uLead 2020

In research-practice partnerships (RPPs), universities, school districts, principals, and teachers work collaboratively to address authentic problems of practice in the context of schools. Through sustained and reciprocal relationships, stakeholders in RPPs seek to improve professional practice while providing opportunities for impactful participatory research to occur. This RPP study investigated the development of instructional leadership capacity in educators; specifically, teachers who were identified as influencers within their schools. This presentation will explore how one such RPP between the University of Calgary Werklund School of Education, the Galileo Educational Network Association, and the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) sought to improve teacher assessment literacy, as outlined in Alberta’s new Teaching Quality Standard (2018), while building teacher instructional leadership capacity. The purpose of this research project was to study how improved teacher pedagogy and leadership in assessment was supported using a design-based professional learning intervention. Design-based professional learning (DBPL) involves dynamic and collaborative scholarly activity focused on strengthening and improving practice through an iterative and sustained process of design. DBPL is a non-linear and evidence-based model of professional learning where teachers, administrators, professional learning facilitators, and researchers engage in cycles of learning where participants: (a) design for student learning, (b) enact and gathering evidence from practice; (c) analyze evidence with colleagues; (d) elicit feedback; (e) deepen understanding of the impact of pedagogical moves; and (f) build on new learning through sharing, leadership, and action. In this study, Junior High teachers and administrators from five schools in the CCSD participated in six learning cycles. Through each learning cycle, teachers applied research-informed formative assessment techniques in context, brought evidence from enacted classroom practice back to professional knowledge-based working sessions, and analyzed and reflected on their practice in collaborative collegial teams. Throughout each cycle, researchers and professional learning facilitators elicited feedback and gathered evidence from teachers, administrators, and district consultants that helped direct the professional learning for the following learning cycle. Findings indicate that, through the DBPL intervention, teachers engaged in sustained and collaborative professional learning resulting in strengthened classroom assessment practices. In addition, by acting as instructional leaders in schools and by sharing learning from the RPP, teachers and administrators reported that teacher learning was deepened, and leadership capacity was improved. School-based administrators reported that DBPL provided a unique platform to discuss classroom practice with teachers and resulted in opportunities for distributed teacher instructional leadership and improved teacher agency in their schools. By participating in the DBPL as learners themselves, school leader perceptions of professional development and learning in their schools were also impacted. This study can inform how teachers, school leaders, and school districts build instructional leadership capacity through participation in RPPs and presents design-based professional learning as an effective model for impactful teacher learning.