Article Archives

Taking a cue from business: Maximizing staff development ROI

The author: Don Deshler is director of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. This article originally appeared in the January 1999 issue of Stratenotes, a newsletter for SIM Professional Developers.

Increasingly, members of the Strategic Instruction Model network report that school districts are cutting back on staff development opportunities as part of cost-saving measures. In light of skyrocketing education costs, administrators often target staff development as one of the first things to go in school budgets.

Perhaps one of the major reasons that these programs are often cut so readily is that, as a group, staff developers have not been successful in persuasively demonstrating that the resources invested in staff development yields high returns for participants, for students, and for the school organization itself. It is important that we start to seriously consider how we might assess the work we do in the staff development process as a means of determining the return on investment (ROI) that schools receive as a result of allotting limited resources to these activities.

A few basics on ROI

Imagine a school administrator who--fully aware that if he or she doesn't make effective use of limited district resources, someone else will be given the chance--launches a tough program to improve the return on investment on all school expenditures. ROI has two components: a numerator and a denominator. In the business world, the numerator is generally seen as "net income"; the denominator is viewed as the "net investment" or costs used to produce income for the organization. The overall ROI increases to the extent that one of two things happens:

1. net income increases
2. net investment decreases

Further, in business, managers generally know that it is typically easier to reduce costs (that is, cut the denominator) than it is to increase income (that is, increase the numerator). It is often easier to cut costs than it is to create new markets or anticipate changing customer needs in pursuit of an increase in income. Hence, when managers are under intense pressure for a quick ROI improvement, they often look to the denominator for their solution. This readily explains why, in recent years, we have read so much about downsizing, restructuring, mergers, and reengineering in the world of business and industry. All of these are mechanisms that business uses to improve its return on investment.

Applying ROI to staff development

The concept of ROI has some powerful implications for the work that we do both in staff development and in the classroom. Let's review some ways that ROI can be improved through our work in staff development. Turning first to the numerator: Whereas in business we think in terms of net income, in education, it would be logical to think in terms of such things as improved teaching behaviors, increased teacher efficacy, improved student academic achievement, and reduced disciplinary incidents. In short, we must consider any indices that would result in an improvement in those outcomes valued by students, parents, teachers, and administrators. As staff developers, we must continually focus our energies on important outcomes. Clearly, receiving high ratings in a staff development workshop is no guarantee that improvement will be noted in those factors deemed critical by key stakeholders in the educational enterprise. In other words, we have no guarantee that high workshop ratings will increase the numerator. Thus, we need to shift our focus to those factors that result in improvements in things decision makers deem to be central to improving school performance.

When considering the ROI denominator within an educational context, there are several factors that research has told us must be present to maximize the outcomes. In other words, there are certain "investments" that must be made in the nature of the staff development process if we want to realize quality outcomes. Regrettably, like managers in business, administrators in education frequently minimize or cut back on critical investments that must be present if the overall cost of staff development is to produce a good return on that investment. Among the factors that have been found to make a significant difference in the quality of staff development efforts are the following:

• Aligning staff development content to outcome standards: To improve student performance on outcome standards, it is imperative that what is taught in staff development offerings be in alignment with those standards. Alignment of staff development content requires careful conceptualization, coordination, and planning.
• Engaging participants as full partners in planning and executing staff development: There is ample evidence that teachers gain greater benefits from staff development experiences if they are engaged as active partners in planning both the content and formats used. Efforts to engage participants in all phases of the staff development process and to provide them with both voice and choice requires additional planning and flexibility.
• Building in opportunities for peer coaching: One of the most powerfully documented procedures for improving the outcomes of staff development work is to engage participants in peer coaching arrangements after the formal inservice session(s). The support, accountability, and opportunities for practice and feedback with colleagues have been shown to markedly affect both the rate and quality of implementation of educational improvements.
• Providing sufficient time and support for planning and implementation: Becoming proficient with new innovations generally requires significant time to both think about and plan for ways to integrate newly learned procedures into ongoing classroom routines. In addition, time is needed to practice the new procedure and receive feedback. Scheduling time for these activities as an integral part of the staff development process is a significant factor in helping teachers master a new teaching practice.

Regrettably, most staff development experiences in today's schools do not incorporate any, let alone all, of these factors. To the contrary, these factors are often the first to get cut as a part of education's attempt to save costs, downsize, restructure, and reengineer itself. Although the elimination of these factors from staff development programs is an efficient way to save costs and temporarily appease higher administration and school boards, the apparent improvement in the educational ROI through this reduction in the denominator is only window dressing. In reality, the dollars spent on staff development sessions that are void of the four factors bulleted above seldom result in significant improvements in student outcomes. Hence, the dollars spent are largely a wasted investment; the long-term return on investment is very poor!

As staff developers, we need to do all that we can to convince educational decision makers how important it is for them not to shortsightedly cut those factors in a staff development program that can substantially improve their long-term return on staff development investments.