• The district must support professional development in at least one of the following ways:

  • Pay for training; All PD paid for by the district must be pre-approved by the principal/supervisor in ADVANCE of attending the PD

  • Pay for a substitute for a new teacher to attend training

  • Provide training; multiple courses in the KALPA catalogue are available to be applied to the New Teacher 90 category

• PD can only apply towards the New Teacher 90-hour PD requirement (it cannot “double-dip”). It must be reported under the New Teacher requirement in KALPA or on the Annual Record of Professional Development for Teachers New to the Classroom ONLY. For example, the PD reported:

  • Cannot be applied toward the 30 hours of annual district PD requirement for all teachers

  • Cannot be included in evaluation documentation toward a “highly effective” rating

  • New Teacher PD that is awarded SCECH can be used towards recertification; however, the only GRPS requirement it can fulfill is the New Teacher 90.

• Examples of experiences that DO NOT count as New Teacher 90 PD:

  • Free PD, offered outside of GRPS and completed on your own time

  • GCN Modules

  • Athletic meetings or conferences

  • the GREA-sponsored orientation course (the other 15 hours of orientation do count)

  • Staff Meetings, unless meeting criteria for professional development; new teachers should discuss meeting objectives with principals/supervisors and the Induction 

  • College/university coursework (However, if coursework is paid for by GRPS, it may count given the content of the course. Therefore, individual courses will be considered on a case-by-case basis)

• New Staff Orientation (15 hours)

• Mentor Meetings (at least 18 in the first year, 9 in the second year, and 4 in the third year, no maximum number any year)

• New Teacher Kickoff (every August, can attend all 3 years)

• District-provided PD appropriate for your role (search on KALPA for courses available for New Teacher 90 credit)

• Required course work that reflects your school's programming (i.e. Montessori, IB, etc.)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW TEACHERS

In support of Goal 3 of the Michigan Top 10 in 10 framework, section 380.1526 of Michigan’s Revised School Code requires school districts to provide fifteen days of professional development to teachers across the first three years of their employment, (aligned with the individual development plan and mentor’s advice).  A “day” is defined as at least six hours.  The “year” is considered to begin on July 1 and end on June 30, coinciding with the school year.  These days are in addition to the five days the district is required to provide to all teachers.

District “provided” means professional development offered in compliance with state law and/or that the district has supported the teacher either by providing a substitute teacher, paying conference or workshop expenses or registration fees, or providing released time for attendance at professional development activities. This includes time provided for teachers to work in professional learning communities, examining actual student data in their own school.

Some form of record-keeping should be completed to assist districts in documenting professional development provided to new teachers and reported in the Registry of Educational Personnel (REP) by the district. Documentation of this information must be completed for each of a new teacher’s first three years. In the event of a REP records audit, the district would need to provide evidence of the professional development provided to the new teachers listed in REP, including:

1.     Dates on which that these professional development days occurred. These dates must be different dates from the regular, annual, five-day offering of professional development under MCL 380.1527;

2.     Times that the professional development activities began and ended on those days; and

3.     Topic(s) that were presented to participating teachers on those dates.

In addition, for each date, the district should have at least one of the following forms of acceptable documentation:

• Sign-in/out sheet

• Attendance log

• Flyer/Notices announcing event

• Agenda/Meeting minutes

• Travel voucher(s)

• Food receipt(s)

• District calendar (dates indicated)

A record-keeping document is for the district’s use only and should be kept at the district. The form should not be sent to the Michigan Department of Education.

SPECIAL NOTE about Certificate Renewal and Progression

Professional development provided to new teachers that meets the following criteria may be used by teachers to renew or progress their teaching certificate:

• aligns with the requirements of Section 380.1526; and

• supports the educator’s development in the profession; and

• is above and beyond the professional development provided to ALL teachers under Section 380.1527; and

• earned university credit or SCECHs in accordance with the Education-related

Professional Learning hours defined in Teacher Certification Code.