- on-site PD; experts in their fields are brought to the school to offer on-site training and support. This happens either on school days, with subs covering classes, or it on designated PD days when the students have the day off; usually our beginning/end-of-year work weeks have some sort of on-site PD
- off-site PD; faculty is encouraged to attend workshops/conferences during the year to help them advance their own instruction; we look carefully at what we attend, especially if it involves travel, to make sure it will be of max. value.
- summer studies; most of our extensive/lengthy PD occurs over the summer; groups of teachers will attend week/multi-week institutes to better develop and align the curriculums
- books; a simple $20 book can change the thinking of a teacher, and therefore teachers are encouraged to purchase theory and instructional books at the expense of the school
- professional learning communities; once a month, we dismiss early so our faculty and staff can gather together in professional learning groups; these groups can directly or indirectly impact our students; mostly, it fosters collaboration and a committment to ongoing learning; also, it sends a message to our parents and students that we valueour own learning and coming together as students ourselves
- academic specialists; one of the best ways we provide PD is by having academic specialists; these specialists can serve as coaches to the entire faculty, providing daily support all year long; specialists attend numerous workshops, read books, research, and then bring the learning back to the faculty to implement and support; this is proving the BEST PD, as it allows for follow-through all year long, year to year; salaries for the specialists do not come out of the PD budget
As you can see, PD is one of the central values at our school. It is always encouraged, and most PD requests are granted (within reason). Money raised from our annual benefit goes directly into PD funds, to financially support the above endeavors. There are a few guidelines we try to adhere to when it comes to PD. They are:
- experts are the best way to go; choosing a seminar based on topic alone is still a tricky bet it we do not know the presenter's own philosophies. A few times we have invested in workshops, only to find that we got little out of it; we make sure we know it will be worthwhile
- we like to go in pairs or groups, if possible; there is great value to immediately discussing the content with a colleague to better solidify the information and also learn from each other; it also gives us reference points later in the year as we continue to revisit these topics; also, it helps if several of us hear the same message and can implement in several grade levels
- providing a way to share our learning; we often have follow-up meetings where workshop participants share their knowledge with their teams/division
Budget
As I stated above, our annual benefit is the source of most of our financial support for extensive (i.e. expensive) PD; mostly it involves the summer studies; we have sent teachers to workshops in NY for several weeks, Cairo for 2 weeks to speak at a conference, week-long university institutes with the top experts for 6 of our MS teachers, and several others
Other, smaller, PD efforts are funded out of our PD budget, which is in the tens-of-thousands. If more funds are needed, we continually rely on parents who are eager to support our curriculums for funds to help support this.
One thing I think our school does not do enough of is visit other schools. Speaking with other educators is the cheapest, and sometimes most effective way to adjust/enhance our own learning and understanding. We should do more of this, as I personally walk away with so much each time I do!
There is not a mandated requirement, just the expectation that everyone will do something to better advance their growth. Most of us really want to go.
Hope this helps.
Andrea Jenkins
Trinity Episcopal School
Austin, TX
Literacy Specialist
----- Original Message -----
From: Jessi Christiansen <jessi@epiphanyschool.org>
Date: Friday, November 9, 2007 12:40 pm
Subject: Professional Development
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Please excuse the cross posting.
>
> Hello there,
> I hope your school year is treating you well. We are in the
> process of
> re-evaluating our professional development program at Epiphany and I
> would like to find out what your schools have set up in terms of
> supporting the professional growth of your staff.
>
> Do you have an annual theme to your professional development?
> Is there an expectation for each teacher/staff member to acquire
> certainprofessional development credits?
> Are there special programs/grants to which your teachers can apply?
> What is your overall budget for professional development?
>
> Thanks, everyone.
> Best,
> Jessi
>
>
> Jessi Christiansen
> Assistant Head of School
> Epiphany School
> 206-720-7650
>
>
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons,
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>
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
