Effective professional development represents a culmination of techniques, pedagogy and structured activities designed to empower teachers and provide a deeper understanding of the content in which educators teach. As professional development practices begin to serve as a precursor to educational reform (Fullan, 2002), it is important to understand what effective professional development should look like.
According to the National Staff Development Council (2001), effective professional development is defined by the following standards: a) directly focused in helping to achieve student learning goals and supporting student learning needs; b) a collaborative endeavor – teachers and administrators work together in planning and implementation; c) school-based and job-embedded; d) a long-term commitment; e) differentiated; and f) tied to district goals.
References
Fullan, M.G. (2002). The change leader. Educational Leadership, 59(8), 16-20.
National Staff Development Council. (2001). NSDC Standards for Staff Development. Retrieved May 25, 2006 from https://www.nsdc.org/library/standards.
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2 comments:
Stephanie,
You quoted Michael Fullan as saying professional development practices are serving as precursors to educational reform. As a new prinicpal, I am wondering your reaction to this statement. Do you feel you can be effective with out staff development?
Coming out of the classroom this year and serving as a K-2 Liteacy Coach, I am well aware of the importance of professonal development. However, as a former teacher, I feel we are "professional developed" too much. There needs to be a focus and a cohesive vision to all professional developments. The relavance needs to be clear and concise.
Enjoyed this post and your blog!
William
Hello William,
One of the components of being an effective leader is recognizing the need for continuous growth and development. How can we as educators be effective if we are not on a continuous basis, assessing where we are and how we can improve?
Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie
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