Professional Development

Working with a Professional Development
Planning Team
Some suggestions....

*ADVANTAGES* Using a professional development planning team encourages team building, trust, shared responsibility, ownership but it will require an early start and will need to be continuous to achieve the best results.

*TEAM COMPOSITION* One of the most important aspects of a planning team is to have a "cross-section" of staff -- teachers, supervisors, volunteers, maybe the director, maybe a technology expert. (If possible, you might even want to include a student.)

*TEAM COMPOSITION* Have different levels of expertise on your team to reflect staff needs.

*TEAM COMPOSITION* The size of the team should be manageable, not more than eight to ten participants.

*TEAM COMPOSITION* Team members should reflect the novice and the experienced; those who work with upper and lower levels; the part-time and the full-time; areas of teaching speciality -- ESL, ABE, ASE, reading, math, etc. and locations -- rural, corrections, learning centers, and so on.

*REGIONAL TEAMS* In larger programs, teams could be developed by program area (ESL, workforce, corrections...)

*WHEN TO PLAN* Professional development planning is an on-going and year round activity. However, intense planning may take place in the Spring, prior to the grant application. Present the plan to the entire staff, and reassess periodically throughout the year.

*COMPENSATION FOR WORK* If staff are working outside normal working hours, they should be compensated for the professional development planning work they do and for any expenses they incur. Certainly extra travel expenses incurred by team members should be reimbursed.

*MEETING PLACES* Have meetings at a central location or at alternating locations.

*OBJECTIVES AND NEXT STEPS* Objectives should be well defined, and team members should leave the meetings with a clear idea of what was accomplished. Next, steps and expectations for the next group meeting should be clarified. Have a facilitator and have agendas.

How do you "put it all together" into an efficient comprehensive, coherent plan? Here's some suggestions.... Attributes of a quality plan include:

• a plan based on needs assessment
• variety (ideally, more than one way to address specific needs)
• flexible scheduling possibilities
• opportunities for staff to develop individualized professional development plans
• planning for on-going needs of the program ( ex. new teacher training)
• planning for specific immediate program needs (ex. large ESL population, large homeless population) ways of addressing needs as they arise because needs assessment is an on- going process. Individual needs, group needs, and program-wide needs will emerge over the year and a mechanism needs to be in place to address those needs.
• review of the plan by planning team and other sources, and coming to consensus, or at least compromising when there are disagreements.
• being well publicized, with clear expectations.
• an efficient documentation system, one that is both program wide and individual.