SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
ED 795A/B: Master’s Project Seminar
Designing, Delivering, and Evaluating Professional Development
COURSE SYLLABUS
Spring 2014
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. & Nancy Frey, Ph.D.
NE 162
(619) 594-2507; (619) 594-3355
dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu; nfrey@mail.sdsu.edu
Course Overview
School leaders use professional development as a process to enhance classroom practice and improve
student learning and overall school success. This course provides school leaders with preparation in
skills for providing purpose and direction for individuals and groups, shaping school culture and value,
facilitating the development of shared strategic vision for the school, formulating goals and planning
change efforts with staff, and setting priorities for one's school in the context of community and district
priorities for student and staff needs.
This course is the capstone project for your Master of Arts degree. It is a culminating experience that
affords the opportunity to apply what you have learned in your coursework to your own classroom,
school, or clinical practice. The objective of this course is to explore an area of identified need using
data and planning tools within the context of research and scholarly work. This work is driven by the
design, delivery, and evaluation of professional development for your district, school, grade level, or
department in a face-to-face, online, or blended environment.
Course Outcomes
As a result of participation in the course, the student will be able to:
 Lead a school-based group in a professional development process for the purpose of improving
instructional practices of teachers and thereby increasing P-12 student learning.
 Analyze the comprehensive professional learning system and processes in a school to plan for
and evaluate professional learning effectiveness.
 Communicate with teachers about best practices in professional development.
 Identify and act upon conditions of school culture that support professional learning.
 Use change management theory and strategies to promote professional learning success.
 Understand and utilize the professional learning process for schoolwide improvement.
 Identify ways in which coaching adds value to school improvement.
 Demonstrates a variety of strategies to deliver professional learning that optimize learning for
educators and maximizes impact on PK-12 instructional practices.
The final master’s project consists of 5 phases of development:
 Phase 1: Analyzing the data to identify and area of need that can be addressed through
professional development.
 Phase 2: Setting goals aligned with district and building level initiatives.
 Phase 3: Planning the professional development experience, including a synthesis of the
research and/or evidence for the PD focus.
 Phase 4: Delivering the professional development (face-to-face or online environment).

Phase 5: Analyzing the results of professional development and writing a summary of the
process (incorporating Phases 1-5).
Project Elements
You will design, deliver, and evaluate professional development on a topic of your choice.
 The professional development must be built on a foundation of data to provide a strong
rationale.
 It must consist of three separate events (face-to-face, online, or hybrid) that are delivered this
semester. One of the events (e.g., in-class coaching, a demonstration lesson, a PLC meeting, a
text-based discussion of a professional reading) should be a follow-up to a content session.
 You must demonstrate how stakeholders are involved in the process.
 The plan must include details on follow-up (e.g., coaching, demonstration lessons, learning
walks).
 The professional development must adhere to the research base on adult learning, change
theory, evidence-based best practices in professional development, and current principles of
presentation and delivery.
ASSIGNMENTS
Planning for Professional Development (20 points)
Planning for professional development is a complex task, and requires organization. The ASCD Action
Tool contains many such planning documents to help you design and deliver effective PD. You are
encouraged to use any tools you find helpful for this task. Given the large number of tools and tasks,
we have identified 6 that you will complete and submit electronically on BlackBoard. These planning
documents will also appear in your final portfolio. The due dates for the documents are listed in the
Course Meetings portion of the syllabus:
 Building Level Professional Development Plan template (pp. 62-66)
o This is the major planning tool and will be completed and submitted in stages.
 A Quick Look at Our Needs (p. 167)
 Developing Improvement Goals (pp. 107-108)
 Getting the Big Picture: Connecting at the Building and District Levels (pp. 129-130)
 Assessing Prior Knowledge and Experience (pp. 51-52)
 Assessing the Quality of Our Professional Development Program (pp. 203-204)
The following tools do not need to appear in your portfolio, and do not need to be submitted on
BlackBoard. They are meant to assist you during the development of your plan, but are not needed in
the final product:
 Gathering Data (pp. 125-128)
 Finding Time for Professional Development (pp. 115-118)
 Methods for Implementing Effective Professional Development (pp. 141-144)
Professional Development Portfolio Deliverables (60 points)
1) Project Paper: Your final project paper should be 4-6 pages in length, not including references
(double spaced, 12-point Times or Times New Roman, APA format). The paper is written as a
cohesive narrative, not as a bulleted list. Use the following headings (Level 2) and subheadings (Level
3) to organize your paper. Due May 5, 2014
PART 1: Rationale
 Assessment of Needs
 Description and Analysis of Relevant Data
 Root Cause Analysis
 Project Goals
 How Success Will Be Measured
PART 2: Alignment
 Alignment to District and Site Goals
PART 3: The Professional Development Plan
 Summary of research- or evidence-based support of the content and method for delivery.
 Description of PD plan, including dates of sessions, time, format, and participants, and follow
up to sustain the effort.
PART 4: Content Session Details
 A thorough description of the content session, and the ways in which the session included time
for interaction, and an explanation of how the design met the principles of adult learning.
 A thorough description of the follow-up used to extend participants’ learning.
PART 5: Project Evaluation and Reflection
 Analyzing the results of professional development and writing a summary of the process.
2) Content of the Three Sessions:
 Print out of slides and notes
 Handouts used in sessions
 Evaluation instrument(s) used
3) Completed action tools (please order documents this way)
1. Building Level Professional Development Plan template (pp. 62-66)
2. A Quick Look at Our Needs (p. 167)
3. Developing Improvement Goals (pp. 107-108)
4. Getting the Big Picture: Connecting at the Building and District Levels (pp. 129-130)
5. Assessing Prior Knowledge and Experience (pp. 51-52)
6. Assessing the Quality of Our Professional Development Program (pp. 203-204)
The following tools do not need to appear in the final portfolio. They are meant to assist you during
the development of your plan, and we highly recommend that you review them, but are not needed in
the product.
 Gathering Data (pp. 125-128)
 Finding Time for Professional Development (pp. 115-118)
 Methods for Implementing Effective Professional Development (pp. 141-144)
4) Presentation Forum (20 points)
On the final night of class, you will meet with your classmates to discuss your plan, its successes, and
your reflections on the project. More details about the forum will be shared in class.
Required Text
ASCD. (2007). Strategies for designing, implementing, and evaluating professional development: An
ASCD action tool. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Optional Texts
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Reynolds, G. (2011). Presentation Zen: Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery (2nd ed.).
New York: New Riders.
Course Meetings
The course schedule and due dates are described below. This is largely driven by the work you
complete as you conduct research and write; individual meetings are scheduled by appointment, and
you simply need to contact one of us to let us know that you would like to meet. In addition,
communication can occur at anytime via email (preferred and faster) or telephone. Keep in mind that
these meetings are initiated by you.
January 27
4:30-6:30 PM
Topic: Review of syllabus and course and discussion of current status of
project.
February 10
4:30-6:30 PM
Topic: Principles of Effective Professional Development
Reading: Chp. 1-2 of ASCD Tools: Guskey “What Works in Professional
Development”
February 24
4:30-6:30 PM
DUE: A Quick Look at Our Needs (p. 167)
Developing Improvement Goals (pp. 107-108)
Getting the Big Picture: Connecting at the Building and District Levels (pp.
129-130)
Building Level Professional Development Plan template (pp. 62-64 only)
Topic: Presentation Delivery and Design Principles
Reading: Presentation Zen (chps. 1, 4, & 6; posted on BlackBoard Course
Documents)
March 24
4:30-6:30 PM
March 25-April
18
May 5
4:30-6:30 PM
DUE: Assessing prior knowledge and experience (pp. 51-52)
Building Level Professional Development Plan template (pp. 65-66)
Topic: Evaluating Professional Development
Reading: Guskey “Evaluating Professional Development”
Individual meetings with course instructors
Come to the meeting with your thinking on paper!
DUE: Final Portfolio
Presentation Forum