According to Learning Forward, professional development serves four purposes:

• Individual, targeted development to enhance individual competencies related to performance standards and individual results.

• Team-based (grade level, subject area, vertical team, course) to ensure consistency and quality in instruction, curriculum implementation, assessment, and student results.

• School-wide to ensure school-wide consistency and quality aligned with the school’s instructional framework and student support systems.

• Program implementation to ensure high fidelity of implementation with district programs such as curriculum, social skills, etc.

Instructional staff certified or recertified after September 1999 must receive 150 hours of continuing education every five years to qualify for state recertification. Keeping documentation of these hours is an individual, not district, responsibility. As a state approved provider, the district may approve selected workshops for CPE credit. NOTE: CPE credit is not the same as exchange (off-contract) credit.

Educators are notified one year prior to the expiration of their Standard Certificate renewal period. Several hundred renewal notices are returned each month because of bad addresses, even though educators are required by SBEC rule to maintain a current mailing address.

Please go to the SBEC website at www.sbec.state.tx.us and verify / update your current name and address so their correspondence will reach you in a timely manner.

The following professional learning sessions and certifications are required for all Anna ISD staff members within the first year of employment, as designated by job assignment.

• New Teacher Academy (new to the profession; will count toward exchange days)

• Anna ISD Onboarding (formerly New Employee Orientation)

• T-TESS Initial Training

• ESL Certification (all elementary core teachers)

• GT Initial Certification/Annual Update (required for those who serve GT students)

• Compliance Course Completion

• Annual Compliance Trainings

• GT: 30-Hour Institute

• GT: 6-Hour Update

• New Employee Orientation

• Bus Driver Training 

• Professional learning activities completed during contract hours

• After hours activities such as bus duty, classroom/materials preparation, or clerical tasks

• Any workshop, training or professional learning event for which the staff member receives a stipend. 

• Any workshop, training or professional learning event for which the staff member receives extra duty pay.

• Any workshop, training or professional learning event for which the staff member receives an honorarium.

• Sick, personal, or vacation days may NOT be used to attend professional learning for exchange (off-contract) credit.

• Be on time.

• Be committed to being actively engaged in the learning experience.

• Exhibit professional behavior.

• Remain focused on how the learning will lead to student success and improvement.

• Monitor personal technology.

• A professional learning day is considered to be 6 hours in length (maximum)

• All professional learning information must be tracked using Eduphoria. 

• Teachers are responsible for registering for sessions in Eduphoria so hours can be approved and tracked efficiently.

• The receipt of certificates of attendance are the responsibility of the teacher.

• Children are not permitted to attend professional learning sessions. 

• Additionally, children may not be left unattended in building(s) where professional learning is scheduled.

Staff choosing not to meet the 24 hour off-contract professional learning requirement will be docked at their daily rate of pay in order to return the compensation received for the exchanged days. Payroll deductions will be done in half-day or full-day increments, not hourly, based on each individual’s daily rate as determined by the Human Resources Department.

Staff choosing not to meet the 24 hour off duty/contract professional learning requirement will have the hours they are lacking documented on T-TESS Domain 4: Professional.

Sick, personal, or vacation days may NOT be used to attend professional learning for exchange (off-contract) credit, nor can sick, personal, or vacation days be used in lieu of professional learning hours.

Exchange credit cannot include extra duties such as extracurricular or co-curricular duties, supervision of students, etc. nor can these hours be “traded” for exchange hours while on duty hours.