Regional Agencies Are A Hub For Teacher Learning

IDEAS

Regional agencies are a hub for teacher learning

By Nicole N. Waskie-Laura

Categories: Collaboration, Continuous improvement, Improvement science/networks

High-quality professional learning guided by Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning provides educators with the opportunity to develop and hone their discipline-specific expertise (Learning Forward, 2022) through collaboration, active learning, and sustained opportunities for feedback, expert support, and reflection (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). But districts may have limited internal capacity to provide teachers with sustained, systemic professional learning that is relevant to every teacher due to a lack of funding, inadequate staffing, insufficient time, and competing demands. Educational service agencies, which work at the regional level to support multiple districts, can address those constraints and provide cooperative, consolidated services with access to specialized knowledge that may be lacking in a single school. In a recent case study, I explored the role of educational service agencies

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References

Association of Educational Service Agencies. (2021). About AESA. www.aesa.us/about/index.cfm

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Corbisiero-Drakos, L., Reeder, L.K., Ricciardi, L., Zacharia, J., & Harnett, S. (2021). Arts integration and 21st century skills: A study of learners and teachers. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 22(2). doi.org/10.26209/ijea22n2

Council for Exceptional Children. (2022). About the HLPs. High-Leverage Practices for Students With Disabilities. highleveragepractices.org

Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M.E., & Gardner, M. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Learning Policy Institute.

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Stephens, E.R. & Keane, W.G. (2005). The educational service agency: American education’s invisible partner. University Press of America.

Waskie-Laura, N. (2022). Negotiating boundaries, expanding capacity, and shaping instruction through professional development partnerships (Order No. 29996552) [Doctoral dissertation, Binghamton University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

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Nicole N. Waskie-Laura

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Nicole N. Waskie-Laura ([email protected]) is director of professional learning and innovation at the Broome-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Binghamton, New York.