1

*Medford Public Schools

Professional Development Plan
School Year 2014-2015

* Required and approved by Massachusetts Department of Education

The Medford Public Schools is committed to providing all professional staff with the
skills and knowledge that promote success for all students, support high academic
standards, develop responsible citizenship, foster life-long learning and address the
identified goals of individual professional growth and development plans.

Professional Development Philosophy
The road to success is always under construction

It is the philosophy of the Medford Public Schools that quality professional development
is the cornerstone of effective and productive schools. We strive to provide our educators
with opportunities for personal and professional growth that will ensure that our students
attain national, state and district standards and college and career ready in our diverse and
changing world. Our professional development goals are reflective of these beliefs.

There should be many opportunities for teachers to engage in professional development.
These include but are not limited to the following:

District and individual school offerings posted on the district professional
development website. Workshops are offered online, after school, weekends,
during early release days and on contractual professional development days. Both
consultants such as Teachers 21 as well as our own staff including teachers and
administrators facilitate professional development. Per contract, Medford Public
Schools has two full days of professional development per year. During the 2014-
2015 school- year, Medford provides workshops in the following areas:
o Assistive Technology: Exploring the Options
o Building Professional Development Evaluation and Accreditation
Workshop
o Diabetes Technology Update for Nurses
o Educatory Evaluation Self- Assessment and SMART goals
o Positive Behavioral Therapeutic Support for Alternative Schools
o Journeys Training
o EnVision Training
o Social Emotional Learning
o Advanced iPad Training
Additionally the website is continually updated to reflect new offerings outside of
the district through collaborative or other agencies. Medford continues to be a
member of both Shore and Salem State Collaboratives that offer professional
development to staff at low or no cost.
2

Medford Public Schools also supports the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education initiatives and the latest research on effective teaching practices. Recent
workshops include:
o RETELL
o SEI Endorsement
o PARCC
o Educator Evaluation
o Licensure/Relicensure
o Backward Design
o Differentiated Instruction

Curriculum Directors K-12 provide ongoing professional development in their
content areas.

Principals by fostering Professional Learning Communities offer professional
development in topics deemed important for their teachers and students.

Publishers and consultants. When new curriculum materials are adopted there is
focus on implementation through professional development For example,
Medfords elementary schools adopted Journeys, a new literacy program last
year. The publisher included extensive professional development opportunities for
teachers free of charge. This current school year the district has adopted a new
elementary mathematics program- EnVision. Extensive professional development
is included in this adoption package.

Medford Public Schools professional development management system is SMART-
EDU. Each participant in a district sponsored workshops registers, completes the course
and is awarded PDPs through this system. Staff is able to access their professional
development points by school year.

Professional Development Goals

1. To design and implement professional development programs for educators that:
address the Professional Standards for Teachers (7.08) and Professional Standards
for Administrators (7.10)

2. To design and implement professional development programs for teachers and
administrators that addresses the identified learning as well as social/emotional needs
of all students.

3. To strengthen and increase collaboration with higher education institutions,
associations and qualified individuals to plan and implement professional
development programs that focus on the improvement of student learning.

3
4. To utilize student data including MCAS scores to design professional development
that will lead to increased student improvement and assist students in meeting the
state requirements for obtaining a high school diploma and becoming college and
career ready

5. To meet the mandates and current requirements for educators such licensure
requirements, the educator evaluation tool and the RETELL initiative

6. To provide varied forms of professional development that focus on the use of
technology as an instruction tool. Professional development in this area includes
courses, workshops, and online course offerings.

7. To encourage and support staff to assume leadership roles in the districts
professional development program by sharing their areas of expertise with their peers.

8. To design and offer professional development programs that provide teachers with
methods to involve students in activities focusing on high level thinking skills.

9. To provide professional development in the district research based curriculum design
model and assessment tools.

10. To offer teachers opportunities for collaboration across grade levels, disciplines and
school districts.

11. To inform educators of out-of-district offerings relevant to individual Professional
Growth and Professional Development Plans and district wide goals as such offerings
become available

Needs Assessment
In order to better serve our educators professional development needs as well as to
fulfill the requirements of grants whose funding supports professional development a
needs assessment must be conducted each year. This assessment is based upon

Current mandates and legal requirements
Needs identified by teachers and administrators through various data sources
such as assessments.
Input of parents and the community
Surveys of teachers and evaluations of professional development offerings.

Professional development activities for the upcoming school year are planned based
on this needs assessment




4

Funding

Professional development is funded through a variety of sources including:
Regular district budget
Annual reliable allocations from Title IIA, Perkins, SPED
Individual budgets of principals and curriculum directors
Gratis PD through DESE or publishers
New grant opportunities that may arise during the school year.

Priority Topics School Year 2014--20145
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

Wayne Gretsky

Social and Emotional Health Issues
The Educator Evaluation Tool
RETELL/ SEI Endorsement
Topics related to closing the achievement gap
Incorporating Literacy in all Subject Areas
Implementing the New Elementary Mathematics Series
Meeting the Needs and Styles of all Learnings-Differentiated Instruction
Developing Quality Assessments including DDMs