Frontline Research & Learning Institute Releases Bridging the Gap: Part Three
Findings Illustrate Discrepancies in Enrollment for Collaborative-Format vs. Job-Embedded Professional Learning Activities
MALVERN, Pa., March 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Frontline Research & Learning Institute today announced the release of Bridging the Gap: Part 3. The report is the third in a four-part series that aims to unpack and explore the six criteria that comprise the new definition of professional learning in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
"Bridging the Gap: Part 3 will build upon the first and second reports, adding clarity and practical steps toward improving the extent to which professional learning effectively serves the learning needs of educators and their students," said Elizabeth Combs, Managing Director of the Frontline Research & Learning Institute. "Our goal with the Bridging the Gap series is to help districts identify and address the discrepancies between current practice and best practice as it is proposed in ESSA."
Written in partnership with Dr. Sarah Silverman of Whiteboard Advisors, Bridging the Gap: Part 3 takes an in-depth look at the two criteria for professional learning – Collaborative and Job Embedded – looking at data from five years of records at more than two hundred representative districts from across the United States. The report found that while enrollment in activities with a collaborative format is low (9%), most professional learning activities (63%) are considered job-embedded and educators enroll in these activities at a higher average rate (86%).
"Whereas professional learning, on average, is not collaborative in nature, much of it is job-embedded according to Bridging the Gap metrics and the findings suggest that educators prefer these embedded professional learning activities," said Combs. "However, professional learning decision makers must consider whether the activity is truly job-embedded, not just in terms of proximity, but also in terms of relevance and application to everyday practice."
In the coming months, the Frontline Research & Learning Institute will release the final Bridging the Gap series reports that will explore the remaining criteria in the new ESSA definition of professional learning. Additionally, the Frontline Institute works closely with the Johns Hopkins Center for Research and Reform in Education to release monthly absence reports as well as an annual absence report, aggregating data from millions of K-12 employee absence records.
About the Frontline Research & Learning Institute:
The Frontline Research & Learning Institute is a division of Frontline Education, an integrated insights partner to K-12 school districts nationwide. The Institute is a learning organization dedicated to providing data-driven research, resources and observations to support and advance the educational community. Driven by the vast amount of records across Frontline's comprehensive solutions portfolio, the Institute leverages data from more than 9,500 K-12 organizations and several million users to reach findings and provide benchmarks that inform strategic decision-making for the education community. The Frontline Research & Learning Institute works with Johns Hopkins Center for Research and Reform in Education to ensure all research reports and analyses are rigorously-validated and representative of national data.
SOURCE The Frontline Research & Learning Institute
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