A College-Community Collaboration : Fostering Developmentally Appropriate Practices in the Age of Accountability

Early childhood education faculty from a college collaborated with a local public school district to conduct a series of professional development workshops for early childhood practitioners. The workshop series was designed to address pedagogical concerns identified by district administrators and teachers, as well as to help early childhood educators maintain developmentally appropriate practices in an increasingly standards-based, assessment-oriented climate, defined by the Common Core Standards and state-mandated testing. Participant survey responses indicated that, although all workshops were well received, participants found more value in the application-focused workshops than the content-focused workshops. In an evidence-based, educational climate, professional development opportunities tend to focus on initiatives designed to directly impact student learning outcomes. Yet, professional development initiatives that provide opportunities for teachers to broaden their knowledge and acquire new strategies and skills may also be beneficial. Thus, policies and practices associated with opportunities for teacher professional development should carefully consider practitioner and institutional needs and reflect a range of constituent-identified foci and goals, in order to productively meet the needs of both classroom teachers and their students.


Mages, Nitecki and Ohseki
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 18, No. 3, September 2018.josotl.indiana.eduvery task-to support teachers as they strive to meet the challenges of accountability and assessment in a developmentally appropriate context.
Although not all professional development (PD) initiatives are successful (Helterbran & Fennimore, 2004), a meta-analysis focusing on early childhood PD found training had a positive effect on practitioner competence and was able to positively influence practitioners' knowledge, attitudes, and skills (Fukkink & Lont, 2007).Research also indicates that developing PD programming through collaborations between PD providers and participants (Helterbran & Fennimore, 2004) and combining the presentation of information with "demonstrations, practice, and feedback" (Sheridan et al., 2015, p. 384) can be beneficial for practitioners.The professional development literature also recommends "approaches, models, or methods that support selfdirected, experientially-oriented learning that is highly relevant to practice" (NPDCI, 2008, p. 3).In addition, Peeters and Sharmahd (2014) highlight the importance of an "equal and reciprocal relation between theory and practice" (p.419) in in-service training for early childhood educators.In sum, PD for early childhood educators has the potential to be successful "if it is collaborative, positive, and practical.It is this positive approach in the context of larger limitations that not only results in effective professional development, but can improve the quality of education for our youngest students" (Nitecki, 2014, p. 245).
This case study examines a college-community PD initiative that provided early childhood practitioners with a series of professional development workshops to support their practice.The workshop series, developed to address pedagogical concerns identified by district administrators and teachers, was designed to help early childhood educators maintain developmentally appropriate practices in an increasingly standards-based, assessment-oriented climate.This case study details the intervention, its effect on the participants, and implications for practice.

College-Community Collaboration
The setting for this case study was a diverse, urban public school district in New York State.Reductions in state and federal funding, combined with the effects of the slowly recovering economy, led the district Board of Education to vote in favor of drastic cuts to jobs, programs, and services, including the elimination of prekindergarten.Parents and the community became concerned that public preschool would no longer be an option for families in the district.Several public protests and heated school board meetings compelled the district to reinstate prekindergarten inclusion classes on a limited basis (a half-day program for targeted special needs, early intervention, and low-income populations).Based on seniority and other personnel factors, the district reassigned 34 of the recently laid-off teachers to teach in early childhood classrooms (PreK-2 nd grade).Many of the reassigned teachers had little or no early childhood teaching experience.To support the teachers' transition to early childhood education, the district contacted a local college that had previously provided PD programming to present a series of inservice workshops the week before school began.

Professional Development Workshops
The goals of the professional development workshops were to encourage teachers to examine their practice, and recognize and build upon areas of strength, as well as to provide a forum where teachers, in collaboration with colleagues and college faculty, could learn concrete Mages, Nitecki and Ohseki Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 18, No. 3, September 2018.josotl.indiana.edustrategies to address areas in which they felt they needed additional support.The workshops were based on a conception of professional development in early childhood education, which contends, "Professional development is facilitated teaching and learning experiences that are transactional and designed to support the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge in practice" (National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008, p. 3).Thus, a series of four interactive workshops were designed by participating college faculty who specialize in early childhood education, and implemented using a two-tiered approach: morning workshops focused on content knowledge; afternoon workshops focused on the application of what was discussed earlier.Workshops were structured so teachers engaged in a number of small-and whole-group activities focusing on various content areas, pedagogical approaches, and strategies.For example, at the teachers' request, afternoon "field trips" to teachers' classrooms were planned, so ideas discussed and questions raised in the morning sessions could be further explored in a meaningful context.
The topics covered in the workshops included those that would be essential to new early childhood educators, including fostering emergent-and early-literacy skills, implementing playbased curricula, setting up classroom learning centers, and creating effective classroom schedules, with an overarching emphasis on ways to maintain developmentally-appropriate early childhood classrooms in a climate of standards-based curricula and assessment.The four professional development sessions focused on: • Book reading strategies and emergent literacy • Play-based curriculum, scheduling, and centers • Applying book reading strategies and emergent literacy • Implementing play-based curricula, scheduling, and centers The content-based workshops in the morning consisted of 90-minute sessions that included discussion and modeling.For example, the book reading strategies and emergent literacy session began with a review of relevant English Language Arts Standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2017;The New York State Education Department, 2011) and a conversation about how the standards related to current research and theory on promoting emergent literacy skills and vocabulary development.This was followed by a group discussion of the ways early childhood educators can address the standards using developmentally appropriate, research-based techniques.The facilitator then introduced an easy-to-use analytic paradigm that scaffolds teachers as they analyze picture books to better prepare dynamic, interactive read-aloud experiences that actively engage young learners.Next, the facilitator modeled a variety of ways to integrate effective read-aloud practices, interactive strategies, and open-ended questioning techniques with a variety of children's literature.The session culminated in participants discussing how they could use or adapt what they had learned to improve their early childhood classroom praxes.
In the play-based-curriculum, scheduling, and centers presentation, the facilitators introduced play as a "fundamental mode of learning" (Elkind, 2008, p. 3) and presented research on the link between play in early childhood and learning across various developmental domains.This was followed by a discussion of learning centers (e.g., dramatic play, numeracy, emergent literacy, gross motor, fine motor, etc.), integrating thematic topics with the Common Core Learning Standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2017; The New York State Education Department, 2011), how to physically arrange centers and which materials to include, and how to transition between centers and more structured parts of the schedule, as well as a discussion of the practicalities of setting up a classroom, developing a schedule, and aligning the curriculum.
The afternoon session allowed participants to engage in "hands-on" practice of content discussed in the morning sessions.For example, teachers practiced analyzing picture books and reading them aloud, applying the techniques and strategies they had learned in the morning book reading strategies and emergent literacy session.Participants also had an opportunity to visit an actual preschool classroom in the school and rearrange learning centers to make them more appealing and aligned with the curriculum.They created their schedules, or if their school had a set schedule, they planned for transitions and ways to implement the schedule effectively using developmentally appropriate practices.(See the Appendix for the PD Schedule).
Thus, the workshops focused on aligning the standards with developmentally-appropriate activities to demonstrate how early childhood "best practices" can be used to help young children meet the standards.As a method of supporting and reinforcing theory-to-practice connections, workshops were intentionally structured to model teaching strategies and techniques known to be effective with young children (NAEYC, 1993;Snyder, Hemmeter & McLaughlin, 2011).In the workshops, teachers were active participants in sessions that called on them to determine how the content presented could be relevant to their own teaching.In addition, this training, which was held a week before school began, addressed the immediate need of preparing teachersmost of whom had not taught in an early childhood setting-to successfully meet the educational needs of the young children in their classes: how to set up the classroom, implement the curriculum, and engage young learners.
The workshop series was also intended to foster a sense of community and collegiality among the participants, many of whom had not previously worked together.Each of the sessions included discussions, in which participants had the opportunity to share ideas, experiences, expectations, and apprehensions.In other words, the workshops served as a forum for the early childhood educators to establish productive working relationships with their colleagues and cultivate a culture of collaboration that would support developmentally appropriate practices throughout their schools' early childhood classrooms and curricula.This focus on community building was important, as a supportive school culture can help teachers implement and sustain practices acquired during professional development initiatives (Linder, 2012).

Research Questions
1. What aspects of a small-scale early childhood teacher professional development program were valued by the participating early childhood educators?2. How can the survey responses of the early childhood teachers who participated in this PD initiative inform the design of professional development programming to better meet the needs and interests of early childhood educators?

Participants
The three schools in this case study were within the same school district, and each school had been recently "reconstituted" to improve school quality.In these reconstituted schools, the principal and 50% of the staff were replaced prior to the start of the school year.Thus, all three schools were under new leadership, had a new constellation of faculty, and were under tremendous pressure to demonstrate improved school performance.All early childhood educators in each of the three schools were invited to participate.Both novice and veteran early childhood educators comprised the sample of 28 participants who took part in the workshops.Participants attended the day-long series of workshops at the schools where they were hired to teach (School #1, n=12; School #2, n=10; School #3, n=6).

Measures
At the conclusion of each of the morning and each of the afternoon workshops presented by college faculty, a brief survey was administered to evaluate whether the workshops met the needs of the participating early childhood professionals.The survey instrument used was one that was required by the School of Education of the participating college.The survey was broad in scope, allowing participants to provide both quantitative and qualitative feedback; there were 12 questions that required participants to assess the professional development initiative using a numeric score on a Likert scale (see Figure 1 for a list of the questions), as well as a section for qualitative comments.The qualitative data was coded and analyzed using themes that emerged from the data.This case study used multiple forms of data, including the quantitative data, the qualitative data, and the faculty presenters' informal observations of the process, as a form of triangulation (Rudestam & Newton, 2001, p. 100), a research method used to corroborate data from multiple sources to enhance confidence in the findings.

Results
Based on the survey results and faculty observations, all participants were attentive and actively participated throughout the series of workshops.Analyses of the survey data indicated participants found the workshops effective and useful.Specifically, the teachers appreciated that the content was applicable to their own classroom practices, and that instructional strategies were modeled, which helped them make important connections between the workshop topics and their praxes.Figure 1 displays the responses to the quantitative questions on the survey instrument, measured using a 5-point Likert scale (1= "Needs Improvement," 5= "Excellent").On average, the participants were highly satisfied with the quality and content of the workshops; average scores on all questions ranged from 4.89 to 5.00.It is worth noting, the data also indicated participants valued the application-focused workshops (overall application mean=5.00)slightly more than the content-focused workshops (overall content mean=4.96).For example, responses to Question #5 indicate that they found the application-focused workshops (mean=5.00)more appropriate for early childhood educators than the related content-focused workshops (mean=4.91).Similarly, responses to Question #12 indicate that participants found the information presented in the application-focused workshops (mean=5.00) was more useful for their classroom praxis than the associated content-focused workshops (mean=4.96).
Although the differences between content-focused and application-focused sessions were not sizable, these differences are informative.Understanding the needs of teachers, and how their needs vary over the course of the year, can, and should, inform and guide the design of PD initiatives.For example, in this case study, it is evident that the teachers desired information they could readily synthesize and use in their daily work.Moreover, it seems reasonable that the need for this type of information would be particularly salient in August, just before the beginning of a new school year.Thus, the data suggest that for PD initiatives to be useful and beneficial, PD providers must be cognizant of the needs of PD participants and how those needs may change over time.In this case, the facilitators conducted follow-up visits in some of the schools, which was an effective way to adapt the ongoing training so that it met the changing needs of the teachers involved.
The qualitative survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with comments falling into three general categories, or themes: workshop content, modeling of instructional strategies, and application.Overall, the teachers' survey responses indicated that they found the content very useful and informative.Teachers found that the workshop content provided "excellent tools" and practical strategies that could be used during the current school year.For example, one teacher wrote, "Informative and useful to my specific grade level" while another teacher commented, "Great points to think about and implement."Teachers indicated that the workshops were interesting and the ideas discussed were both "helpful and motivating." Participant feedback also focused on the modeling of instructional strategies.Teachers indicated they appreciated the demonstrations in which concrete examples, as well as actual early childhood resources and materials, were used.Participants observed, "Everything taught/demonstrated was clear and helpful," "Great modeling!" and "Well organized.Presented effectively." Finally, quite a few of the comments focused on the "application" aspect of the workshops.Teachers noted that the ideas and recommendations discussed could be easily implemented in the classroom, and commented that the methods were presented in a tangible and practical way.For example, one teacher commented that the "read aloud" activity in the emergent literacy workshop gave her ideas that were "meaningful for [her] reading/literacy" lessons.A number of teachers appreciated the hands-on, application-focused instruction on setting up learning centers.For example, they made comments such as, "Helpful suggestions for implementation of centers" and "I really learned a lot regarding center setting."Teachers noted their appreciation that the instructors went into classrooms and worked with them, listening to their concerns about setting up the space and sharing their ideas.This professional development endeavor was designed to afford participants the opportunity to actively and collaboratively engage in their own learning and pursue lines of thinking that were unique to their particular contexts but nevertheless shared.In addition to the supportive exchanges of dialogue among participants, who discussed similar concerns and challenges, faculty observed participants' openness to exploring unfamiliar content and their willingness to take constructive risks as they collaboratively engaged with new ideas and materials.Participants shared questions, fears, perceived challenges, as well as strengths.This opportunity to engage in collaborative dialogue geared toward concrete solutions appeared to be particularly beneficial and well-received.
At two of the three schools, college faculty and early childhood teachers were afforded the opportunity to continue to work together throughout the following academic school year.The survey results, combined with additional input from the teachers and school administrators, were used to inform and guide ongoing PD programming.For example, two of the facilitators made visits to one of the participating schools and worked with teachers who were in the PD sessions in a coaching context.Much of that time was spent addressing topics such as classroom set-up, time management, use of center-based learning, assessment, and behavior management.These topics were addressed in the PD but could be discussed in a more meaningful manner throughout the year when the teachers were actively dealing with the specific circumstances of their classrooms.

Discussion
This professional development collaboration between a college and three elementary schools was successful for a number of reasons, two of which are highlighted here.First, a mutuallybeneficial partnership was established and nurtured over time.The faculty who facilitated the workshops had the opportunity to collaborate with the local community and learn more about the needs of early childhood teachers, particularly those in reconstituted schools.Several meetings took place prior to the PD, as well as check-in conversations during the PD, so that topics in which teachers had interest were addressed.Through this process the facilitators realized that these were qualified teachers who just needed to apply their knowledge of pedagogy in elementary school to the early childhood settings in a direct and expedient manner.Pressures due to the time constraints were also evident.So the facilitators responded by presenting in a direct and applicable manner.The participating teachers were able to receive mentoring from experienced early childhood professionals and to collaborate with other teachers on topics of shared interest.Because various meetings with administrators and teachers were held prior to the development and implementation of the workshops, teacher input helped shape the content and format.For example, the college faculty who would be providing the PD were informed about the sudden and contentious nature of the transition in which teachers who taught upper grades were suddenly assigned to teach in early childhood classrooms.Understanding the teachers' circumstances and concomitant challenges helped the facilitators frame the workshops in an empathetic manner that built on the teachers' foundational knowledge in the upper grades and presented direct applications for younger students.
The second reason teachers found the collaborative partnership effective was the practical relevance of the workshop content and the manner in which workshops were implemented; content information provided in morning sessions served as the foundation for afternoon application-focused workshops.Importantly, teachers indicated they particularly valued information on how to apply the methods, strategies, and techniques they learned to their own teaching praxes.This focus on application is important for early childhood educators, and may be particularly important for preschool teachers, as their grade level is now being included within the boundaries of public school education, and thereby subject to standards and accountability measures (Nitecki, 2014;The New York State Education Department, 2011).
Although research indicates teachers are not always interested or willing to participate in PD opportunities (Helterbran & Fennimore, 2004;Mages, 2012aMages, , 2012b)), the teachers participating in this series of workshops were receptive and actively engaged throughout all workshop activities.In this context, the PD endeavor was a reciprocal and "transactional" process (NPDCI, 2008, p. 3), informed by the needs of the teachers and administrators, and driven by ongoing dialogue that continued throughout the following academic year.According to Helterbran and Fennimore (2007), "professional development opportunities can only be successful if they are perceived as a venue to be crafted for and with teachers, rather than something to be done to them." (p. 267).This partnership between a college and three schools exemplifies a collaborative effort that included input from all stakeholders.
The current accountability movement in early childhood education, which pressures teachers to focus on developing "formal" academic skills in young children using prescriptive curricula and standardized assessment measures, continues to "violate long-established principles of child development and good teaching" (Miller & Almon, 2009, p. 11).As early childhood teachers struggle to maintain environments that are developmentally and culturally appropriate, effective professional development has become an increasingly important tool to ensure positive outcomes for all young children.As Helterbran and Fennimore (2004) note, "Professional development must help teachers to make sense of the increasing demands of accountability and to respond to those demands in ways that truly support the growth and learning of children" (p.267).The professional development workshops analyzed in this case study are an example of such an endeavor, and highlight the need to continue to develop ways to support practitioners in this challenging educational climate.

Implications for Policy and Practice
Often the success of professional development initiatives is evaluated based on whether the training provided to teachers is able to measurably affect their students' learning.Although improving student learning is a worthy outcome, there are other meaningful results that can be achieved through professional development initiatives, as demonstrated in this case study.For example, empowering teachers to feel confident in their ability to deal with difficult or challenging circumstances, helping teachers hone their skills to realize their potential as educators, and motivating and reenergizing teachers' praxes are also advantageous goals.
Times of transition and change are often stressful, even if the changes are necessary and beneficial.Programming that encourages teachers to establish a support system among their fellow teachers can reduce job stress and positively affect their ability to acclimate to new administrators, colleagues, and policies.Helping teachers establish a collaborative school culture may also help to stem teacher attrition.This is important, as research indicates staff continuity in early childhood settings has been positively associated with children's learning (LeMoine, 2008), and high teacher turnover is associated with "lower quality teaching and programs" (Christ & Wang, 2013, p. 352) and poorly functioning schools (Guin, 2004;Ingersoll, 2001).Working with new content or new student populations can also leave teachers feeling unprepared or overwhelmed.As exemplified in this case study, in which many of the participating teachers had not previously taught young children, professional development training can provide teachers with information about how to set up more productive workspaces for their students, ease teachers transitions into new teaching domains, familiarize them with new content and appropriate methodologies, and increase their confidence in their ability to work with diverse populations of children.
This study elucidates the benefits of college-community collaborations to guide teacher professional development initiatives and provide teachers with the training they require in a timeframe that corresponds to their needs.This type of collaborative, positive, and practical professional development also serves as an example of how providing such training can motivate teachers and help them adjust to new or challenging circumstances, which is necessary as the boundaries of public education continue to expand.In addition, it can empower teachers with the knowledge and tools required to broaden their teaching repertoire to meet their students' learning needs in a developmentally appropriate manner.
In the current, evidence-based educational climate, it is important that researchers and administrators do not restrict professional development opportunities solely to initiatives designed to directly impact student learning outcomes.It is also valuable for professional development initiatives to provide opportunities for teachers to acquire new information and skills, and explore new practices that can improve the methods they use to educate their students.In sum, policies and practices associated with opportunities for teacher professional development should reflect a broad range of foci and goals to productively meet the needs of today's classroom teachers and the students they teach.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Participant Evaluation of Content and Application Workshops (n=28)Figure1displays the responses to the quantitative questions on the survey instrument, measured using a 5-point Likert scale (1= "Needs Improvement," 5= "Excellent").On average, the participants were highly satisfied with the quality and content of the workshops; average scores on all questions ranged from 4.89 to 5.00.It is worth noting, the data also indicated participants valued the application-focused workshops (overall application mean=5.00)slightly more than the content-focused workshops (overall content mean=4.96).For example, responses to Question #5 indicate that they found the application-focused workshops (mean=5.00)more appropriate for early childhood educators than the related content-focused workshops (mean=4.91).Similarly, responses to Question #12 indicate that participants found the information presented in the application-focused workshops (mean=5.00) was more useful for their classroom praxis than the associated content-focused workshops (mean=4.96).Although the differences between content-focused and application-focused sessions were not sizable, these differences are informative.Understanding the needs of teachers, and how their needs vary over the course of the year, can, and should, inform and guide the design of PD initiatives.For example, in this case study, it is evident that the teachers desired information they could readily synthesize and use in their daily work.Moreover, it seems reasonable that the need for this type of information would be particularly salient in August, just before the beginning of a new school year.Thus, the data suggest that for PD initiatives to be useful and beneficial, PD providers must be cognizant of the needs of PD participants and how those needs may change over time.In this case, the facilitators conducted follow-up visits in some of the schools, which was an effective way to adapt the ongoing training so that it met the changing needs of the teachers involved.The qualitative survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with comments falling into three general categories, or themes: workshop content, modeling of instructional strategies, and application.Overall, the teachers' survey responses indicated that they found the content very useful and informative.Teachers found that the workshop content provided "excellent tools" and practical strategies that could be used during the current school year.For example, one teacher wrote, "Informative and useful to my specific grade level" while another teacher commented, "Great points to think about and implement."Teachers indicated that the workshops were interesting and the ideas discussed were both "helpful and motivating."Participantfeedback also focused on the modeling of instructional strategies.Teachers indicated they appreciated the demonstrations in which concrete examples, as well as actual early childhood resources and materials, were used.Participants observed, "Everything taught/demonstrated was clear and helpful," "Great modeling!" and "Well organized.Presented effectively."Finally,quite a few of the comments focused on the "application" aspect of the workshops.Teachers noted that the ideas and recommendations discussed could be easily implemented in the classroom, and commented that the methods were presented in a tangible and practical way.For example, one teacher commented that the "read aloud" activity in the emergent literacy workshop gave her ideas that were "meaningful for [her] reading/literacy" lessons.A number of teachers appreciated the hands-on, application-focused instruction on setting up learning centers.For example, they made comments such as, "Helpful suggestions for implementation of centers" and "I really learned a lot regarding center setting."Teachers noted their appreciation that the instructors went into classrooms and worked with them, listening to their concerns about setting up the space and sharing their ideas.