Using Online Technology as a Response to Professional Development (RtPD) for Gifted Specialists

Shirley J Farrell, Ph.D. Student Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Technology Studies
PURPOSE
The objective of this dissertation project is to understand how gifted specialists in Alabama, who are isolated in their schools or school districts, are able to continue growth and learning through professional development (PD) that is specific to gifted education. The Alabama State Department of Education (SDE) has provided school districts with tools to frame professional development for all teachers. This research will include how administrators in schools and school districts (principals and superintendents) perceive these tools that also support online professional development.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Teachers in Alabama are required to continue their professional development (PD) in order to maintain their teaching certifications. Most local schools or school systems provide professional development to faculty and staff, requiring everyone to attend regardless of professional development needs. Resource teachers, such as gifted specialists, require specialized PD in order to meet their professional learning growth needs (Response to Professional Development-RtPD) and to develop the expertise in their fields. Due to limited funding for PD, It is cost productive for schools to provide PD to the mass of teachers, and not for a few teachers. Due to budgetary constraints, many school systems are not providing funding for PD outside of the school system (personal communications with gifted specialists, 2010-2011). During a staff meeting (2009) at the Department of Education, Dr. Thomas R. Bice, Alabama Deputy State Superintendent of Education, had labeled online learning technology the great equalizer, because it was providing a multiplicity of course options for small, rural high schools that do not have the money or faculty to offer advanced courses or a diverse selection of elective courses. Technology can provide a response to a personalized, professional development (RtP2D) for teachers that would meet their learning needs. Online learning provides anytime, anywhere, anyone, (Bonk, 2009) and any pace (Aronson & Timms, 2004) PD for teachers, providing opportunities to find specialized PD. Online PD does not require teachers to travel outside of their school system. However, very few gifted specialists are accessing this type of professional development. The SDE has developed a few, free online courses and webinars specific to gifted education based on a needs survey completed by gifted specialists and gifted coordinators. Free, online PD trainings offered by the SDE to gifted specialists were not well attended. Only when the online PD is required do specialists and coordinators attend. Therefore, my research question is How are gifted specialists in Alabama, who are isolated in their schools or school districts, able to continue growth and learning through professional development (PD) that is specific to gifted education, and what are the policies and procedures set by administrators in schools and school districts (principals and superintendents) that support online professional development?

TRIADIC MODEL FRAMEWORK

The Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward,2011), Alabama Continuum of Teacher Development (SDE), and Standard 6 from the Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards (NAGC, focus on a continuum of learning, reflecting, implementing, reflecting, and evaluating their professional development needs. These standards serve as the indicators that guide learning, facilitating, implementation, and evaluation of professional learning (Learning Forward, 2001, p. 17). The Alabama continuum is grounded in the basic prerequisites that growth in professional practice comes from intentional reflection and engagement in appropriate professional learning opportunities and that a teacher develops expertise and leadership as a member of a community of learners (p 7). These three professional development tools converge to form the professional development triadic model for gifted specialists. Each tool narrows the focus of learning to the specific needs for the gifted specialist to develop expertise in gifted education and to increase achievement and learning for gifted and other high-end learners. The common basic elements of each tool supports the others and provides the framework for gifted specialists to assess, identify, plan, engage, implement, and reflect throughout the process on their professional learning. (Figure1). Using this framework, gifted specialists should utilize technology to access PD specific to gifted education in order to build mastery and expertise in the knowledge and skills to work with gifted learners, consult with classroom teachers, and differentiate the Course of Study standards for the four core subject areas for gifted learners in Grades K-12.
Kvale, S. & Brinkman, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH. Author. Reis, S. M., Kaplan, S. N., Tomlinson, C.A., Westberg, K.L., Callahan, C. M., & Cooper, C.R. (1998). A Response: Equal Does Not Mean Identical. Educational Leadership, 56 (3), 74-77. Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Design. Treacy, B., Kleiman, G., & Peterson, K. (2002). Successful online professional development. Leading & Learning with Technology, 30(1), 42-47. VanTassal-Baska, J. (2005). Gifted programs and services: What are the nonnegotiables? Theory into Practice, 44(2): 90-97. Winebrenner, S. (2000). Gifted students need an education, too. Educational Leadership, 58(1), 52-56. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1993). National excellence: A case for developing America's talent. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Downloaded on March 3, 2012, at at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Devtalent/intro.html

Methodology
To understand the phenomena of why gifted specialists do or do not access online professional development or develop their own personalized, professional learning network (P2LN) and to understand the policies and practices that may form barriers, surveys and focus group interviews will be analyzed qualitatively. Gifted specialists and administrators will be surveyed and interviewed to obtain thick descriptions (Charmaz, 2010; Kvale & Brinkman, 2009). Grounded Theory methodology will be applied to systematically collect and analyze qualitative data to construct the theory that is grounded in the data (p.2, Charmaz, 2010). Trying to develop one theory to test using positivist, quantitative data only results in a narrow, hit or miss of understanding the data. By applying grounded theory, the participants will provide rich data through surveys and interviews, allowing the theory to emerge from the data (Glaser and Strauss, 1967).

BACKGROUND
According to the U.S. Department of Education (1993), gifted students enter school with up to 50% of the content previously mastered. Since NCLB (1998) was established, the focus for learning has been placed toward students who have not met proficiency. Therefore, few classroom teachers differentiate curriculum and instruction to provide challenging activities and learning opportunities for gifted students (Reis, et al., 1998; Tomlinson, 1999). Standardized test scores for gifted learners have continued to decrease since NCLB (1998) was passed (Fordham, 2011). Gifted learners have special needs in their area(s) of giftedness that must be met in order to learn to their potential; in the literature, these have been identified as depth (VanTassal-Baska, 2005; Winebrenner, 2000), complexity (Delcourt, et. al, 2007; VanTassal-Baska, 2005; Winebrenner, 2000), accelerated pacing (Delcourt, et. al, 2007; VanTassal-Baska, 2005; Winebrenner, 2000), creative expression (Delcourt, et. al, 2007; VanTassal-Baska, 2005), and affectivity (Delcourt, et. al, 2007). Most classroom teachers are not prepared to meet the needs of gifted learners or high achieving students (Reis, et al., 1998). As part of the continuum of services for gifted students, gifted specialists consult with classroom teachers provide a response to instruction (RtI) for gifted learners. Gifted specialists develop differentiated lessons, activities, and centers as alternate activities when students have previously or quickly mastered the standards and/or objectives. However, according to the 2008-2011 local education agency (LEA) gifted monitoring reports, most gifted specialists have high caseloads with little to no time to consult with classroom teachers.

SITE & PARTICIPANTS

Surveys will be completed online, or paper & pencil at the state gifted conference. Focus group interviews will take place off-site from schools., either at in-service centers, library or, restaurant. Up to 400 certified gifted specialists throughout the state of Alabama will be invited to participate in the online survey. Twenty-five volunteers from the gifted specialists survey participants will be selected to participate in one of five focus groups that will be held in different regions in Alabama. Gifted/Special Education Coordinators and school administrators will be selected to determine if school system policies and procedures prevent gifted specialists from selecting online professional development not offered through the school system.

Figure 1

ALABAMA CONTINUUM FOR TEACHER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PRE-K-GRADE 12 GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAMMING STANDARDS

REFERENCE
Alabama State Board of Education (1975). Alabama Administrative Code. Montgomery, AL: Legislative Reference Service. Alabama State Department of Education. (n.d.) Alabama Continuum for Teacher Development. Montgomery, AL. http:://www.SDE.edu Aronson, J., & Timms, M. (2003). Net choices, net gains: Supplementing the high school curriculum with online courses. San Francisco: WestEd. http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/KN-03-02.pdf

Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Delcourt, M. A. B, Cornell, D. G., & Goldberg, M. D. (2007). Cognitive and affective learning outcomes of gifted elementary school students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(4): 359-381. Glasner, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, Il; Aldine.

GIFTED RTPD TRIADIC MODEL