Signature Assignment: Plan for Continuous Improvement

This course has discussed many important topics and modalities of professional development in your school's professional learning community.

Create a plan for each of the following approaches to professional learning: schoolwide, grade-level or department, and individual. Design the plan for implementation during the first 16 weeks of school.

Assume that you have, during this plan, 1 hour every week of embedded professional development time, which is early release for faculty and staff. Outline what topics your plan will address.

There should be evidence of inclusion of your state's academic standards and preparation for your statewide standardized testing, such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and so forth. For each topic, break down the number of weeks it will take to complete professional development or identify if this is an ongoing topic.

1. Needs assessment: Analyze and summarize findings from the assessment. Write a 350- to 700-word summary of your assessment, addressing each component of your professional development plan and justify how the plans promote meaningful experiences that align with the school, grade level or department, and the individual.

Your summary must include the following:

a. Multiple models of professional development

b. Data used in the needs analysis: systematic observation, information about learners, and research

c. Focus area or topic for each staff development plan

d. Outline for implementation to include approximate timeline with hours per week

e. Brief statement of how the professional development will further the goals of your school site

f. Brief statement of how the professional development will further the school's mission and vision

2. Professional development plan

a. Develop a schoolwide (or other educational setting) professional development plan that addresses the following:

1) An area for schoolwide professional development, based on the results from your needs assessment, that aligns with school goals

2) The model of professional development used to implement the plan and how it lends to colleague collaboration

3) Implementation timeline

4) Who is responsible for providing training to the staff

b. Develop a grade-level or department professional development plan to address one of the needs identified by your needs analysis. This might include, but is not limited to, study group professional inquiry teams, book study, or peer coaching. Include the following:

1) An area for study

2) Implementation timeline

3) A protocol for examining student work, inquiry team, or peer coaching with debrief and next steps included

4) Discussion of what data or student work may be utilized for the grade-level plan:

This plan should include reflective practice for the participants, how it would improve teaching or understanding of content for all learners, and how it would affect student learning and the professional development plan.

c. Develop four one-on-one coaching plans with four different teachers on your staff or appropriate members in your educational setting: one veteran, one new, one highly effective, and one ineffective teacher. Identify which coaching approaches for individual learning you will utilize.

1) Discuss what data or student work you would review to decide on a coaching focus.

2) Outline the coaching focus for an area of refinement and reinforcement.

3) Include an implementation of the coaching cycle: weekly, bi-weekly, and so on

4) Include coaching components: focus, planning, pre-brief, observation, debrief, and reflection.

5) Include reflective practice for the participating teacher: How would the coaching improve student learning? How would coaching affect classroom instruction? How does the individual learning affect the professional development plan?

3. Create an orientation to the professional development calendar for your faculty and staff.

a. Provide a Microsoft® PowerPoint, Prezi, or other multimedia presentation.

b. Provide all handouts and materials necessary for the orientation, at least 30-45 minutes in length

c. Provide a copy of the calendar or chart you will give staff to outline professional development. Include dates, times, topics, and who will be facilitating development. This must be for the first 16 weeks of school.versity of Phoenix Material Signature Assignment.