Bakersfield City School District enlisted Hanover’s expertise to ensure that its offerings were providing the most meaningful experiences to its teachers.
Bakersfield City School District enlisted Hanover’s expertise to ensure that its offerings were providing the most meaningful experiences to its teachers.
Bakersfield City School District (Bakersfield) in California wanted to determine if it’s professional learning offerings were meeting its teachers’ needs. After pivoting from externally sourced training to a robust program of in-house learning, Bakersfield wanted to ensure that its offerings were providing the most meaningful experiences to its teachers.
Bakersfield partnered with Hanover Research to gather teacher feedback on its professional learning offerings. Hanover administered and analyzed a professional learning survey that identified teachers’ opinions on the training and informed the content of its summer training institute, a seasonal program that aims to energize teachers while increasing their motivation throughout the year. Then, Hanover administered a follow-up survey to assess the effectiveness of Bakersfield’s summer training.
Hanover’s survey assessment uncovered key findings and found that teachers would like their district to:
– INCREASE CLASSROOM SUPPORT: Teachers expressed a need for a professional development approach to increased classroom support and follow-through.
– REDUCE FOCUS ON BALANCED LITERACY TRAINING: Teachers wanted the district to diversify its approach to literacy training and move away from its heavy focus on guided classroom readings.
– ADD SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING FOCUS: Teachers voiced a need for in-depth training on social-emotional learning (SEL) to gain confidence in implementing SEL classroom structures.
Hanvoer’s survey assessment found that teachers would like their district to:
Promote teacher agency by offering accessible and convenient professional development opportunities. Learn more about the K-12 Educator Learning Center.
“We want our teachers to give feedback and lead sessions, focusing on a culture of collective efficacy to support our belief system. Having a partner like Hanover Research fits a longstanding need in our district. We have been able to make the progress we’ve made because we have a third-party vendor…we’re positioned for great success.”
—Mark Luque; Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services
Bakersfield City School District
K-12 Education
Bakersfield, CA