Fostering Standards-Based Professional Development
In this week’s Discussion, you and your colleagues had an opportunity
to learn from one another about Learning Forward’s Standards for Staff Development and to consider how these standards will help guide professional learning at your school.
Based on the Learning Resources and activities this week, compose a written assignment titled “Standards-Based Professional Development” (Word document) that addresses the following:
Identify four or more Learning Forward standards on which to focus. Explain how and why each is aligned to a content, process, or context area.
Provide a rationale for why these are important standards for your school to work toward in order to become a more effective learning community. Include opportunities and challenges at your school related to these standards.
Share insights and “aha” moments you have had about standards-based professional development.
Using the metaphor of a journey, describe in two or more sentences for each standard how the standard will guide your school’s efforts and improve teaching and learning. For each standard, begin with “The ________ standard will take us from ____ to______.”
Supporting a Learning School
This week, you will provide information to your learning team about the knowledge and skills necessary to support institutional growth as a professional learning community.
First, complete the following:
Explore the outcomes provided in the Learning School Innovation Configuration Map multimedia (also provided in Becoming a Learning School and as Tool 14.5 on the Companion CD).
Choose two outcome areas from the list below that are most relevant to your school’s needs. (While it is important to consider all of the outcomes in the IC map, for this assignment, you will focus on only two.) Explain how the outcomes you selected align to school and/or district goals.
Based on your current role, identify the skills and knowledge that you need to support the development of your learning school for the two outcomes you selected. (Be sure to review the sub-outcomes and the five different levels of implementation for each).
Comprehensive, sustained, intensive professional learning
Continuous cycle of improvement
Expanded opportunities for professional learning
Evaluation of collaborative professional learning
School support for collaborative professional learning
District support for collaborative professional learning
Next, compose a written assignment titled “Supporting a Learning School”
