Education Week - February 17, 2021 - 20

LESSONS
From the
Leader
Invest big
in culture
Trust first and often,
embrace constructive
conflict, invite mutual
accountability, and
celebrate risks and
teamwork.

Lead with
learning
With transparency and
the best interests of others
at the forefront, model
humility, listening, and
empathy while learning
from and with others.

Focus on results
All students can learn, but
some lack belief and hope.
We must develop clarity
with a narrow purpose
and by regularly reviewing
results and fostering
a belief in ferociously
pursuing continuous
improvement.

district's nearly 1,000 teachers get up to speed on creating
effective distance learning plans and honing the technical
skills they needed to deliver those lessons successfully.
Hodgson and his team hosted 10 days of online training
for teachers on Canvas, the learning management system.
They also offered a dozen sessions in Spanish and English
for the district's 19,000 parents.
But he was not done. In the fall, Hodgson launched
PBVUSD-Distance Learning through which teachers
can earn three different levels of distance learning
certification. The new feature also provides teachers
with grade-level resources about online learning, specific
instructional practices and lesson designs, and monthly
tech tips.
Customized professional development

It helped that Hodgson had spent the last two years
working with teachers to fine-tune pbvU to create courses
that were tailor-made for the district's needs and the
unique challenges Panama-Buena Vista teachers faced in
their individual classrooms.
" Jason does a great job of rolling with the punches, "
said Valerie Park, the director of assessment, curriculum,
and technology, who worked with Hodgson to prepare
teachers and parents for remote learning.
" He's very much a change agent and a problem-solver, "
Park continued. " Without him, we would have been in
trouble putting Canvas in place. "
School districts have long struggled to get professional
development right. Teachers are often dissatisfied with
those sessions, reporting that they do little to help them
acquire the skills they need to do their jobs or improve
their practice, according to a 2015 report by the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. Districts also discover
that unless PD is mandated-for example, required in
collective bargaining agreements -many teachers don't
attend if the sessions aren't held during school hours.
Panama-Buena Vista faced similar challenges with its
veteran-heavy teaching staff when it went searching for its
first-ever director of professional development.
Effective professional development is content-focused
and job-embedded, with built-in opportunities for
implementation and reflection, according to Maria E.
Hyler, a senior researcher and deputy director at the
Learning Policy Institute's Washington office.
PbvU offers all of those things.
In just two years, Hodgson has made significant
headway with pbvU, changing how the district's teachers
view PD by offering them relevant courses taught mainly
by their peers.
The built-in financial incentives and the ability for
teachers to choose their own courses also make pbvU
popular: 90 percent of the district's teachers have
participated in pbvU courses, and many of the classes are
full. Waiting lists are not uncommon.
An overwhelming majority of teachers who have taken
pbvU courses-90 percent or more-have consistently
ranked the courses as " valuable " in surveys. (Teachers
complete satisfaction surveys after finishing each pbvU
course.)

20 | EdWeek Leaders To Learn From | February 17, 2021

" It's a desired activity versus a required activity, "
Hodgson said. " That has to be the sweetest piece of the
system. "
Peggy Dewane-Pope, who has taught English language
arts at the district's Earl Warren Junior High School for the
last two decades, can't get enough of the pbvU courses.
" I signed up for five classes in one semester. You can
only take three, " she said.
Dewane-Pope praised a social-emotional learning class
that gave her just the right tools to resolve a longstanding
classroom management issue with some students who
frequently refused to do their work. Those encounters had
often left her feeling frustrated and helpless.
The course helped her to realize that she was taking
those incidents personally, instead of offering the noncompliant students choices.
" They're not fighting me, but just fighting, " said
Dewane-Pope, who called the class an " absolute game
changer. "
" I got my B.S. in 1980. Here I am in 2019 getting this
great material on how to deal with challenging kids, " she
said.
Despite the enthusiasm for the courses and the ability
to increase their salaries, other districts may not recognize
the pbvU credits, meaning that teachers may see salary
cuts if they move to another school system.
Designed for teachers, with students at the core

While pbvU empowers teachers to own their continuous
learning, it was designed with students in mind.
" Oftentimes, a district forgets one or the other-
students or staff, " said Hyler from the Learning Policy
Institute. " It's encouraging to hear those two pieces
coming together. "
Hodgson has always been motivated by what's best for
children.
The first in his immediate family to attend college,
Hodgson initially intended to major in business
administration. He switched to education after spending
the summer between his freshman and sophomore years
working at orphanages in Bucharest, the Romanian
capital.
The dire conditions he saw changed his perspective.
Even after he returned to the United States, the orphans
remained on his mind.
" I just couldn't take the lack of hope that kids there
had, " Hodgson said.
He decided on a career that would allow him to help
children pursue their passions, regardless of their life
circumstances.
Hodgson's first job as a 22-year-old teacher was at
Arvin High School, an academically struggling school
in the Kern High School District, where nearly all of the
students qualified for the federal free- and reducedprice lunch program. Half of the students were Englishlearners.
It was there that he met Blanca Cavazos, the school's
principal, who later became his mentor. And it was from
Cavazos that he learned the power of collaborative
leadership. Her empathetic style with a fierce focus on

Education Week - February 17, 2021

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