Implementing Professional Development

Implementing Professional Development One of the major key factors to having a highly successful and highly effective school is having a highly successful and highly effective staff. Teaching is a profession that requires instructors to stay informed about new and innovative teaching strategies and techniques. The faculty at a school needs to stay up to date on new policies and procedures the state and/or the district plan to impose. In order for teachers to service specific students that have special learning needs and/or disabilities, it is required they complete hours of different trainings to earn certificates. Teachers need time to examine data for students, collaborate about ways to teach curriculum, share ways to improve classroom
Once I become a school leader, the first step I will take to plan for professional development at my campus is to communicate a set of guidelines about participating in training sessions. There are a few certifications and training classes that every faculty and staff member must complete yearly. For example, sexual harassment, gifted and talented, and Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) are a few trainings that must be done yearly. After the required trainings are shared with everyone, I will then explain the expectations set by the district in terms of how many professional development hours each individual teacher needs to accumulate by the end of the school year. Teachers will be informed that they will be allowed to choose what sessions they want to attend and when. I feel allowing the faculty and staff to choose what is of interest to them will make the professional development personal and lead to higher retention of
This is where the school will focus on needs specific to our campus. As a leader, I will participate in a conversation about what it is needed to guarantee our school meets our campus goal for the school year. Then, the staff will decide how frequently and for what length of time they want to meet. At the planned meetings teachers and administrative staff can meet by grade-level, content area, in mentor and mentee partnerships, and so on. During the pre-planned sessions teachers will analyze data, collaborate on teaching strategies and methods, mentor each other, compare similar objectives across grade-levels, and more. This development will be planned by and ran by the faculty and staff, making it highly effective in ensuring the campus as a whole is progressing towards being an effective