the year? Of these trainings, which are required and which are optional?
  • 3.
    How is training time typically split between district-led and school-led training events?
  • 4.
    Do we have additional training time for any particular groups of teachers or leaders (e.g., new teachers)?
  • 5.
    When training is optional, who attends?
  • 6.
    When trainings occur, who decides what topics are covered and how the time is used?
  • 7.
    Who typically leads trainings?
  • 8.
    Do we have incentives that encourage teachers to engage in training or independent study?
  • Take stock of your current approach so that you know what time you can leverage.
  • The answers to these questions may vary by school.
  • 1.
    What are the built-in training and professional development resources that come with the curriculum?
  • Most materials come with an overwhelming number of resources and support tools, which are great (and they’re what you’re paying for)! However, implementation leaders often skip right to spending more money for training before understanding what they have already purchased and what they have available to them.
  • Don’t forget to explore other options, such as videos and support tools, that other groups may have created, especially if you are using an open source set of materials.
  • 2.
    What recommendations does the developer make about up-front training?
  • 3.
    Does the developer make any recommendations for ongoing training?
  • 4.
    What trainings are offered by the developer or other organizations? What would those trainings cover?
  • 5.
    Are there educators from nearby districts or the county office that have used these materials? Are there other organizations or groups that might have expertise with the curriculum?
  • The resource Materials Training Options provides an overview of common training options with some pros and cons for each.
  • You will decide on your training approach in Step II.6.D: Determine the Plan and Prepare the Facilitators. For now, you are gathering all options.
  • 1.
    Who are all the groups that need training on the instructional vision and expectations for students?
  • 2.
    What are each group’s key training needs around the instructional vision and expectations for students?
  • 3.
    Who are all the groups that need training on materials design (i.e., how the materials are structured, what resources are available within the materials, and what it looks like to use the materials in daily instruction)?
  • 4.
    What are each group’s key training needs around materials design?
  • Be sure to include all educators who support all students who will use these materials, including a plan for any teachers who will start the year late.
  • The resource Groups Who Will Need Training is a list of educator groups that you can use to make sure you have thought through all potential groups.
  • Do not start the training list with the curriculum demonstration needs. Start with the vision that led you to select these materials in the first place. Your materials are in service of your vision and expectations for students.
  • The resource Common Materials and Vision Training Needs lists common training needs for vision and curriculum implementation.
  • Look back at the training needs you surfaced in all previous steps.
  • 5.
    What are the priorities for each group for up-front training (before teaching the curriculum with students)?
  • 6.
    What are the priorities for each group for ongoing training (while teaching with the curriculum)?
  • Up-front training is vital, but so is ongoing training, and the successful implementers we interviewed had plans for both. Not every aspect of the materials will fit in up-front training, so prioritizing them is key.
  • One goal of ongoing training is to make deeper connections to the vision as teachers and leaders become more familiar with the materials. Another goal is to support them in using the materials in increasingly thoughtful and targeted ways based on student data.
  • 1.
    What are our options for who facilitates the training?
  • 2.
    What is our budget?
  • 3.
    What are the overarching priorities for training for each group?
  • 4.
    What is our training plan? How will we make sure all teachers and leaders have access to training opportunities?
  • 5.
    What is the high-level agenda for each group (upfront and over time)?
  • 6.
    What is the high-level agenda for each group for ongoing training? How can we create space in our ongoing training plan to respond to unanticipated needs when they arise?
  • Get clear on your prioritized needs first (in the previous step) in order to go into this step knowing what you need to invest in most.
  • Remember that some up-front training may need to be provided on pacing, use, and other topics you identified earlier in Phase II.
  • Finding enough time for training can be challenging, especially if you want all teachers and leaders to participate. The resource Materials Training Options gives an overview of possible training options, including ones that leverage job-embedded approaches to reach educators during the school day.
  • You may not be able to pinpoint specific objectives yet for future ongoing trainings, but you can lay the groundwork now to ensure they occur and go well.
  • Consider the key messages that you want each group to hear during training. Be sure to include training on the vision for excellent instruction so that each group is able to see how the materials support the vision.
  • 7.
    Who is responsible for supporting quality content across all training?
  • 8.
    Who is responsible for the logistics?
  • 9.
    What is the review process for materials that are created in-house?
  • 10.
    What do all facilitators need to know about our vision and core beliefs in order to reinforce the right messages?
  • Your culture is a product of cumulative experience. If every session reinforces the same vision and core beliefs, they will be much more likely to add up to a clear picture of success. The only way to make this happen is to tell everyone the vision and core beliefs you want them to reinforce (and follow up to make sure they do). Bookend any trainings you are sending teams to with opening and closing time to connect it to the big picture and vision for excellent instruction.
  • 11.
    Once the training plan is set, what are the objectives of the session?
  • 12.
    How will we know if participants have mastered the training objectives? How will we collect data at the end of the session?
  • 13.
    What is the learning plan for each session? What will teachers and leaders do to meet the session objective?
  • 14.
    Have we attended to adult learning needs and kept the design engaging?
  • 15.
    What materials and technology will we need?
  • This set of guiding questions should be considered for each training session.
  • The resource Email for External Trainers is a sample email template that you can adapt and use to give any external trainer context on your needs and priorities.
  • Trainings are measured in various ways, such as survey data, work products (e.g., student work review or an annotated lesson), knowledge assessments, or transference to practice. Be sure to determine your measures for success up front and to add them to your progress monitoring notes in your Implementation Plan.
  • 1.
    In this key action, we determined our training plan. What are the next steps that we need to take based on the decisions we made together?
  • 2.
    What additional resources (e.g., time, materials, personnel) might be needed to carry out the work we outlined in this key action?
  • 3.
    What can we add to our roles and responsibilities tracker based on the work we outlined in this key action?
  • Go back to your Implementation Plan to track your next steps and update the roles and responsibilities tracker with any additions.
  • 4.
    What will each identified stakeholder group want to know about the training plan?
  • 5.
    How do we plan to proactively communicate this information? What questions do we expect we will get? How will we answer them?
  • Add notes to the communications section of your Implementation Plan.
  • As outlined earlier, sharing the plan for training, planning, and coaching teachers in one communication can avoid confusion or redundant communication streams. The next key action provides an opportunity to review all your training plans side by side and to check them for coherence before communicating them to stakeholders. Taking time now to consider specific communication needs for training will set you up for that step.
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Workbook

This workbook is designed to help a school or system leadership team work through the implementation process together. Assemble your team, print or download the workbook, find your starting point, and dig in together.

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