NEA's Keys to Excellence: KEY 4 

Personal and Professional Learning

There is an evolving consensus among educators, parents, researchers, politicians and the public that high quality professional development for all school professional is essential to help all students achieve to high academic standards. There is no consensus, however, as to what is meant by high quality professional development.

In high performing schools, professional development is: (1) rooted in the context of the school's improvement efforts and the everyday practices of teachers and education support professional; (2) focused on the expansion and elaboration of the staff's professional knowledge base including content knowledge related to standards and assessment, pedagogical knowledge and process knowledge in the areas of decision making and problem solving; (3) planned, created, delivered and evaluated through a collaborative process among the school staff; and (4) provided in traditional and non-traditional modes including mentoring opportunities, co-teaching and discussion groups.

Indicator 1: Professional development has a direct, positive effect on teaching.
This indicator examines whether your professional development program has had an impact on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes of the entire staff. Specifically, it assesses how well the professional development program has helped teachers deepen their understanding of subject matter, make appropriate changes, understand individual differences, and align teaching with local or district standards.

Indicator 2: School administrators and staff work together to provide relevant professional development experiences.
This indicator measures the level of cooperation in your school on producing a meaningful professional development process. This indicator is closely related to indicators 1 and 3 and can help a school team assess how school staff and administrators work cooperatively to plan, develop, and share professional development activities.

Indicator 3: Teachers are prepared to use state or district curriculum assessment or performance standards.
Most states have in place-or are implementing -assessment standards. This indicator measures how well your school's professional development program prepares teachers to use the student assessment and performance standards. The issues here are also highlighted in KEY 3 and KEY 6.

Indicator 4: Classroom observations and constructive feedback from teachers and principal are included in professional development.
Observation and feedback are critical elements of successful development within a school community. This indicator examines the frequency and usefulness of staff feedback. This is a follow-up to a discussion in KEY 2.

Indicator 5: Teachers are prepared to address the needs of students with diverse learning needs and backgrounds.
This indicator examines how well the professional development program prepares staff to teach a diverse student body-among them, students with learning disabilities and limited English proficiency students.

Indicator 6: Teachers have regularly scheduled time to learn from one another.
This indicator examines the quality and quantity of teacher-to-teacher professional development in your school, including meetings and planning periods.

Indicator 7: Staff development opportunities are pursued through organized professional development activities within and outside the school.
This indicator examines the number of times in the last year that teachers have received professional development from a professional organization.

Indicator 8: Staff development is provided in the areas of decision making and problem solving.
This indicator examines the availability of developing skills in problem solving and decision making through your school's professional development program. It continues a discussion initiated in KEY 2.

Indicator 9: Staff development is consistent, comprehensive, and related to practices in the school.
This indicator examines whether your professional development program is consistent with the school improvement plan and whether it is sustained and focused. It also explores whether the activities afford opportunities for collegiality and sufficient time to evaluate their impact on subsequent schools processes (school improvement and student outcomes).

Indicator 10: Opportunities ae available for mentoring.
This indicator examines opportunities for mentoring experiences.  This indicator of school effectiveness documents opportunities for mentoring in your school. It examines the complementary situations of mentoring teachers and/or being mentored by teachers in your school.

Indicator 11: Teachers have strong knowledge of their subject matter areas.
This indicator explores the extent of content and pedagogy knowledge in your school.  The intellectual focus of education is largely driven by the existing knowledge base of a school's workforce. This indicator of school effectiveness examines the extent of the instructional knowledge base which exists within your school.

Go to KEY 5.