Journal Article Summary and Application Essay

This paper presents the summary of the article â€Å"Staff development and student learning: A synthesis of research on models of teaching† by Bruce Joyce, Beverly Showers and Carol Rolheiser-Bennett published in the Educational Leadership on October of 1987. The second half of the paper will discuss how the findings of this paper could be applied to real life situations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that theoretical assumptions of the authors about staff development can actually be used to enhance curriculums that would result to increased student performance. Summary This article argues that staff development must be and can be used to develop school programs and curriculums that would result to increased student performance and better learning. The authors discussed that the recent developments in the field of staff development have been very useful in designing new educational programs for students because the findings of said research have provided educational leaders the guide to which staff development can enhance student learning, provided innovative ideas and programs for more student involvement and a wider application of the different learning models. The authors assumed that the theoretical models and program designs that could be adopted to effectively improve student performance would only work in as much as how effectively the staff has been developed and trained. Thus, for the authors, staff development should come first before any improvements or programs can be designed and developed. The most important aspect of the measure of student performance and improvement was the effect size. According to the authors, effect size is akin to the level of change or value that was supposed to have occurred due to an intervening process or variable. Effect size can be used to determine how much the improvement was relative to its original value, effect size is important because it could tell just how effective the intervention was in bringing about change. On the other hand, the authors also pointed out that high effect size is desired but often a small effect size for a large number of people is more desirable as it would bring about greater change. The authors also discussed the teaching models that have been found to have yielded promising results and those that have been applied successfully in some research studies. Social models of learning refers to group and cooperative learning against individual learning, it has been found that students who learn by cooperation and group work are more socially equipped, have better self-concept and positive attitudes to learning. The authors recommend that staff development on how to teach cooperative learning can actually lead to better academic performance. Information processing models make use of the learning process as the strategy to help students retain more information and learn more in a given period. The authors mentioned the use of advanced organizers and mnemonics, which both had been proven to increase student learning and output but this would require intensive training of teachers and a highly technical staff development program. The personal models refer to the use of person centered learning experiences; the authors said that synectics and nondirective learning would help students learn both academically and personally. However, some have argued that the personal models would likely have lesser academic impact because it focuses on the person. The behavioral models were taken from the work of Skinner and it makes use of the different behavioral methods such as programmed learning, conditioning, reinforcement and the like. Much research have actually found that behavioral methods are effective in increasing student performance and this have been the focus of many staff development programs. The authors also identified specific teaching methods that could be used to increase student performance across levels such as wait time and teacher expectation and student achievement. Wait time refers to the process of allowing students enough time to think about the teacher’s questions while teacher expectation says that there are differential treatments in the classroom. The authors conclude that designing staff development programs should make use of the most effective working models and strategies and that this should be the focus of administrators who wishes to see their schools improve. Application The article has pointed out several learning models that could be used effectively to enhance student learning and this could actually be applied to the design of staff development programs. The assumption here is that teachers could not teach what they do not have, and since these models are not the conventional models and traditional ones teachers have been trained to do, it is imperative that staff development be able to teach teachers the exact method and process for a more effective classroom experience. For example, a staff development program on using nondirective learning should start with an input on the theoretical and technical aspects of the model, and then a workshop on how to carry out classroom interaction within this model can be demonstrated to the teachers and then critiqued by the group and resource speaker. Then the second part of the training session would be to have the teachers design a lesson plan and demonstrate it to the group and a series of critiquing would also be done to help teachers see their weaknesses and strengths in using the model and then be able to make improvements. The experiential learning was used in this design as adult learners learn more effectively in this way. References Joyce Bruce, Showers, Beverly and Rolheiser-Bennett, Carol. â€Å"Staff Development and Student Learning: A Synthesis of Research on Models of Teaching. † Educational Leadership 45/2 (1987): 11-23.