Professional Development FAQs

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEFINITION

What is professional development? 

http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/704/003/035.htm

704 KAR 3:035 Section 1 (3) "Professional development" means professional learning that is an individual and collective responsibility, that fosters shared accountability among the entire education workforce for student achievement, and:

• Aligns with Kentucky’s Academic Standards in 704 KAR 3:303, educator effectiveness standards, individual professional growth goals, and school, district, and state goals for student achievement;

• Focuses on content and pedagogy, as specified in certification requirements, and other related job-specific performance standards and expectations;

• Occurs among educators who share responsibility for student growth; 

• Is facilitated by school and district leaders, including curriculum specialists, principals, instructional coaches, competent and qualified third-party facilitators, mentors, teachers or teacher leaders;

• Focuses on individual improvement, school improvement, and program implementation; and

• Is on-going

How is professional development different from professional learning?

A professional development is typically a short-term event often focused on awareness building rather than shaping practice. Professional learning is ongoing and is a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to increase student achievement that strengthens and improves educators’ effectiveness in meeting individual, team, school, district, and state goals. It is ongoing, relevant, job-embedded learning for educators at all stage of career development.
704 KAR 3:035

What is a professional development program?

A sustained, coherent, relevant, and useful process that is measurable by indicator and provides professional learning opportunities and ongoing support to transfer that learning to practice.   http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/704/003/035.htm 

NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR PD

How are professional development needs determined at the school and district level?

A. According to 704 KAR 3:035 Section 1 (2), "Needs assessment" means the gathering, sorting, and analysis of student, educator, and system data that lead to conclusions regarding the need for content and learning designs for professional development in identified areas related educator performance and student achievement. Districts determine the most relevant data sources to review. Consult the Kentucky Professional Learning Guidance for a 7 step process that begins with analyzing needs for the purpose of developing a professional learning plan.

Appropriate sources of data for analysis may include: student assessment data, School Report Card, teacher and principal effectiveness ratings, Infinite Campus reports, survey data (TELL, Val-Ed, locally created surveys to students and parents), Walk-Through trend data, Program Reviews, PLC outcomes, SBDM and local board of education minutes, budget expenditures on professional learning, etc.) KAR 3:035 Section 2. Each local school and district shall develop a process to design a professional development plan that meets the goals established in KRS 158.6451 and in the local needs assessment

704 KAR 3:035 http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/704/003/035.htm

KRS 158.6451 http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Statutes/statute.aspx?id=3552

DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

Do most districts, when they have PD days, have all teachers go through the same training programs, or do any districts “break out” teachers into different groups based on subject matter, experience, etc.?

While there are regulations that mandate specific, annual professional development, generally speaking, the professional learning engaged in by educators in a district is the final decision of the district. Districts choose which activities that will earn professional development credit hours and which will not. They each have their own request/approval process they use that aligns to the district’s Professional Development plan as part of their Certified District Improvement Plan (CDIP).  Each district varies in how it implements its professional development plan but historically, it was the tradition of districts to have all teachers participate in the same learning. Today, that emphasis is changing. Kentucky has adopted the Professional Learning Standards and revised Kentucky’s regulation on the Annual Professional Development Plan 704 KAR 3:035. As a result, districts are being encouraged to think outside the box, to consider teacher driven learning opportunities instead of prescribing “sit and get” PD to all teachers to achieve a district defined goal. Student achievement goals and Professional Growth Goals help to guide thinking towards individualized – teacher led- professional development planning. Restrictions exist in regulations that require all PD hours to be earned outside of the school day. Schools have begun to allot in school time to PLC work – it would make sense to encourage the accrument of PL credit time devoted to achieving the learning as outlined in one’s PGP. There are districts that have implemented innovative professional growth plans this year and plan to share results when they have been tabulated.