District PD Goals

Westwood Public Schools District Professional Development Goals 2018-2019: DRAFT

The Westwood Public Schools has the following long-term, multi-year professional development goals:

1. Educators in all subject areas will improve their expertise in their specific subject areas and in child development as it relates to how students learn.

2. Educators will plan strategically for the needs of all learners.

3. Educators will employ classroom strategies and integrate instruction that promotes social and emotional learning.

4. Educators will develop and implement frequent strategies for assessing student progress and instructional impact.

5. Educators will use formative and summative classroom assessment data, in collaboration with colleagues, to inform instruction, intervention, and extension to promote student growth over time.

6. Educators will promote student engagement, reflection, and ownership for learning.

7. Educators will develop confidence and flexibility teaching and learning in a technology-rich environment

8. Educators will develop strategies for communicating learning goals and engaging families as partners in their students’ learning.

In addition, grade-levels define more specific, shorter-term goals for the 2018-2019 school year, as follows:

Preschool educators will:

• support the development of young children’s social/emotional learning
• increase their ability to implement inquiry-based, hands-on science exploration using Stemscopes Early Explorer (Life Science)
• will revise current standards based report card

Elementary educators will:

• develop students’ proficiency with writing in response to different types of texts with different purposes
• continue to develop strategies for differentiating instruction
• research and implement strategies for closing achievement gaps
• increase their ability to implement inquiry-based science instruction that is aligned to the new MA STE standards in life science

Middle School educators will:

• employ classroom-based strategies to meet the diverse needs of learners
• use data to identify learning gaps and offer targeted intervention that supports the acquisition of core academic skills and content
• continue to develop skills as advisors to support the social, emotional and academic growth of their advisees
• assign homework that is purposeful, developmentally appropriate, and manageable
• research and implement strategies for closing achievement gaps

High School educators will:

• develop and implement a new course sequence in science
• evaluate assessment purposes and practices
• develop and refine their ability to design project-based curriculum that authentically engages students in their learning
• assign homework that is purposeful, developmentally appropriate, and manageable

All educators will:

• participate in a review of the Social Emotional Learning and English language arts curricula
• develop skills in gathering student feedback and creating opportunities for student voice and choice
• make informed and thoughtful choices around modes of instruction (technology-based or analog, whole class or workshop, project-based versus non-applied)