Effective+Professional+Development+Plan

From experience, reading and class material I think the following are crucial components of quality professional development //regardless// of the content.


 * Professional development experiences are differentiated by:
 * Prior knowledge
 * Teacher strengths and weaknesses (i.e. What have they mastered? What are areas that need improvement?)
 * Learning style
 * Content area/areas of interest


 * In general, professional development:
 * Is facilitated by the building administrator but teacher-led
 * May include outside "experts" that are available for support, resources, and may participate as co-learners
 * Has clear outcomes
 * Has high expectations for learning and implementation of new learning
 * Includes opportunities to celebrate and recognize teachers that truly use their new learning to improve student learning
 * Is data driven and focused on increasing student achievement
 * Is relevant for all teachers
 * Encourages and rewards "risk takers" - in other words teachers that go outside their comfort zone to try something new
 * Is fluid and flexible to meet the changing needs of staff and students


 * Quality professional development activities:
 * Should focus on instructional activities that can occur immediately
 * Should only require relevant and authentic proof of implementation
 * Have time built in for teams of teachers to construct understanding together
 * Impact instruction and assessment directly and support curriculum objectives
 * Provide opportunities for feedback and critical discussion - i.e. teacher meeting notes and lesson plans receive feedback from leadership rather than simply being filed away as an exercise in compliance for meeting xyz credit requirements
 * Are measured as effective through common formative assessments that are derived from curriculum objectives and are supported by instructional activities
 * Include opportunities for modeling, practice and studying theory
 * Mimic and/or model the type of instruction that is best practice in the classroom...in any classroom regardless of the age of the student


 * Professional development is not (or should not be):
 * A thing we //have// to do for compliance/accountability - it's an opportunity to become better at what we do
 * Sit and get "strategy o' the year" experiences filled with overheads, handouts, PowerPoint presentations and one-size-fits all top-down designed
 * Measured as effective through filled out implementation logs, lengthy reflections, and yearly summative assessments
 * Changing every 12 months
 * Chosen without teacher input
 * Superficial - it does not deal with structural or surface changes such as bell schedules //unless// those changes will directly impact student achievement

The problem with creating a professional development plan that incorporates all of these nuances and steps is that professional development is circular. There are series of if/then questions that administrative and pd planning teams need to answer. For example:

The ideal professional development plan provides teachers with the tools they need to analyze their student achievement data. If that data is too infrequently collected or not linked to the curriculum then teachers will need to be provided with the tools to create (and implement) common formative assessments. The data should give teachers a clear picture of the areas of the curriculum that require more targeted instruction.

If there is good data then teachers need access to a variety of ways to learn best practice instructional techniques. These may be broad and cross disciplinary such as inquiry, think/pair/share or vocabulary strategies or they may be targeted to specific disciplines such as problem-based instruction in math. Teachers need a toolbox of skills that allow them to be effective facilitators of student learning.

If there is good instruction, good assessment but poor curricular alignment: i.e. assessments show that students have large gaps in knowledge or skill deficits in reading - then teachers need to focus and align (vertical and across grade levels) their curriculum.


 * If there is good instruction based on data and best practice, quality formative and summative assessments, and high quality curriculum then pd focuses on:
 * Continually refining and improving the connection between instruction, curriculum and assessment
 * Creating new learning by analyzing new research and educational innovations such as technology integration and behavior management strategies
 * Continuing to work in teacher teams to examine data, look for gaps in student mastery and adjusting and improving instruction to strive for better results
 * Repeat, repeat, repeat - this is all cyclic and each component should be continually examined and refined

On one final note - insert humor into pd on occasion. Take time to celebrate. Host a lesson fair, a second look at a DVD of a dynamic speaker or even something as simple as showing the video below can remind all of us that there is no perfect professional development any more than there is a perfect teacher, but we can continue to try. media type="youtube" key="yqmLiWvoRfA" height="344" width="425"