The High School Professional Development Plan

1. The High School Professional Development Plan December 8, 2012

2. The High School Background: Located in Western PA Home to 700+ students Employs 60+ Teachers (Full time and part time)

3. Current Professional Development Plan: • The High School is in a transitional phase with their Professional Development Plan • The High School is moving away from the traditional model to a PD model using PD 360 for all topics and trainings • PD 360 is allowing for more of an individualized approach to PD for teachers • Teachers are assigned topics and trainings to complete/view online • Topics for this plan would include: • http://www.schoolimprovement.com/topics/differentiation/

4. Current Professional Development Plan: The High School currently schedules monthly department meetings to: - Plan and prepare for student achievement - Discuss the upcoming Keystone Exams - Identify areas of strength and weaknesses

5. Current Professional Development Plan: Strengths: Weaknesses: Main Idea Making Inferences Irony Plot and Setting Characterization Foreshadowing Flashback • Student participation • Comprehension skills • Writing skills

6. The Focus: • The focus is increasing teacher awareness and understanding that having data is a valuable tool for assessing student needs and providing support in the areas of need as well as focusing training on topics that are necessary for student achievement. • Student achievement at The High School has always been high- meeting AYP every year for the last 6 years • This has been accomplished so far without any Benchmarking

7. The Focus: • This is all changing. • Study Island and CDTs have been initiated at The High School in order to increase test scores and meet the requirements of the Keystone Exams. • The Principal has initiated: • - Monthly meetings • - Benchmarking three times throughout the school year • - Data team meetings to discuss results • - Several opportunities in a week for remediation to occur • - Teacher evaluations that reflect student achievement and growth

8. My Recommendations: • Professional Development Planning Committee, as it relates to the District goal: • Continue to promote collaborative problem-solving between administrative, professional and support staff • Highlighting Teacher Talents, as it relates to the District goal: • Implement the Educator Effectiveness model for teacher and administrator evaluation • Differentiated Instruction, as it relates to the District goal: • To review and maintain the continuous improvement of curriculum, assessment, and instructional practice through the use of data-driven decision making

9. My Recommendations: • The Professional Development Planning Committee will be implemented at The High School and also within the school district • The committee will meet on a regular basis • Data will drive the topics that will become the agenda items

10. My Recommendations: • Highlighting Teacher Talents will become the focus of many professional development meetings • This will occur at the High School and the goal is that everyone has an opportunity to highlight best practices that include content & teaching methods

11. My Recommendations: • Differentiated Instruction will occur as a training both within and outside of the district personnel. • The design of these trainings will be to lend itself to the improvement of teaching instruction and student performance- observable in teacher observations and student engagement.

12. A Professional Planning Committee within each building • A committee that would work closely with the Principal to oversee the PD topics and results which would have a long term effect on the success of the students in ELA. • The committee would establish long term goals and plans that would expand over several years to best see the results of the trainings and have the most positive impact on student achievement.

13. A Professional Planning Committee within each building • The Professional Development would focus on best practices for ELA in the classroom. • The committee would meet on a regular schedule to discuss topics and areas of focus • Topics may include special education modifications and accommodations, benchmarking results, remediation sessions and the Keystone Exams.

14. A Professional Planning Committee within each building • The formation of the committee is invaluable as they would provide the foundation for teacher participation in the planning and implementation of professional development topics. • “teachers who play an active role in the development of professional leadership have a more positive involvement and outcome with instruction and curriculum” (Langer, Close, Angelis, and Preller)

15. Highlighting Talented Teachers • Collective participation may contribute to a professional culture in which teachers develop a common understanding of instructional goals, methods, problems, and solutions (Birman, Desiome, Porter, Garet 2000) • Highlighting teacher talents is a technique that would contribute to the positive culture within the school. Teachers would gain trust, respect and regard for what their colleagues are doing as well as have an opportunity to contribute to the best practices of the school.

16. Highlighting Talented Teachers • As part of the principal’s role he would be required to rotate the schedule so that each teacher, or team of teachers, has an opportunity to train the staff on a topic. This technique could be used to assess the teacher’s knowledge on a specific topic as well as to observe their ability to teach to an audience. • English Language Arts topics may include: • Writing across the curriculums • Incorporating writing into everyday lessons planning • Making reading and writing fun • Assessing writing skills

17. Highlighting Talented Teachers • Each teacher, or team of teachers, would be asked to demonstrate a different teaching technique- modeling, assessing, etc.- that would be helpful to the people he/she is presenting to. • Examples include: • The special education team would need to present a Professional Development session on differentiated instruction and they would do so by implementing this technique while presenting. • The Physical Education team might present a session on physical exercise and would do so by modeling various activities that can be mimicked in all classrooms.

18. Highlighting Talented Teachers • This would be evaluated throughout the school year during observations and walk-throughs with the Principal. He would be able to see the various teaching procedures used in the classroom and provide feedback and support. • 60, 20, 20 notion. 60% of the teachers will be onboard, 20% are on the fence, and 20% will not engage. It is the 20% that are on the fence that need your attention. That way, 80% will be onboard with new initiatives. (Dr. Trovato)

19. Differentiated Instruction • As explained by Waldron & McLeskey (2001), "differentiating instruction means that teachers will create different levels of expectations for task completion within a lesson or unit" (p. 176). • The High School reported a subgroup for the first time on the PSSAs- Economically Disadvantaged. • There were 45 students in this subgroup- a subgroup that the Principal did not know existed until the results came out in August. • 20% of those students scored in the Basic level of proficiency

20. Differentiated Instruction • 55% of students with IEPs scored at the Basic level of proficiency • In order to meet the needs of all students the Professional Development Plan will include intensive Professional Development Trainings for all ELA teachers in the area of inclusion and differentiated instructional practices.

21. Differentiated Instruction • The PD trainings will be conducted by the Special Education Department in the school district. • The PD trainings will be conducted by the Special Education Department in the school district.

22. Differentiated Instruction • Evidence of the Professional Development being effective will be the test results that are reported back to The High School. • The teachers will be observed and evaluated on their ability to identify the student needs within their classrooms and the instruction provided to all students. This will be discussed during the Teacher Effectiveness Evaluation process. • Benchmarking results three times a school year, Keystone Exam reporting information as well as an increase in student achievement will be a discussion throughout the school year and at every pre and post observation.

23. Differentiated Instruction • A new way of scheduling is underway for the 2013-2014 school year. The Principal has proposed an 8 period school day without any study halls. • The students will complete 7 academic periods a day and the last period will be for remediation, clubs, accelerated programs, sports, etc.

24. Resources: http://exitportfolio-robertson.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/designing_professional_development_that_works.pdf http://pili.wiki.educ.msu.edu/file/view/Differentiating%20Instruction%20-%20Lawrence_Brown.pdf