Article Review #2

Article Review
Ely, E.E., Pullen, P.C., Kennedy, M.J., & Cole Williams, M. (2015). A Multimedia Tool to Deliver Professional Development of Vocabulary Instruction. Journal of Special Education Technology, 30(1), 59-72.

This is a very thorough article on research done concerning the effectiveness of a specific multimedia approach to deliver professional development. The authors chose the use of evidence-based vocabulary instruction as their study topic. Details about the general lack of research on effective professional development delivery, failure of many teachers to use evidence-based reading practices, and lack of effective vocabulary instruction in schools is included. Difficulty moving effective practices from research to classroom and the general ineffectiveness of most professional development are also covered.

The authors include information from previous studies concerning ways to bridge the research-to-practice gap. They include information from a study in 2000 that called the current understanding of how to promote sustainable use of evidence-based practices, emerging after 30 years of research. Basic guidelines which have been established over this time period concerning effective PD are given and the authors point out how vague and broad these are. Research on teachers watching video of themselves teaching and then reflecting is discussed as effective, however the limited studies on use of video when other teachers model instruction is also detailed.

This article gives a great amount of information on how the videos were produced, and the theories behind the reasoning. The article also includes the online address of the video, so readers can view it. The video was produced using specific guidelines, from previous research, and these guidelines are also included in the article. Data about the participants, setting, baseline, intervention, and post-intervention are given. Discussion about how and why the data was collected, is also included. The checklist used to collect the data is also included. With all of this information included in the article, the study is quite easy to understand. 

The results of the study were positive, and detailed in the article. The authors clearly understood the limitations of their study, including the limited number of participants and discussed them. Future research implications are also discussed. 

This article was extremely interesting to me, because of the topic of effective professional development (PD). I lead PD on classroom management and behavior each year for my campus and will be presenting at Region 10 this summer. I have often worried about the effectiveness of my presentations and wondered how to get the teachers in the training to implement the information presented. 

The in-depth discussion of research on vocabulary instruction and professional development, were very interesting to me. The authors point out current reform efforts focusing on professional development, a very current and controversial topic. I, personally, have had little professional development I found to be useful or I carried forward into my classroom. The occasional training I did find useful have been high cost, outside of the district training. Any research into how to provide professional development which will effect my classroom quickly and continue long-term is important research to me and to my students.