What you need to know about changes in state requirements for professional development
SB 458 gives the commissioner significant authority to determine the professional development plans for schools The use of Continuing Education Units will be discontinued although many of the requirements tracked by the current CEU system will be retained Shift from workshop, whole group, seat time orientation to individual, personalized, and job-embedded models
The Commissioner will establish a professional development program in reading instruction for teachers. This will support teachers who will need to take a reading instruction exam Exact focus will be tied to student performance on reading assessments Training will be job-embedded and local Focus will be on model classroom practices and scientifically-based research that will be expected to be observed
Districts must offer 18 hours to certified employees at no cost Designed to foster collective responsibility for student performance (data teams, professional learning communities, book or lesson study) In-house expertise as much as possible Individually, in groups, job-embedded Focused on best practice High priority to reading, literacy & numeracy, cultural awareness
Administrators need to complete 15 hours in teacher evaluation training every 5 years All elementary endorsements need to complete 15 hours in reading, reading readiness, and reading assessment every 5 years All elementary, middle, and secondary endorsements need 15 hours of technology training (or pass a competency test) every 5 years Content specific training in subjects that they teach Training on the teacher evaluation model
No more extensions for educators who were unemployed Professional certificate holders do not need to attest that they have completed 90 hours for each five year period Orientation towards customized, job-specific, job-embedded training rather than seat time in workshop formats Elimination of coding process and minimum length of training session State can audit districts, not individuals