1. Teacher Professional Development Planning: A Model of Vertical Collaboration

2. Today’s Work 1. New requirements for the teacher’s PDP
2. The optional PDP template –
3. A consensus-building conversation in the PDP review: you design it

3. New Requirements for Teacher PDP
Aligned with the New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers (N.J.A.C. 6A:9-3.3 proposed) and  the New Jersey Standards for Professional Learning. (N.J.A.C. 6A: )
Created within 30 instructional days of the teacher’s teaching assignment
At least 20 hours of professional learning annually
Reviewed each year; developed by the teacher’s supervisor in consultation with the teacher
A corrective action plan (CAP) replaces the PDP for teachers rated ineffective or partially effective
Includes:
Needs identified in the annual performance evaluation
Links to team, school and/or district goals, as appropriate
Any requirements for professional development stipulated in statute or regulation

4. Optional Teacher PDP Template
Plan Sections:
Areas Identified for Development of Professional Practice
Professional Learning Goals and Activities (includes initial & follow-up activities, hours and completion date)
District and School Support
PDP Progress Summary
BLANK AND SAMPLE are posted online for teacher & supervisor to use or modify
– Much thought given to confidentiality – new regulations & initiatives are not meant to erode confidentiality
- some schools where trust is high more transparency – but teachers control how tightly want to guard confidential info.
I. PL Needs identified by the evaluation, other evidence the teacher & supervisor use (e.g. student data, surveys, etc.)
II. LIST goals &the learning activities, # of hours to be earned & date completed
*** Initial & follow-up - standards call for job-embedded learning not “once and done” approach
III. Regs require that teachers have support for professional growth from district and school leadership - narrative
2 PARTS -Interim progress description (mid-year – could combine w/round 2 of observation conference)
Important b/c leaving behind old paradigm, PDP is living document and learning is ongoing, continuous
Final progress summary
Usually end of year when new goals are set by supervisor & teacher
We will work on this conference today – explore how conversation can be truly
COLLABORATIVE ,CONSENSUS BUILDING & EMPOWER teachers
(ScIP designed to ensure teacher voice is part of decision making –all contributions are valuable, but teacher is critical)

5. “Ideal, professional, working communities
“Ideal, professional, working communities [are] cultures where teachers develop the capacity to engage in honest talk, challenging disagreement and accepting responsibility without assigning blame.” Lieberman & Miller (2008) “. . . Knowledge workers People like teachers who think for a living are paid to reflect, and when someone else does the thinking for them, knowledge workers resist.” Jim Knight (July 2013) “The most effective schools had developed an unusually high degree of “relational trust” among their stakeholders . University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Literature supports relationships, trust, collaboration & collective responsibility for student success.
Citations are on last slides
University of Chicago: study of data , 400 Chicago elem schools (using advanced statistical methods, they identified the organizational traits and processes that can predict whether a school is likely to show above-avg improvement)
Knight – Learning Forward conf keynote
Lieberman & Miller – research quoted in Stanford study featuring New Jersey PLC schools

6. Collaborative Conversations
Role play a “PDP review” conversation between a teacher and a supervisor.
(not about evaluation; focused on PD)
Find a partner at your table.
Decide who will play teacher / supervisor & who will begin the conversation.
Become familiar with the Portfolio Artifacts list.
Use the PDP Review worksheet to think about topics for the conversation.
( 6-8 minutes)
Follow the steps on the next slide.
NOTE: This role play does not include a discussion about the evaluation rating – can refer to eval data as discuss PD needs.
See handouts -
Sample PDP plan
Worksheet used to plan discussion.
Portfolio artifacts: a list of various planning and instructional products or documents that reflect your practice – can be used for many purposes: (1)your own self-reflection on practice, (2) to help assess your progress toward PD goals, (3) to share w/a supervisor information to inform the PDP review or evaluation.
STRIVE FOR EQUITY - each perspective is respected/valued and consensus is the goal (or you can live with decisions).

7. Collaborative Conversations
Explain some of the data/artifacts you brought to the review and how they should/can inform the PDP.
Discuss the evidence gathered from the teacher’s annual evaluation and how this evidence informs next year’s PDP.
Discuss the progress toward meeting the current PDP goals and how this progress informs next year’s goals.
Discuss professional learning activities that will enable to teacher meet the goals and improve his/her practice.
Reach consensus if possible OR agree that you can live with the decisions reached collaboratively.
(13 minutes)
Before we start,LOOK AT PDP WORKSHEET
Jot down topics you think should be discussed
– be sure to note topics you intend to bring up
-- plan your strategy or approach

8. ----------------------------
Use the note card to write your take-away(s).
(2 minutes)
At your table, each pair shares w/the group impressions from the role play:
What did you see with fresh eyes?
What contributed to your attaining consensus?
What would you do the same/differently in an actual PDP review?
(10 minutes)
Generally, what can you take away that will help engender & sustain vertical collaboration (collapsing roles) that leads to better decisions and better outcomes for teacher professional growth?
END OF TABLE – large group debrief:
Key take-aways?
BACK IN your district:
Is any teacher thinking of having a talk with your supervisor or supervisor having a talk w/teachers about how these reviews can reflect true collaboration / the best thinking of both / a better outcome because it was a collective effort?

9. When evaluation systems for teachers incorporate performance standards for the instructional practices required to achieve the content standards, and when evaluation systems for leaders are based on leadership performance standards that integrate instructional leadership, shared leadership, and collective responsibility, evaluation systems serve as a lever for advancing implementation of the standards and use of assessment data to realize high levels of student learning. Standards-based professional learning is the lynchpin for systems to achieve this goal.
Professional Learning Drives Common Core and Educator Evaluation. Learning Forward, February 2014.
The PDP conversation within the context of evaluation can feel good and be good for teachers & our students.

10. Wrap Up
Take-aways?
It takes everyone to educate children well – if we are partners, not adversaries, we’ll be successful.

11. Research Cited
Lieberman, A. & Miller, L. (2008). Teachers in professional communities: improving teaching and learning. New York: Teachers College Press, p. 18. (as quoted in Mindich, D. & Lieberman, A. (2012). Building a learning community: A tale of two schools. Stanford, CA: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, p. 5.) University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research. Organizing Schools for Improvement. A study from demographic and testing data from 1990 through 2005 in 400 Chicago elementary schools. Jim Knight, Keynote: Learning Forward Conference, 2013.

12. Resources
Professional Learning Drives Common Core and Educator Evaluation. (February 2014). Learning Forward. DuFour, R. and R. Marzano. (2011). Leaders of Learning. Solution-Tree. Fullan, M. and A. Hargreaves. (2012). Professional Capital. Teachers College Press, Columbia University. Linking Teacher Evaluation to Professional Development. (May 2012). National Comprehensive Center on Teacher Quality.