DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Professional Standards Board

PROPOSED

1598 Delaware Professional Development Standards

A. Type of Regulatory Action Requested

Amendment to Existing Regulation

B. Synopsis of Subject Matter of Regulation

The Professional Standards Board, acting in cooperation and collaboration with the Department of Education, seeks the consent of the State Board of Education to amend regulation 14 DE Admin. Code 1598 Delaware Professional Development Standards. The Professional Standards Board, acting in cooperation and collaboration with the Department of Education, seeks the consent of the State Board of Education to amend regulation 14 DE Admin. Code 1598 Delaware Professional Development Standards. This regulation sets forth the standards for Delaware educators’ professional development. Delaware professional development standards would reflect Learning Forward’s recently adopted professional learning standards.

Persons wishing to present their views regarding this matter may do so in writing by the close of business on Monday, March 5, 2012 to Mr. Charlie Michels, Executive Director, Delaware Professional Standards Board, The Townsend Building, 401 Federal Street, Dover, Delaware 19901. Copies of this regulation are available from the above address or may be viewed at the Professional Standards Board Business Office.

C. Impact Criteria

1. Will the amended regulation help improve student achievement as measured against state achievement standards? The amended regulation addresses Delaware educator professional development standards, which in turn upon implementation with fidelity, will improve student achievement.

2. Will the amended regulation help ensure that all students receive an equitable education? The amended regulation helps to ensure that all teachers employed to teach students shall meet the standards set for professional development.

3. Will the amended regulation help to ensure that all students' health and safety are adequately protected? The amended regulation addresses educator professional development standards, not students’ health and safety.

4. Will the amended regulation help to ensure that all students' legal rights are respected? The amended regulation addresses educator professional development standards, not students’ legal rights.

5. Will the amended regulation preserve the necessary authority and flexibility of decision-makers at the local board and school level? The amended regulation will preserve the necessary authority and flexibility of decision makers at the local board and school level.

6. Will the amended regulation place unnecessary reporting or administrative requirements or mandates upon decision makers at the local board and school levels? The amended regulation will not place unnecessary reporting or administrative requirements or mandates upon decision makers at the local board and school levels.

7. Will decision making authority and accountability for addressing the subject to be regulated be placed in the same entity? The decision-making authority and accountability for addressing the subject to be regulated rests with the Professional Standards Board, in collaboration with the Department of Education, and with the consent of the State Board of Education.

8. Will the amended regulation be consistent with and not an impediment to the implementation of other state educational policies, in particular to state educational policies addressing achievement in the core academic subjects of mathematics, science, language arts and social studies? The amended regulation will be consistent with, and not an impediment to, the implementation of other state educational policies, in particular to state educational policies addressing achievement in the core academic subjects of mathematics, science, language arts and social studies.

9. Is there a less burdensome method for addressing the purpose of the amended regulation? 14 Del.C. requires that we promulgate this regulation.

10. What is the cost to the state and to the local school boards of compliance with the amended regulation? There is no additional cost to local school boards for compliance with the regulation.

1598 Delaware Professional Development Standards

1.1 Learning Forward, formerly known as Tthe National Staff Development Counsel (NSDC, 2001), adopted updated Standards for Staff Development Professional Learning that connect professional development learning and student learning. and The standards acknowledge that all educators have a responsibility to learn in order to improve student performance.

1.2 In accordance with 14 Del.C. §1205(b), the NSDC 2001 Standards For Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011) are hereby incorporated by reference and adopted as Delaware's Professional Development sStandards. The NSDC Learning Forward’s Standards shall serve as the foundation for professional development for all Delaware educators, and as indicators that guide the learning, facilitation, implementation, and evaluation of professional learning. The standards make explicit that the purpose of professional development is for educators to develop the knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions they need to help students perform at higher levels.

1.3 A summary of the Standards are set forth within. In depth descriptions, contextual explanations, examples and more specific criteria and guidance is provided in the complete set of standards as published in Standards For Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011).

2.1 Professional Development that improves the learning of all students:

2.1.1 Organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district.

2.1.2 Requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement.

2.1.3 Requires resources to support adult learning and collaboration.

2.1 The following prerequisites are fundamental, necessary for effective learning, and reside where professional learning intersects with professional ethics:

2.2 An Educator’s commitment to all students is the foundation of effective professional learning.

2.3 Each educator involved in professional learning comes to the experience ready to learn.

2.4 Because there are disparate experience levels and use of practice among educators, professional learning can foster collaborative inquiry and learning that enhances individual and collective performance.

2.5 Like all learners, educators learn in different ways and at different rates.

3.1 Professional Development that improves the learning of all students:

3.1.1 Uses disaggregated student data to determine adult learning priorities, monitor progress, and help sustain continuous improvement.

3.1.2 Uses multiple sources of information to guide improvement and demonstrate its impacts.

3.1.3 Prepares educators to apply research to decision making.

3.1.4 Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal.

3.1.5 Applies knowledge about human learning and change.

3.1.6 Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate.

3.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment.

3.2 Professional learning within communities requires continuous improvement, promotes collective responsibility, and supports alignment of individual, team, school, and school system goals.

3.3 Learning communities convene regularly and frequently during the workday to engage in collaborative professional learning to strengthen their practice and increase student results.

3.4 Learning community members are accountable to one another to achieve the shared goals of the school and school system and work in transparent, authentic settings that support their improvement.

4.1 Professional Development that improves the learning of all students:

4.1.1 Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly, and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement.

4.1.2 Deepens educators' content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately.

4.1.3 Provides educators with knowledge and skills to involve families and other stakeholders appropriately.

4.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.

4.2 Leaders throughout the pre-K-12 education community recognize effective professional learning as a key strategy for supporting significant school and school system improvements to increase results for all students.

4.3 Whether they lead from classrooms, schools, school systems, technical assistance agencies, professional associations, universities, or public agencies, leaders develop their own and others' capacity to learn and lead professional learning, advocate for professional learning, provide support systems, and distribute leadership and responsibility for professional learning effectiveness and results.

5.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning.

5.2 Effective professional learning requires human, fiscal, material, technology, and time resources to achieve student learning goals.

5.3 How resources are allocated for professional learning can overcome inequities and achieve results for educators and students. The availability and allocation of resources for professional learning affect its quality and results.

5.4 Understanding the resources associated with professional learning and actively and accurately tracking them facilitates better decisions about and increased quality and results of professional learning.

6.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning.

6.2 Data from multiple sources enrich decisions about professional learning that leads to increased results for every student. Multiple sources include both quantitative and qualitative data, such as common formative and summative assessments, performance assessments, observations, work samples, performance metrics, portfolios, and self-reports.

6.3 The use of multiple sources of data offers a balanced and more comprehensive analysis of student, educator, and system performance than any single type or source of data can.

6.4 Thorough analysis and ongoing use are essential for data to inform decisions about professional learning, as is support in the effective analysis and use of data.

7.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students integrates theories, research, and models of human learning to achieve its intended outcomes.

7.2 Integrating theories, research, and models of human learning into the planning and design of professional learning contributes to its effectiveness.

7.3 Several factors influence decisions about learning designs, including the goals of the learning, characteristics of the learners, their comfort with the learning process and one another, their familiarity with the content, the magnitude of the expected change, educators' work environment, and resources available to support learning.

7.4 The design of professional learning affects its quality and effectiveness.

8.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students applies research on change and sustains support for implementation of professional learning for long-term change.

8.2 The primary goals for professional learning are changes in educator practice and increases in student learning. The process occurs over time and requires support for implementation to embed the new learning into practices.

8.3 Effective professional learning is achieved by applying findings from change process research to support long-term change in practice by extending learning over time.

8.4 Effective professional learning integrates a variety of supports for individuals, teams, and schools.

8.5 Constructive feedback and reflection should be integrated in implementation to support continuous improvement in practice that allows educators to move along a continuum from novice to expert through application of their professional learning.

9.1 Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards.

9.2 For all students to learn, educators and professional learning must be held to high standards.

9.3 Professional learning that increases results for all students addresses the learning outcomes and performance expectations education systems designate for students and educators.

9.4 When the content of professional learning integrates student curriculum and educator performance standards, the link between educator learning and student learning becomes explicit, increasing the likelihood that professional learning contributes to increased student learning.

9.5 When systems increase the stakes for students by demanding high, equitable outcomes, the stakes for professional learning increase as well.