Professional Development

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Professional Development

• The key to producing GREAT teachers, EXCELLENT
  programs and OUTSTANDING STUDENTS.

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What is Professional Development?

• What makes great Professional Development?

• A basic definition
• Professional development is the process of
  improving staff skills and competencies needed to
  produce outstanding educational results for
  students.

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Why Focus on High-QualityProfessional
Development?

• Teacher quality powerfully influences student
  learning
• Goodand badteaching has lasting effects
• Enhancing teacher quality is an indispensable
  element of school reform
• The need for high-quality teachers is urgent and
  growing
• High-quality professional development is not
  typical

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Professional DevelopmentOld and New

• Old PD
• Step 1 Go to an interesting workshop or
  conference.
• Step 2 How can we use this to benefit my
  teaching?

• New PD
• Step 1 What actual learning gaps do my students
  have and what can I do differently to close the
  gaps?
• Step 2 Learn and practice to close the student
  gaps.

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Professional Development

• Not ONE MORE PLAN!
• It should be a natural fit with existing
• CTE Application Accountability Plan
• School Improvement Planning Processes
• LEA Professional Development Plan
• PEPE
• LEA Goals
• Local Economic Development Plans

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Professional Development Cycle
Design Needs Assessments
Evaluation Improvement (ongoing)
Sharing PD Learning
Best Practice Research (ongoing)
School PD Goals
PD Implementation
PD Content, Process Activities
Resources
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Models of PD
LEA PD Activities
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Implementation LevelsLearning Outcomes

• Awareness Designed as an overview of
  general information.
• Application Designed to begin to build skills
• develop confidence and competence.
• Mastery Designed to master skills and
• (Best Practices) accomplish transfer into daily
  practice.
• Refinement Designed to enable modifications.

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Implementing Professional Development

• Stay freshby keeping up with education best
  practices.
• Assign clear responsibility.
• Use a variety of sources.
• Create a forum for using research findings.
• Ensure school/district policies and practices
  support PD.
• Barrier Not enough time for PD.
• Barrier Too few larger blocks of time for
  longer PD activities.
• Barrier Too much required low-impact PD.

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Implementing Professional Development

• Keep resources available.
• Show results!
• Reprioritize continuously.
• Leverage your PD.
• Make PD part of everyday school life.
• Set aside time at least weekly to focus on PD.
• Integrate PD in other activities.
• Create culture change with symbols, events, and
  leaders who encourage discussion and debate.

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Evaluating and Improving PD

• Follow your PD plan Are you meeting goals?
• Clarify how you will gather and use data.
• Collect and use data to make real improvements.
• Include at least these PD evaluation criteria
• Improve teaching
• Improve student learning
• Narrow achievement gaps

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PD Step-by-Step
Your challenge shifts from thinking to doing . .
.
. . . as you improve your ability to change.
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standards
Development
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Resources

• Alabamas 12 professional development standards
• NCLB definition of professional development
• NCLB definition of scientifically based research
• Internet resources
• References

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Where Are We Going?

• Unless you change direction, you are likely to
  arrive at where you are headed.
• Old Chinese Proverb

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How Are We Going To Get Started?

• The Law of the Big Mo
• Momentum is a Leaders Best Friend
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
• John C. Maxwell

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Need Assistance?

• Thank you
• Contact Information
• Dawn Morrison
• Education Specialist
• Professional Development Coordinator
• Phone [phone]
• Email dmorrison_at_alsde.edu