On early dismissal days, our staff work on professional development. In addition to hearing it called professional development, it’s also called staff development or in-service education. Educators must have ongoing professional development to improve their skills and address student learning needs.
Professional Learning Communities
Community members, business partners, and parents play a critical role in delivering the District’s mission statement. In our vision, we reference the “Professional Learning Community” as encircling our work. In this context, the professional learning community is all the various groups we serve beyond students and the supportive role each group plays in making school a successful experience for our students.
In addition to this larger all-encompassing PLC, our classroom teachers also meet as professional learning communities. The teacher-level PLCs serve as additional professional development and provide a mechanism for having enriching conversations about student learning and how to meet students’ learning needs. Richard DuFour (2008) argues that there are three key elements to successful PLCs:
- Ensuring that students learn
- Establishing a culture of collaboration
- Focusing on results
