Finding Time for Staff Training and Collaboration

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

Freed-up time

Staff are freed up for some time during their usual teaching schedule.
    1.    Teaching assistants, college interns, parent volunteers supervise students for a portion of the day.
    2.    Administrators take over classes on occasion to free the teacher.
    3.    Pairs of teachers get together and take a double class for a portion of the day to free the other teacher.
    4.    Occasionally, at the end of the day, students are involved in a large-group activity supervised by some staff while others are involved in training or collaboration.
    5.    Schools free up part of regularly scheduled faculty meeting time for training and collaboration.

Purchased time

Staff development funding is used to "purchase" time for training and collaboration.
    1.    Substitute teachers are hired to release classroom teachers.
    2.    Teachers are paid extra for evening, weekend or summer work.
    3.    Teachers who use their own time for training and collaboration are given "credit" from the district for their work.

Restructured or rescheduled time

This involves formally altering the time frame from the traditional calendar, school day or teaching schedule.
    1.    "Banking" hours by adding student time on four days, so that students can be released early (or start later) on the fifth day.
    2.    The teachers' contractual day stays the same length, but is adjusted so their non-student time at beginning and end of day is consolidated into a single, longer period. The schedule might be adjusted from 20 minutes of non-student time at the beginning and end of day, to 35 minutes at the beginning (or end) of day and only five minutes at the end (or beginning).

Source:
Gary D. Watts and Shari Castle, "The Time Dilemma in School Restructuring," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1993, p.p. 306-310

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