Professional Development System Task Force
- Professional Development Systems Council Membership
- See the Professional Development System Task Force Report
During the 2000-01 school year, the superintendent invited a group of teachers from across the district to participate in a discussion of their expectations of a high quality professional development system, a system capable of supporting a reinvented system of schools in the future. Approximately 25 teachers were invited to this initial meeting, and they indicated our current system of professional development was not meeting their needs in a consistent way. The participants indicated a willingness to begin a design for a more powerful professional development system.
A sub-group of the original 25 teachers was asked to form the Professional Development System Task Force, along with some additional individuals to ensure representation across all grade levels. The high school had three members, each middle school had two members, and each elementary school had at least one member. In addition, two principals serve on the task force. Two additional facilitators were added to the task force and supported through our BILL & MELINDA GATES foundation grants. These facilitators brought outside perspective and organizational support to the task force’s work.
The Professional Development System Task Force began formal work in December 2002. Through our BILL & MELINDA GATES foundation University Partnership Grant, the work of this group was supported with release time for their classrooms. The grant funds also supported an intensive week of collaboration and study at the University of Washington’s Summer Leadership Institute in July of 2003.
The task force developed a teacher-driven plan for powerful adult learning in support of powerful student learning. Through research and study the task force refined the research and agreed to some guiding principles for change as they designed a new, best practice-based system.
Their report provided the board of directors a review of the task force’s recommendation for a Port Angeles School District Professional Development System. An addendum with the “phase-in” proposal will be prepared.
There are several key individual teacher roles detailed in the plan, and they are defined here to underscore their critical nature in the whole document. Individuals filling the roles will provide support to both teachers and principals continuing their professional growth in learning communities.
Instructional coach: an individual teacher with deep and thorough content knowledge that is available to schools and their staff to model and coach powerful instruction. They will help staff members deepen their content knowledge and support the skills needed to change instruction in that content.
Teacher leader: an individual teacher that continues as a teacher and provides support to the principal and his or her professional development planning at the building level. This teacher would be released from classroom duties based on the needs and size of the particular school. They would also mentor teachers new to the profession, school, or district. Their classrooms may become “labs” for professional development.
Specialist cadre facilitator: a teacher trained in facilitation of book study or adult study groups. These teachers will be expected to provide support to groups of teachers wishing to work on a common interest or area of study. They will provide organizational and facilitation needs to support the group’s study sessions.
The task force recommendation, as represented in the Port Angeles School District Professional Development System, must be building based and job-embedded. The focus of the professional development will be based on student data, building needs and the district’s content focus.
The recommended professional development system will require resource re-allocation or acquisition of additional resources. This plan is multi-faceted and identifies some very specific roles that do not currently exist in our structure. The task force believes phasing the implementation of the Port Angeles School District Professional Development System will be necessary as adjustments are necessary in our current resource allocation, and as additional resources are acquired.
Task force members will discuss their recommendations with the board during an upcoming study session, after which the final report will be posted to the website.