Maintaining Momentum
After the school's initial involvement in the Count Me In Too project, planning for the continued integration of the professional learning within the school will be necessary.Consideration should be given to how the project will expand within the school and the implications of this expansion on the school's management plan and related professional development budget allocation.
The professional learning that has been undertaken by teachers currently at the school may impact on decisions regarding the placement of teachers on grades the following year as well as the placement of students.
Evaluations have shown that schools successfully implementing Count Me In Too plan for on-going professional development of staff in order to maintain the momentum of the program.
The use of continuous assessment within the classroom can be an effective means of monitoring student progress without the need to return to the CMIT assessment schedule each year. Strategies need to be developed to ensure that the tracking of students' progress is maintained and communicated to the following year's class teachers.
Planning should also include ways of communication with parents and community members regarding the implementation of the program. Ways of strengthening the project through community involvement should be considered.
Professional Development Model
The swamp
Over a decade ago Donald Schön used an analogy to emphasise the problems of educational research. He described a high, hard hill of research-based knowledge overlooking the soft, slimy swamp of real-life problems. Up on the hill, simpler problems respond to the techniques of basic science whereas down in the swamp complex problems defy technical solution. Should the researcher "remain on the high ground where he can solve relatively unimportant problems according to prevailing standards of rigor, or shall he descend to the swamp of important problems and nonrigorous inquiry". (Schön, 1987, p3)
[Schön, D.A. (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.]
