Paxton Consolidated Schools Professional Development Summary

All Staff

At the beginning of each school-year, all staff participate in the following trainings:  Dating Violence Awareness, Bullying & Harassment Policy Review, Internet Safety, Suicide Awareness Training, CPR/First Aid (staff certified every two years), Multicultural Policy Review, HAL, Wellness Policy, Crisis Response Training 

MTSS-B Implementation--All staff have participated in MTSS-B positive behavior supports training.  Paxton's school-wide positive behavior traits are:  Positive, Respectful, Responsible, and Safe.  Teachers defined these traits specific to their classrooms and model those behaviors daily.

Teachers and Paraprofessionals

ESU-16 PLC Days--Paxton teachers, paras, and administrators have participated in ESU 16's PLC days beginning in Fall of 2018.  Staff meets three times a year with area educators to discuss content area best practice, classroom management strategies, techniques to address the mental health concerns of students, and share technology ideas to implement in the classroom.

Teachers

All teachers have done SLO’s annually.  Each Student Learning Objective should be measurable and applicable to their content area.  SLO’s are reviewed and evaluated for effectiveness three times a year.  

All teachers have also completed individual Professional Development Plans (PDP’s) annually.  PDP’s are designed to provide each teacher with an opportunity to choose and pursue professional development that is meaningful to his/her teaching practice with the support of administration.  Plans are reviewed at least twice a year.

Content-Specific Curriculum

New Math Curriculum for All Grade Levels- Reveal Math

Our search for high quality math curriculum began in 2019, leading to the selection and implementation of Reveal Math for grades K-8 in August of 2021.  Reveal Math was chosen after a series of work sessions for math teachers, lead by Alison Smith from ESU16, during which teachers developed goals and a mission for math instruction that would guide our search through available materials.  Teachers received professional development for Reveal Math in June of 2020 and May of 2021. 

STEMScopes Science Program - Grades 1-8

Our district protocol for choosing high quality instructional materials involves a survey of Edreports, and The Nebraska Instructional Materials Collaborative, in search of highly rated materials that are aligned with Nebraska Content Area Standards, leveraged by discussions  with colleagues within our regional PLC, and support personnel from ESU16.  The pursuit of high quality materials in science, following that protocol, has been frustrating and arduous. The lack of high quality material availability in science, coupled with the fact that we have teachers new to presenting science content at various grade levels, led us to the decision to pilot Stemscopes Science for the 2022-2023 school year, in order to provide a framework for instruction for all teachers.  Teachers received implementation training in August of 2022 and a follow-up training in November.

Curriculum Mapping - All Grades

Teachers in grades K-12 mapped their curriculum in Spring 2022.  Elementary teachers mapped math.  Middle and high school teachers mapped their specific content area.

There is definite support for professional development at Paxton Consolidated Schools. Additional documentation is available upon request.