professional learning current reality and gsaps review...

RUNNING HEAD: PL REALITY & GSAPS REVIEW 1

Professional Learning Current Reality and GSAPS Review

James Chase-Wegner

PL & Technology Innovation (ITEC 7460)

Kennesaw State University

Summer 2016


Part A: Professional Learning Current Reality

Vision

At P.B. Ritch Middle School (PBRMS) students will access resources through technology as well

as use technology to create real life applications within their learning. We envision the use of

technology as a means to reach students at their appropriate level of proximal development. After

spending time with Christine Carson, PBRMS Principal, one can clearly understand the efforts that are

being made to align future professional learning opportunities with the needs of PBRMS. In the specific

area of technology integration Mrs. Carson stated, “Our goal is to put more technology in kids’ hands

since that is the world we are living and this will get them comfortable with a variety of different

technologies” (personal communication, June 9, 2016). Embedded within this goal is the hope to

improve instructional practices in traditional classrooms and blended formats across our school. To

maximize student achievement and individual growth, technology must be effectively paired with

instructional practices. Technology use within our school include but are not limited to how students

use technology to access content, collaborate with one another, complete project based real world

tasks, review learned material, take assessments, and even reflect on their own learning. Technology is

also key in maintaining parent support and communication here at PBRMS. Technology resources used

on a daily basis throughout our school include Microsoft Applications, Remind, Kahoot, Quizizz, Plickers,

MyOn, school websites, and learning management systems like Edmodo and Canvas. A small group of

our staff has joined a Professional Learning Community focused on using screencasting as a potential

differentiation tool. From a student perspective, the effective use of technology is more engaging than

a traditional approach to education and allows students to utilize technology for real world purposes

outside of gaming and social media, preparing them for future career endeavors. Our administration is

clearly on board with technology initiatives. In regards to communication via technology our

administration has spearheaded a mandatory use of Remind as a weekly communication tool and has


paired this expectation with a weekly communication form which includes lesson, homework, and

assessment expectations for the week. Administration understands the benefits of technology

application tools and building the supply and diversity of our technology devices for teacher check out

within our media center. The partnership between administration and staff benefits all because

technology initiatives require complete buy-in and willingness to sacrifice valuable staff and financial

resources in order to provide the necessary tools and support.

Needs Assessment

At PBRMS there is a mix of data collection that goes into deciding what professional learning

needs the staff has. Professional learning is planned according to teacher request, district wide needs

assessment data, Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) evaluation data, school culture/climate data,

and student achievement data. “We look at what types of professional learning would best help us

achieve our School Improvement Plan goals and initiatives and we consider what types of professional

learning formats would work best for our staff” (C. Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016). Our

school improvement plan (SIP) is designed to provide a focus on specific areas we feel will be most

pivotal in assisting our school in improving student achievement. The SIP is the staff wide non-

negotiables for the upcoming year and its implementation and monitoring for progress are both crucial

for our success as a team at PBRMS.

Through the analysis of assessment data one area we have identified as a major area of concern

is literacy. It has become one of our 2 main focuses on our school improvement plan for next year. All

staff will receive professional development and support in the areas of literacy integration and

differentiation during the next school year. With many students within our population reading below

grade level this initiative will be critical in our school’s future success on both the academic and

behavioral fronts. Student frustration in academics is a proven determiner for increased behavioral


problems. Increasing student achievement in the area of reading will allow more students to be

successful with content standards and allow for increased rigor in the future.

School culture remains one of our SIP goals for the 2016-2017 school year. Next year PBRMS

will be 1 of 6 schools in Paulding County that will become part of the statewide Positive Behavior

Intervention and Supports (PBIS) initiative. For the previous two years we have participated in

professional learning regarding PBIS strategies in an effort to improve school culture and climate. Our

referral totals dropped by 50% from the previous year (C. Nichols, personal communication, May 31,

2016). PBIS data is collected constantly in a proactive effort to see when issues may arise. Behavioral

data is compared to previous years. The PBRMS population is looked at from a variety of angles: whole

school, current grade levels, and student groups. PBIS incentive programs have been a huge part of

lowering behavior issues and in turn decreasing the loss of instructional time for students in our

building. This is an area where schools may not collect large amounts of data beyond referrals

numbers, but can make a world of difference if time is invested.

Professional Learning

After data analysis and development of our SIP, we must then consider professional learning

opportunities that will help achieve those goal and consider what types of professional learning formats

work best for the staff of PBRMS. These formats currently include: model classrooms, offsite

workshops, Title II days, data digs during staff planning, mentoring for new teachers or teachers new to

their content areas, peer observations, collaborative lesson planning, and vertical planning. Teachers

may sign up for offsite professional learning in many areas dealing with technology, instruction, data

analysis, and classroom management through our county’s PD Express system. The Paulding County

School District’s PD Express system allows staff to enroll in planned professional learning sessions, which

are generally held offsite and include instruction that has been identified at the county level as areas of

need. In addition to these initiatives our school houses a county wide “Tech Tuesday” professional


development program. Our county also holds a “Tech Eds” program for 2 staff members within each

school in the county. I am currently offering a professional learning course for staff in our school. This

professional learning focuses on using screencasting tools to improve differentiation opportunities

within traditional classroom instructional times.

At PBRMS professional learning is more often done in smaller group sessions than in whole

group sessions. It is generally done within department or grade level teams to maintain a focus on

content areas, age groups, or student populations. This allows staff to collaborate and apply the

learning to their current and direct needs. It also allows more staff members to have a voice in the

process. Sharing successful strategies with other teachers and administrators is a means of professional

validation through dialogue which creates opportunities for feedback and reflection (Knight, 2007, p. 46-

47).

“Professional learning is rarely done in isolation at PBRMS” (C. Carson, personal communication,

June 9, 2016). Professional learning coincides with our SIP and is done over a period of time instead of

lengthy one shot sit-and-get sessions which are proven to be largely ineffective. Staff members are

asked to demonstrate understanding of professional development by incorporating their learning into

lesson plans that are housed in curriculum notebooks. These curriculum notebooks must be available on

all teacher’s desks during formal and informal walk-throughs. Administration looks to see if teachers are

utilizing new strategies as well as assess the current level of understanding and implementation of the

strategies across the building. In this way administrators act as, “critical friends, simultaneously

providing support and empowering teachers to see areas they can improve” (Knight, 2007, p. 26). These

cycles of data collection allow administrators to design plans for follow-up sessions with team leaders or

the staff as a whole. This type of follow-up is key, because it allows administration to identify those

succeeding in these areas


Follow-up support is offered to all staff in the form of “Coke and Conversation” days, a weekly

opportunity open for any teacher to drop in and have open conversations in a problem solving manner

with other staff and administration. Programs like this allow staff to ask questions and discuss what is

working and not working for them personally. Staff members from all content areas are able to build

relationships with administration and each other during this time which is very important in professional

learning. “If they [staff members] are intimidated by somebody they are not going to have those candid

conversations” (C. Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016). Letting one’s guard down and

becoming open to feedback is an important part of self-discovery and improvement. Teachers wish to

be treated as professionals and achieving growth as a professional is best done as a collaborative effort.

Although teachers and administrators attending “Coke and Conversation” specialize in different content

areas all are treated as equals in the conversations that take place. Knight (2007) states, “Equality does

not mean that coaches and teachers have equal knowledge on every topic, but it does mean that the

collaborating teacher’s opinions are as important as the coaches, and both points of view are worth

hearing” (p. 41).

Individual professional learning takes place within our school for many reasons. Professional

Development Plans (PDP) which assist and hold teachers accountable for identifying specific areas in

which they need to improve upon. Teachers following a PDP are required to engage in professional

learning specifically geared toward improving instructional or professional practices. These specific

areas of needed improvement are normally identified through a combination of TKES data,

formal/informal walkthroughs, and student achievement scores. Teachers that are engaged in

completing a formal PDP are monitored for the completion and implementation of required professional

learning and the intended impact on their instructional or professional practices. Individual staff

members struggling in certain areas but not requiring a PDP may receive coaching by administration at

times or work with administration to develop an informal plan that would assist them in their


professional development. In both of these individualized situations our county wide PD Express

program can be utilized. Many teachers are improving in their professional practices by choice.

Teachers within our building attend annual conferences as participants and/or speakers. Some staff

members are working on advanced degrees through various college programs. Although these

individual methods of professional learning are taking place at PBRMS the professional learning offered

at PBRMS is more collaborative than individual (C. Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016).

“While some professional learning occurs individually, particularly to address individual development

goals, the more one educator's learning is shared and supported by others, the more quickly the culture

of continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and high expectations for students and educators

grows” (Learning Forward, 2015).

Alignment to School Improvement Goals

At PBRMS we have a clear alignment between upcoming professional learning for the 2016-

2017 school year and our School Improvement Plan (SIP). Collected data is showing a growing trend in

below grade level lexile scores amongst our students at PBRMS. Due to this analysis, we have decided

to address this in our 2016-2017 SIP. As stated in the Needs Assessment section PBRMS will be focusing

on two main goals during the upcoming year. The intent of these goals will be to continue to improve in

the areas of school culture and literacy. Literacy will be a new focus while culture has been an ongoing

focus for the previous four years. With so many students reading below grade level and a well-

documented correlation between literacy rates and student achievement, focusing on raising student

literacy rates will provide an excellent opportunity for higher achievement. In previous years, the SIP at

PBRMS focused on culture, rigor, and differentiation. The staff of PBRMS will continue discussing

strategies for improving rigor and depth of knowledge; however, these strategies will not formally be

included in the 2016-2017 SIP. The plan is to maximize professional learning efforts by not

overcommitting to multiple initiatives. According to Knight (2007), “When intervention upon


intervention is served up with no intention to implementation planning, teachers begin to feel

overwhelmed” (4). Once a solid program is in place to raise student lexile scores and we are seeing

desired learning outcomes, rigor and differentiation will return as areas of emphasis in future SIP’s (C.

Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016). New professional learning efforts in the 2016-2017

school year will be dedicated towards assisting all teachers with literacy strategies in their classroom.

Raising the literacy of the students within PBRMS will be a complete school wide effort. Teachers will be

trained to use the MyOn program in their specific content area classes. Teachers will receive training on

tools and strategies for finding standards based texts at various lexile levels. Reaching students slightly

above their reading level is key towards building lexile scores and keeping students engaged in

instruction. If texts are too difficult to read then students may withdraw from the learning. Each

student needs to be pushed to achieve personal growth; therefore, literacy differentiation needs to be

addressed for all students.

Funding and Incentives

As elements of the 2016-2017 SIP teachers will have a vested interest in the improvement of

schoolwide literacy and culture. Teacher’s active SIP participation is further elevated by a desire to

improve their personal teacher effectiveness measure (TEM) as calculated on the TKES platform.

Starting next year teachers will have to create a professional learning goal at the beginning of the year

and part of their TEM score will be measured by its progress. Mrs. Carson shared that in order for

teachers to keep their certificate active in the future they will have to complete school-wide

professional learning and have evidence it was utilized in practice to impact instructional practices

(personal communication, June 9, 2016). “You can have a teacher who is participating in [the]

professional learning, but it is not changing their practice. On one hand with the PSC, if they were up for

renewal they would get a check that yes they participated in professional learning to renew their

certificate for their 5 year cycle. However, they might get an unsatisfactory annual evaluation on their


summative TKES because that professional learning did not remediate the problem” (C. Carson, personal

communication, June 9, 2016). Principals and Superintendents will have to sign off on this satisfactory

completion of professional learning and its effective implementation in instructional practice.

Teachers also receive small personal incentives for participating and implementing PBIS within

our school. The incentives for teachers are currently grade level recognition/bragging rights, jeans days,

and/or duty free lunches. New ideas to incentivize the PBIS program to improve teacher participation

are discussed often within the PBIS committee at PBRMS. Grade levels that earn the most PBIS points

each week earn the coveted Raven’s Cup, trophy that moves from hallway to hallway. An idea recently

discussed included having teachers within the winning grade level choose a teacher to represent them

as a master teacher. This master teacher will gain recognition and allow other teachers to visit his/her

classroom during that week during other teacher’s planning times to observe good instructional

practices. The master teacher might give tokens to visiting teachers for participation in the drop-in

model classroom initiative that could be turned in for points for the visiting teacher’s grade level. An

idea other than tokens would be for teachers to observe and document PBIS/literacy initiatives they

witnessed on a small sheet with predetermined check boxes and a comment section. These data

collection sheets could easily be dropped into our PBIS lead administrator’s mailbox in order to receive

points for their grade level’s PBIS points and would not require the host teacher to break stride to

interact with visiting teachers. This builds into our school day another opportunity for professional

learning to take place at an informal level and for teachers to build their case as a TKES level 4 teacher in

specific areas.

Funding for professional development comes by way of Title II funds, Title IIa funds, and County

Funds. Additional efforts to build funds to support PBIS initiatives are being considered. An idea

currently being considered is forming a community PBIS team in which individual families and

businesses can become sponsors of our PBIS team at our school. Donations can be small or large and


could represent different levels of PBIS team sponsorship. Donations will be used towards schoolwide

PBIS initiatives and incentives.

Diversity

Professional learning currently planned for next year at PBRMS focuses on improving school

culture through PBIS initiatives and increasing the literacy of our students. PBRMS serves a low socio-

economic population with a variety of ethnicities and cultures. We tend to receive new students and

lose students to movement more often than the average school. This mobility factor attributes to the

specific needs of our school. Developing and maintaining a positive school culture is key for meeting the

needs of our student population. The middle school years are important for transitioning students from

traditional elementary school learning environments, which tend to be more teacher centered, to more

of a balance of direct instruction and student led learning. Giving students more control over their

learning is important but must be accompanied with strategies that encourage positive behaviors. Our

PBIS team and a portion of our in-building professional learning efforts will continue to focus on

improving teacher effectiveness by establishing clear protocols and procedures for managing classroom

instructional time, student personalities, and rewarding positive behaviors.

Students in lower socio-economic populations tend to have lower literacy rates. This correlation

remains true at PBRMS. It is the hope of our leadership team that a clear school-wide focus on raising

the reading levels of our students will improve achievement scores in all content areas. Students with

special needs as well as those who do not quite qualify for services will be our main concern in next

year’s literacy initiatives; however, providing lexile based texts are important for all levels of students in

order to raise individual achievement.

Due to our intentional focus on improving our student population’s lexile levels, we do not plan

on incorporating rigor or differentiation as separate SIP goals for the 2016-2017 school year as we have


done in the past. Challenging our population of students by increasing instructional rigor through the

intentional planning of HOTQ’s and DOK level 2-4 learning activities will continue to be an important

part of student learning at PBRMS. We have spent many collaborative planning times, “Data Digs,”

working to improve rigor and differentiation. We had a visit from a RESA representative during this past

school year focusing on data analysis and differentiation strategies in the classroom. Data analysis will

continue to play a part in identifying opportunities for differentiated instruction; however, providing

students with opportunities to read at or slightly above their reading levels at all times will be the focus

of data analysis in the upcoming school year (C. Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016).

Collaboration

Teachers collaborate in many professional learning teams at PBRMS: grade level, department,

vertical teams, leadership, and PBIS centered teams. Each team is important to school improvement

and provides opportunities for collaboration and reflection. Knight (2007) believes, “Reflection is

believing that learning can be enhanced when we have numerous opportunities to consider how what

we’re learning might impact what we have done in the past, what we are doing now, and what we will

be doing in the future” (p.54). Probably two of the most important abilities the human race has been

blessed with are the abilities to reflect on past experiences and collaborate together to create

synergistic outcomes. At PBRMS there are many opportunities for staff collaboration and reflection that

“convene regularly and frequently during the workday to engage in collaborative professional learning

to strengthen their practice and increase student results” (Learning Forward, 2016).

Vertical content teams are important for transitioning our students between grade levels.

Vertical teams maintain a clear focus on the expectations students encounter at the next grade level.

This planning is important and allows the staff of the previous grade to hear what the perceived

strengths and weaknesses of students entering the next grade are in comparison to the requirements of

state standards for students entering that grade level. Teachers are able to speak as content


professionals while meeting as a whole department. Quite often this planning time allows teachers to

build relationships with other staff members teaching similar content as themselves; however, without

this planned time they would not be able to hear concerns and/or assist each other in developing

solutions. Next year these teams will assist each other with strategies for providing leveled content area

reading passages.

Grade level collaboration is key to school wide success. Planning within one’s own grade level

and content area allows teachers to learn and share effective teaching and behavioral strategies that are

age group specific. Students at the middle school level are very developmentally different from year to

year. This collaboration time allows administration to visit grade level and or content collaboration

meetings, discuss professional learning efforts, and witness how those efforts are directly impacting the

specific needs of students within those grade levels. “Monitoring the impact of professional learning

initiatives on teacher instructional practice is key to meeting the goals of the School Improvement Plan”

(C. Carson, personal communication, June 9, 2016).

The PBIS committee meets to review behavioral data, discuss trends, evaluate the overall

effectiveness of current PBIS incentive programs, and consider future program ideas for PBIS. This

group’s collaboration is key as student behavior can positively or negatively impact each moment of the

day.

We have an excellent administration at PBRMS which is very important in maintaining the

morale and longevity of a consistent staff. Even with a solid administration in place, we had around 10

staff members leave our school this year for various reasons. With a staff of around 40 this is near a

25% change over. The key to the future success of new staff members is providing them with good

leadership from the onset of the 2016-2017 school year. At PBRMS we are continually looking to build

more leaders within our school. Mrs. Carson has done a phenomenal job of continually working to


increase the participation of teachers involved in school-wide leadership. Having many people involved

in leadership distributes the work load and makes it easier for administration to gain buy-in when a new

county wide or school based initiative needs to be rolled out. When people are invested in the indirect

decision making process and have a voice they are more apt to go along with and speak positively about

new initiatives that may seem like more work at the time but are beneficial.

Evaluation

At PBRMS we have a list of lesson plan non-negotiables. These non-negotiables are meant to

create a clear school wide plan for instructional practices and a consistent method for managing the

learning environment. A mandatory three part lesson, the intentional planning for HOTQ’s, and a

purposeful attempt to differentiate instruction based on data analysis must be included in lesson plans.

The impact of professional learning on teacher practice and student learning at PBRMS is in part

evaluated through mandatory curriculum notebooks containing these lesson plans and are reviewed

during TKES observations. Informal visits are equally important to the success of professional learning

initiatives tied to our SIP. Mrs. Carson shares, “I’ll take my lap top into a classroom and sit. I may be

reading a professional article or responding to some emails, but I’m still hearing and seeing these

practices” (personal communication, June 9, 2016). Knight (2007) discusses the idea of “Reciprocity”

and how “every learning experience we create provides as much chance for us to learn as it does for our

learning partners” (p. 54). This practice of visiting classrooms in an informal way creates more

opportunities for Mrs. Carson to observe and reflect on the professional practices of her staff. She may

find a combination of grows and glows during her visit; moreover, she has taken advantage of another

opportunity to assist her teachers with their professional growth in an informal way.

Other data sets are considered for evaluation of professional learning impact. Student Climate

and Instructional Practice Surveys are utilized to see trends in implementation and effectiveness of

professional learning. Student growth percentiles, county benchmarks, and unit pre/post test scores


indirectly show the impact of professional learning. PBIS data, incentives, and strategies are keeping

more students in the classroom during instructional time and giving our administrators more time to

monitor progress of academic achievement goals.


References

Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Thousand

Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Learning Forward. (2016). Standards for professional learning. Retrieved from

https://learningforward.org/standards

P. B. Ritch Middle School. (2016). School improvement plan 2016-2017. Dallas, GA. Paulding County

Schools.


Part B: GSAPS Review

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

The means by which teachers, administrators, and other staff acquire, enhance, and refine the knowledge,

skills, practices, and dispositions necessary to create and support high levels of learning for all students.

Professional Learning Standard 1: Aligns professional learning with needs identified through analysis of a variety of data

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Professional learning needs

are identified and

differentiated through a

collaborative analysis

process using a variety of

data (e.g., student

achievement data,

examination of student work,

process data, teacher and

leader effectiveness data,

action research data,

perception data from

students, staff, and families).

Ongoing support is provided

through differentiated

professional learning.


are identified through a

collaborative analysis

process using a variety of

data (e.g., student

achievement data,

examination of student work,

process data, teacher and

leader effectiveness data,

action research data,

perception data from

students, staff, and families).


are identified using limited

sources of data.


are identified using little or

no data.

EVIDENCE:

We use many different forms of data as we can to guide professional learning choices at PBRMS. We use perception data,

leader effectiveness data, teacher effectiveness data, and student achievement data (standardized and local formative). We are

definitely using more than limited data, which the word (limited) is hard to quantify. We have used recent data to determine

our SIP goals for the upcoming year and in doing so have decided to focus our efforts on continuing to build a positive school

culture and make a school wide effort to significantly impact our students’ ability to read on or above grade level during the

upcoming year.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

We need to do a better job of examining of student work for data analysis during professional learning and collaborative

planning opportunities. Using those real time examples of informal and formative assessments would improve collaboration

within our learning communities.

Implement a professional learning needs assessment survey at PBRMS in future years.

We could look at finding ways to increase differentiated professional learning opportunities. This is very difficult within a

smaller staff due to the resources of our smaller school. The human capital that is required to lead individual or small group

initiatives will require more staff members to step up to guide professional development efforts within the school. Teachers

that lead these smaller professional learning groups will then be engaged in leading and may find it difficult to obtain the

professional learning they need to move forward. One possible idea that would allow all to grow would be to implement

different book studies each year that would allow leaders to guide the smaller groups within the building. My only concern

with this type of professional learning is the possibility that there could be a lack of implementation beyond the reading and

conversation within the study groups. A lack of implementation in instructional practices would cause of negative impact of

these book studies as they would take up valuable planning and collaboration time, but learned strategies would night no be

utilized in the classroom. Time may be better spent focusing on school wide initiatives that are guaranteed to be monitored

for implementation and student impact.


Professional Learning Standard 2: Establishes a culture of collaboration among administrators and staff to enhance

individual and collective performance

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Administrators and staff, as

a foundational practice,

consistently collaborate to

support leadership and

personal accountability and

to enhance individual and

collective performance (e.g.,

construct knowledge,

acquire skills, refine

practice, provide feedback).

Teachers conduct action

research and assume

ownership of professional

learning processes.

Administrators and staff

routinely collaborate to

improve individual and



















EVIDENCE:

TKES observational data and comments.

Collaborative: Administrators and staff working collaboratively during professional learning through model classrooms,

offsite workshops, Title II days, data digs during staff planning, mentoring for new teachers or teachers new to their content

areas, peer observations, grade level, content area planning, and vertical planning.

Individual: Teachers may sign up for offsite professional learning in many areas dealing with technology, instruction, data

analysis, and classroom management through our county’s PD Express system

Teachers conducting personal informal action research and taking ownership over the professional learning process to better

their instructional practices and content knowledge. Staff members pursuing advanced degrees. Science teachers going to

West Georgia this summer for a workshop. Staff going to STEM training this summer. Staff involved with “Tech Eds” group

in PCSD.

Professional learning is fully supported by administration and includes requirements for implementation and monitoring.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Assist teachers with strategies for analyzing personal strengths and weakness in their instructional strategies and content

knowledge.

Continue to build a learning community where one’s efforts to improve and share with others is celebrated.

Encourage and support teachers’ efforts to seek out additional professional development through financial assistance for

substitutes and/or associated fees.

Encourage and support teachers’ efforts to seek out additional professional development by working with teachers to find

additional on-site and offsite opportunities for personal growth.


Professional Learning Standard 3: Defines expectations for implementing professional learning

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Administrators, teacher

leaders, or both consistently

define expectations for the

implementation of

professional learning,

including details regarding

the stages of implementation

and how monitoring will

occur as implementation

progresses.


leaders, or both regularly


implementation of



leaders, or both occasionally


implementation of



leaders, or both rarely, if

ever, define expectations for

the implementation of


EVIDENCE:

The PBRMS SIP contains our areas of focus for professional learning for the year it is tied to. All teachers are given the SIP

at the beginning of the year. It is reviewed during pre-planning as well as throughout the year during staff meetings and

leadership meetings. Administration completes and shares a weekly calendar of events and highlights and elements of the

school improvement plan as well as professional learning opportunities for that week are included. Administration monitors

SIP goals throughout the year and makes decisions to adjust the SIP and/or professional learning if certain goals of the SIP are

in jeopardy of not being met.

An example of increasing monitoring efforts occurred in 2014-2015 when administration decided to try mini-data retreats for

the first time with the entire staff during early release days to look at data closely and evaluate the current SIP. This process

was very engaging and happened in the 3rd year of the schools existence and the first with a new principal. By creating this

opportunity to share and collaborate in regards to achievement and behavioral data allowed many current and future teacher

leaders within the school to gain more knowledge about our school and the SIP process. This created a much higher level of

buy-in for staff members and made future initiatives more impactful.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Verbally define rational for and intended outcomes of professional development more often at the onset of professional

learning opportunities.

Plan tentative professional learning calendar for the year before staff returns. Share schedule with teacher leaders in the

building to help them understand the different stages of professional learning for the upcoming year.

Plan goals for implementation and monitoring before professional learning is rolled out. This idea mirrors a backward design

for learning we expect our teachers to undergo in their classrooms. A plan for how professional learning will be implemented

and monitored from start will allow administrators and teachers in the building to understand the intended outcomes

throughout the learning of this new information.


Professional Learning Standard 4: Uses multiple professional learning designs to support the various learning needs of the

staff

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Staff members actively

participate in job-embedded

professional learning that

engages collaborative teams

in a variety of appropriate

learning designs (e.g.,

collaborative lesson study,

analysis of student work,

problem solving sessions,

curriculum development,

coursework, action research,

classroom observations,

online networks).

Professional learning

includes extensive follow-up

with descriptive feedback

and coaching.

Staff members actively

participate in professional

learning, most of which is

job-embedded, which

includes multiple designs

(e.g., collaborative lesson

study, analysis of student

work, problem-solving

sessions, curriculum

development, coursework,

action research, classroom

observations, online

networks) to support their

various learning needs.

Professional learning

includes follow-up with

feedback and coaching.

Some staff members are

engaged in professional

learning that makes use of

more than one learning

design to address their

identified needs.

Staff members receive

single, stand-alone

professional learning events

that are informational and

mostly large-group

presentation designs.

EVIDENCE:

Collaborative: Administrators and staff working collaboratively during professional learning through model classrooms,

offsite workshops, Title II days, data digs during staff planning, mentoring for new teachers or teachers new to their content

areas, peer observations, grade level, content area planning, and vertical planning.

Individual: Teachers may sign up for offsite professional learning in many areas dealing with technology, instruction, data

analysis, and classroom management through our county’s PD Express system

Teachers conducting personal informal action research and taking ownership over the professional learning process to better

their instructional practices and content knowledge. Staff members pursuing advanced degrees. Science teachers going to

West Georgia this summer for a workshop. Staff going to STEM training this summer. Staff involved with “Tech Eds” group

in PCSD.

Follow-up and feedback is present, but is not extensive and always as descriptive as it could be.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Find ways to improve on follow-up and feedback strategies in regards to professional learning. Be intentional in providing

opportunities for follow-up and feedback.


Professional Learning Standard 5: Allocates resources and establishes systems to support and sustain effective professional

learning

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Extensive resources (e.g.,

substitute teachers, materials,

handouts, tools, stipends,

facilitators, technology) and

systems (e.g., conducive

schedules, adequate

collaborative time, model

classrooms) are allocated to

support and sustain effective


Opportunities to practice

skills, receive follow-up,

feedback, and coaching are

provided to support the

effectiveness of professional

learning.

Adequate resources (e.g.,

substitute teachers,

materials, handouts, tools,

stipends, facilitators,

technology) and systems

(e.g., conducive schedules,

adequate collaborative time,

model classrooms) are in

place to support and sustain


Some resources and systems

are allocated to support and

sustain professional

learning.

Few, if any, resources and

systems are provided to

support and sustain


EVIDENCE:

Common Drive for shared digital documents.

Help Desk application for Technology Issues or PL requests on every computer desktop.

Daily common planning times for grade level meetings.

Half day professional learnings are scheduled for vertical planning opportunities.

Title II and IIa funds are utilized for various on and off site professional learning.

Model classrooms are established in our school.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Provide more opportunities for follow-up and feedback.

Provide more opportunities for in building coaching.

Continue to grow in building leaders to assist with coaching/mentoring opportunities.


Professional Learning Standard 6: Monitors and evaluates the impact of professional learning on staff practices and student

learning

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Monitoring and evaluating

the impact of professional

learning on staff practices

and increases in student

learning occurs extensively.

Evaluation results are used

to identify and implement

processes to extend student

learning.




and student learning occurs

routinely.




occurs sporadically.




occurs rarely, if ever.

EVIDENCE:

At PBRMS we monitor the impact of PBIS on our school culture though data collected from current and previous years in the

areas of referral numbers, loss of instructional time, and Ravens Cash distributed to and utilized by students.

We do monitor for certain professional learning initiatives through informal and formal observations. A specific set of non-

negotiables are required in staff curriculum notebooks. The direct impact on student learning is not always known and may

be hard to quantify at times.

We do not routinely monitor and evaluate the impact of many professional learning initiatives for staff implementation and

their overall effectiveness of raising student achievement.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Routinely monitor the impact of professional learning strategies.

Consider how professional learning initiatives will be assessed throughout the school year. Determine what successful

implementation and impact will look like and how it can be measured. After these outcomes are finalized create a clear

metric for evaluation purposes.

Once strategies for determining the effectiveness of professional learning initiatives on student achievement are present we

need to intentionally and routinely gather data in these areas.


KSU ITEC Professional Learning Standard: Professional learning reinforces educators’ understanding and use of

strategies for promoting equity and high expectations for all students, application of research-based teaching strategies and

assessment processes, and involvement of families and other stakeholders in promoting student learning.

Level 4

Exemplary

Level 3

Operational

Level 2

Emerging

Level 1

Not Evident

Classroom practices (e.g.,

considering interests,

backgrounds, strengths, and

preferences to provide

meaningful, relevant lessons

and assess student progress,

differentiating instruction,

and nurturing student

capacity for self-

management) of all teachers

reflect an emotionally and

physically safe environment

where respect and

appreciation for a diverse

population is evident. There

are high achievement

expectations for all students

and teachers. The principal

and other leaders provide

professional learning for

teachers lacking

understanding of the impact

that attitudes regarding race,

disabilities, background,

culture, high expectations,

and social class of both

students and teachers have

on the teaching and learning

process.

Classroom practices of most

teachers reflect skill in

communicating high

expectations for each student

and adjusting classroom

activities to meet student

needs. Respect for students’

cultures and life experiences

is evident through the

emotionally and physically

safe learning environment

where students of diverse

backgrounds and experiences

are taught the school code of

conduct (customs) to help

them be successful in the

school context.

Classroom practices of some

teachers reflect evidence of

teachers’ training in

understanding the impact







process.

Classroom practices reflect

little or no evidence of

teachers’ training in

understanding the impact







process.

EVIDENCE:

Schoolwide diversity is highly considered in all decisions here at PBRMS as seen in our SIP. Professional learning at

PBRMS addresses the specific needs of students and staff. This is an area in which we are growing and improving upon.

Curriculum notebook and lesson plan non-negotiables. (Differentiation through Data-Analysis/ Emphasis on Higher Order

Thinking Questions and Activities requiring higher levels of Depth of Knowledge(DOK))

School climate and instructional practice TKES surveys.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Teachers identified through the TKES process as “lacking understanding of the impact that attitudes regarding race,

disabilities, background, culture, high expectations, and social class of both students and teachers have on the teaching and

learning process” PL can be provided by creating individual PD 360 account so that these teachers can pursue growth in these

individual areas. These accounts are available for staff within the district by administrator request. Building level EAC’s

currently have accounts, but individual staff accounts must be requested.

Continue to bolster efforts in communicating school-wide focuses, gathering feedback and input, and providing opportunities

for the inclusion of all stakeholders in all stages of future SIP development.

professional learning current reality and gsaps review...

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