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measured and how. Finally, participants conducted investigations during a specific timeframe.
This provided sufficient time to reflect, discuss, and present findings with respect to the school
calendar.
Emphasizing evidence based practice imposed a high standard on teachers to plan,
implement and measure the effect of research based strategies based on substantiated facts.
Additional resources were provided for examination beyond the PD sessions. Teachers were
encouraged to review articles relevant to the topics. They were required to utilize EBPs to
improve outcomes and use practice based evidence to make decisions. Practice based evidence
refers to a collection and analysis of classroom data to determine if there is a relationship
between teachers’ instructional practice and students’ academic, behavioral, and social
development (Fink-Chorzempa, Maheady &Salend, 2012). Maheady, Smith, and Jabot (2013)
assert that practice based evidence may complement EBPs in that if teachers can substantiate the
use of certain interventions and find they improve student outcomes, they may be more inclined
to investigate the use of other EBPs in their classroom.
Participants were organized to form PLCs (Cochran-Smith, 2009) initially to support
each other in learning about inquiry. That is, reserved seating facilitated discussion during each
PD session for those who conducted the teacher inquiry research project (TIRP). A web-based
platform allowed for posed questions, discussion and reflection between sessions. Project
directors monitored the discussion forum to offer guidance and support as appropriate. As time
progressed, smaller groups formed based on shared complexities. The larger group met after
each PD session to discuss new information about the inquiry process and then broke into
‘common issues’ PLCs. While some teachers worked in the same building, others were alone,
and thus, the PLC framework allowed for support and discussion during each PD session.
Further, the web-based discussion forum allowed participants to question, share knowledge, and
support each other’s work regardless of proximity.
Using empirically supported interventions in more natural settings imposes collecting
progress monitoring data to determine selected practices’ effect on outcomes for children
(Maheady, et al., 2013). Making data-based decisions imposed a reach back to college classes for
some veteran teachers. While their experience reflected many informal evaluations, the more
rigorous process of data collection, analysis, summarization and presentation compelled a more
formal approach. Methods were clarified at each session and clear, reliable data sources were
identified. A session on single-case design required participants to document their findings and
facilitated data-based deliberations. This allowed participants to validate their results and
provide a visual presentation of their conclusions. Finally, a template provided by Project
Directors served as the framework for a poster presentation of TIRPs.
Current undergraduate and graduate students were invited to join teachers and
administrators in the five part PD series spanning the school year. A cooperative agreement
established with a local urban district’s Teacher Center promoted teacher attendance as well as a
process for participants to earn district credit for completing the TIRP. The co-teaching theme
addressed topics such as models; communication; challenges and strategies found successful by
veteran teams; and assessment and data analysis. Each session lasted 2.5 hours and was held
after school hours. All teachers worked in an urban setting, serving children with mild
disabilities. Eighty teachers attended each offering, and 25 participated in the TIRP. At the end
of each session, the 25 participants worked together with JUSTICE project directors to study the