1. Professional Development Plan for Austin Elementary
Concordia University Texas
EDAD 5353
Karen Deleon
Dr. Darla Massey-Jones

2. What is High-Quality Professional Development?
According to Speck & Knipe (2005), “High-quality professional development is a sustained collaborative learning process that systematically nourishes the growth of educators through adult learner-centered, job-embedded processes” (pp.3-4).

3. Elements of High-Quality of Professional Development
Assesses Needs
Establishes Goals
Centers on Learner
Sustains Growth
Requires Resources
Evaluates Progress to Goals
These are the six essential elements of high-quality professional development which focus on improving student achievement (Speck & Knipe, 2005).

4. Professional Development Plan: Assessing 4th Grade Students’ Needs
Teachers’ Expressed Needs:
Low editing and revising skills
Students did not know
how to begin a composition
Student Achievement
Data Analysis:
Campus STAAR Writing = 59%
State STAAR Writing = 70%
Speck and Knipe (2005) explain that a professional development plan may be identified by the following two items:
Teachers’ expressed professional development needs
Analysis of student achievement data will identify areas of strength and weakness
“Meaningful analysis that requires teachers and leaders to see patterns and trends provides for understanding and informed decision making about professional development needs and plans” (Speck & Knipe, 2005, p.10).

5. Professional Development Plan: Establishes Goals
Due to the low 4th Grade STAAR Writing test scores across the district as a whole with the lowest TEKs (20B, 15C, 15D) focusing on editing and revising, Harlingen C.I.S.D. set a goal to increase student writing passing rates on the 4th Grade STAAR Writing test.
Speck and Knipe (2005) explain that a professional development plan must have a single purpose, such as increasing student achievement in a certain content area. The authors explain that this “… ensures … you are pursuing a goal with a focused intent over an extended period of time” (Speck & Knipe, 2005, p.89).

6. Professional Development Plan: Sustains Growth
Professional Learning Community (PLC) = every other week
Grade Level Meetings = monthly meetings at a minimum
Faculty Meetings = every other week
The authors explain that it is important to have a reasonable timeline to effectively implement a professional development plan (Speck & Knipe, 2005).
The learning community must be able to collaborate, evaluate and reflect on the data, make inquiries, and discuss the outcomes of the professional development (Speck & Knipe, 2005).
“Educators need quality time to master new strategies and new learning by practicing… reflecting on these practices, and refining their learning” (Speck & Knipe, 2005, p.15).
1. Professional Learning Community (PLC) = every other week
- Grade levels meet to discuss learned strategies and data analysis
2. Grade Level Meetings = monthly meetings at a minimum
- More focused data analysis
- Teachers’ perspectives on student progress discussed
- Resources discussed
- Campus strategies refined
3. Faculty Meetings = every other week
- Assessment results shared
- Goals & strategies discussed

7. Professional Development Plan: Requires Resources
First Target Audience: All 4th Grade Writing teachers
Required Tools:
Harlingen C.I.S.D. Writing Academy Training, Spring of 2016
Harlingen C.I.S.D. 2nd Writing Academy Training, Spring 2017
District Mandatory Writing Training, February 2017
Two areas must be considered regarding resources for professional development:
The target audience, experienced vs. beginning teachers. Not all teachers posses the same skill level. Therefore, the level of depth of training to implement new strategies vary.
Required tools such as seminars, coaching, graphics, videos, Web sites, learning strategies, timely assessments, and / or physical movement activities must be explored.
“Teachers need rich examples, modeling, practice, … coaching… and opportunities for colleague feedback and refinement” (Speck and Knipe, 2005, p.14).
Required Tools:
1. Harlingen C.I.S.D. Writing Academy Training, Spring of 2016
- Carmen Alvarez, Early Literacy Specialist
- Schawn Wreden, ELAR District Specialist
2. Harlingen C.I.S.D. 2nd Writing Academy Training, Spring 2017
- Schawn Wreden
3. District Mandatory Writing Training, February 2017

8. Professional Development Plan: Requires Resources continued…
Required Tools continued…
Writing Academy Strategies
1. Brainstorm: “Funnel”
2. Introduction
3. Body
4. Conclusion
Writing Academy Strategies
1. Brainstorm: “Funnel” = Focus on 3 things and select one you would like to talk about
2. Introduction = Funnel
3. Body = 1 reason why or how + 1 Splash
Splash CAFE
C (Caution) = make reader aware of something
A (Anecdote) = something the writer remembers
F (Fact) = Example: “Research shows that…”
E (Example / Scenario)
4. Conclusion = include feeling or lesson learned

9. Professional Development Plan: Requires Resources continued…
Required Tools continued…
Writing Academy Revising & Editing Techniques = Use GLUE
1. Go
2. Look
3. Underline
4. See
Writing Academy Revising & Editing Techniques
1. Go = Go straight to the questions. Do not read the story first.
2. Look = Think about what they want you to do & Look in the story to find the answer.
3. Underline = Key words
4. See = Which answer choice makes sense

10. Professional Development Plan: Requires Resources continued…
Required Tools continued…
Small Writing Groups Strategy
- Writing Strategies by Mrs. Ingram (Counselor & previous 4th Grade Writing
teacher)
- Editing / Revising Practice by Mrs. Montemayor (Paraprofessional)
- Wednesday Writers by Miss Eunice’s (Music teacher)
Small Writing Groups were added as a strategy to assist building students’ writing skills.

11. Professional Development Plan: Evaluates Progress to Goals
4th Grade Assessments
th Grade STAAR Writing 75% passing rate
Campus Formative Assessment (CFAs)
#1 = 69.6%
#5 = 79.3%
#7 = 88.1% (District = 80.1%)
“A solid evaluation instrument helps determine if the strategy needs to be continued, refined, discarded, or replaced with more effective ways of accomplishing the goal” (Speck & Knipe, 2005, p.94).

12. Professional Development Plan: Assessing 3rd Grade Students’ Needs
Teachers’ Expressed Needs:
No Writing training provided to 3rd Grade Teachers
3rd Grade Students have low
writing skills
Student Achievement
Data Analysis:
DCA #1 = 4.0 % passing rate
DCA #2 = 9.8 % passing rate
Speck and Knipe’s (2005) two items help identify a Professional Development Plan:
Teachers’ expressed needs: 3rd Grade Teachers expressed desire to be trained on Writing Academy Strategies
Student achievement data: 3rd Grade Writing District Common Assessments (DCAs) indicate low performance

13. Proposed Professional Development Plan
Establishes Goals:
Due to low 3rd Grade’s low performance scores on Writing DCAs, Austin Elementary’s goal is to increase 3rd Grade students’ writing passing rates.
Sustains Growth:
PLCs
Grade Level Meetings
Faculty Meetings
Growth will be sustained through the following:
1. Professional Learning Community (PLC) = every other week
- Grade levels review writing strategies and analyze data
2. Grade Level Meetings = monthly
- Analyze data
- Discuss Teachers’ perspectives on student progress
- Discuss Resources
- Refine Campus strategies
3. Faculty Meetings = every other week
- Share assessment results
- Discuss Goals & strategies

14. Proposed Professional Development Plan continued…
Required Resources:
Second Target Audience: All 3rd Grade teachers
Required Tools:
Writing Academy Training by District Personnel
Writing Academy Training by campus 4th Grade Teachers
Evaluates Progress:
Writing DCAs
(Fall & Spring)
Required Resources::
3rd Grade Teachers will be trained to utilize Writing Academy strategies and techniques. Trainings can be conducted both off campus by district personnel and on campus by previously trained 4th Grade teachers.
Evaluates Progress:
Writing DCAs will be utilized to determine if the Writing Academy strategies should continue to be used, require refining, be discarded, or be replaced in order to accomplish the campus’ goal.

15. Reference
Mrs. Aleshire, 3rd Grade Teacher, personal communication, February 7, 2017 Mrs. Cervantes, 4th Grade Teacher, personal communication, January 31, 2017 Mrs. Esquivel, 4th Grade Teacher, personal communication, January 31, 2017 Mrs. Gonzalez, Principal, personal communication, January, 30, 2017 Mrs. Perkins, 3rd Grade Teacher, personal communication, February 7, 2017 Mrs. Rodriguez, Assistant Principal, personal communication, January 30, 2017 Mrs. Swope, Instructional Coach, personal communication, February 23, 2017 Speck, M. & Knipe, C. (2005). Why Can’t We Get It Right? Designing High-Quality Professional Development for Standards- Based Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Texas Education Agency Texas Academic Performance Report. Retrieved from le=2016+Texas+Academic+Performance+Reports&_program=perfrept.perfmast.sas&prgopt=2016%2Ftapr%2 Ftapr.sas&ptype=P&level=campus&search=campname&namenum=Austin&campus= Texas Education Agency Texas Academic Performance Report. Retrieved from le=2015+Texas+Academic+Performance+Reports&_program=perfrept.perfmast.sas&prgopt=2015%2Ftapr%2 Ftapr.sas&ptype=P&level=campus&search=campname&namenum=Austin&campus=