For school leaders, finding ways to address staffing shortages has become an increasingly pressing problem. More than half of principals have reported some degree of difficulty filling open teaching or non-teaching positions, and those obstacles are having an impact even now, during the summer. In the face of these staffing challenges, school leaders have embraced big adaptations, from employing virtual teachers to establishing alternative professional pathways. Some are also exploring how providing better and more continuous professional learning can help them better manage frequent turnover and develop overall staff capacity.
Berkeley County Schools in West Virginia is one such district. Schools in the district are entering their third academic year using ASCD Activate, a collaborative platform that brings together an array of customizable learning resources, to bolster professional learning for teachers, mentors, and long-term substitutes. At times, Berkeley County Schools has faced staffing shortages and turnover, but by providing access to books, articles, and online courses, the district has been able to give teachers of all experience levels opportunities to grow—which can boost both teacher retention and student learning.
"I see this [professional learning] as an opportunity to have a choice and to look at where we want to grow. . . so that we can grow with our students,” Amanda Stevens, academic instructional mentor for the district, said in an interview.
Berkeley County Schools first began using Activate in the 2020-2021 school year, when the district was looking for professional learning resources its teachers could access remotely. Stevens started gradually introducing resources from the library—from books on teacher resiliency to articles on student engagement—to school-based mentors in the district, careful not to overtax educators already experiencing fatigue with digital resources. Eventually, Stevens ramped up the program, scheduling meetings with school leadership teams and identifying the most relevant tools to distribute more widely, to ensure that all staff had the resources they needed to see a promising future in the district.
The district also partnered with the nearby Shepherd University to connect online PD courses from Activate to the university’s teacher certification renewal program. In West Virginia, teachers need six semester hours of graduate-level coursework every three years to renew their certification. District educators can now access Activate courses to count toward that requirement.
“One of my goals this year was to ensure that not a single person in our district could say, ‘Oh, I can't find any hours to get my certificate renewed,’” Amanda Stevens said.
Professional Learning at Every Level
One of the strengths of the Activate partnership, noted Stevens, is its ability to support the needs of teachers at all levels of experience—from established career educators to those who are brand new to the classroom. At the highest level of experience, teachers may be seeking to further their education with, for example, graduate-level courses and EdD programs, which could also increase their pay. Through Activate, the district can offer these teachers professional learning courses to achieve those goals, a step research suggests can generally help keep educators in the profession.
“I want to give teachers the opportunity to grow no matter where you are on the spectrum. Whether you’re an inexperienced teacher.... or you have 28 years of experience, and you want to grow,” said Amanda Stevens.
New teachers can also benefit from specialized professional learning resources through Activate. The district frequently uses one Activate course, for example, that focuses on building student engagement and connections for new teachers. Participants of the course search the Activate catalogue for useful articles and books. The objective, Stevens explained, is to offer a comprehensive introduction so new teachers can get their bearings in the classroom.
“It is an effort to not overwhelm them, but to start filling in those gaps of the things that they miss, or that just aren’t easily taught at a college level,” Amanda Stevens explained.
The district also offers Activate resources to long-term substitute teachers. In West Virginia, these educators only need a bachelor’s degree to take on permanent or long-term substitute positions—and that means they may be missing critical training. Offering these substitute teachers deeper support and any-time access to independent learning opportunities establishes a path to a future in the district as full-time staff.
“The fact that we are able to support our permanent substitutes. . . is getting more and more folks to say, ‘Okay, I think I can make a career out of this, I'm going to get my alternative certification,” said Amanda Stevens.
Berkeley Public Schools has big goals for Activate in the future. Administrators are investigating ways to use online professional learning resources to help cultivate school leaders within the district itself. They are also continuing to equip school-based mentors with stronger support and resources for instructional coaching. All in all, across every line of teaching and leadership, the district has seen Activate transform their approach to professional learning and signal a promising solution to the challenges facing short-staffed schools.
“Having this resource that we can use to support [staff] is, to be honest, benefiting us in more ways than one,” said Amanda Stevens.
Educational Leadership Editor Noble Ingram provided reporting and support for this piece.
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ASCD is here to help educators and leaders reach their full potential. Our partnership team can support your goals with professional learning that improves your craft of recruiting and retaining life-changing educators.
