Georgia Department of Education

Teacher Keys Effectiveness System

Professional Development Plan

Principal/School Leader Quick Guide

WHAT IS A PDP AND HOW CAN IT IMPROVE

TEACHING PRACTICES? WHEN TO DEVELOP A PDP:

Human resources management encompasses selecting Purpose of the PDP:

quality teachers and staff, supporting and strengthening Focus on increasing a teacher’s ability
teachers, inducting and mentoring novice teachers, to improve performance in a specified
area or areas, including low ratings on
providing professional growth opportunities, and retaining
TAPS standards or TKES components.
quality faculty and staff in schools to improve student
achievement. To support teachers who need additional
assistance to improve their practices and effectiveness in Use of a PDP:
schools, a Professional Development Plan (PDP) can be Intensive effort toward improvement
utilized. of teacher practice and effectiveness.
A PDP is a plan mandated by the evaluator targeting Targeted improvement strategies to
improve professional competency
identified areas for improvement. The evaluator is
and proficient level on indentified
responsible for the development of the PDP and may TAPS or other TKES components.
collaborate with the teacher, This plan is designed to Concerns regarding professionalism,
administrator, coaches, support a teacher in duties and responsibilities, and/or
mentors, or other qualified addressing areas of concern ethical expectations (Georgia Code
individuals. The PDP and through targeted supervision of Ethics).
subsequent expectations and additional resources. It
and actions should align to may be used by an evaluator
at any point during the year An Effective PDP includes:
the targeted TAPS. The
for a teacher whose Specific guidelines and timelines for
principal or the evaluator, improvement of teacher practice.
professional practice would
with the approval of the Mandatory professional learning that
benefit from additional
principal, may choose to support. supports identified standards and/or
place a teacher on a PDP at components that need improvement.
any time during the school year if there are major issues Enhancement opportunities to include
with any performance standard including, but not limited clear expectations about changes
to, professionalism, the Georgia Code of Ethics, Needs needed in performance to be
demonstrated in the classroom and
Development or Ineffective ratings on formative and/or
school.
summative assessments, or the Teacher Effectiveness Guidance and support provided by
Measure (TEM). A PDP is best applied over a sufficient administrators/evaluators to the
period of time throughout the year, or over an entire year, teacher throughout the PDP
providing the teacher adequate time to implement and implementation process.
practice the specific strategies identified in the PDP . School district goals, performance
standards, student growth targets,
timelines, and professional learning
Teachers who receive a TEM of Needs Development or
related to the components of the
of Ineffective must be placed on a formal PDP that includes
Georgia TKES.
specific guidelines and timelines for improvement in the
area(s) rated below Proficient. The PDP along with
subsequent expectations and actions need to be aligned
to the appropriate Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards and must be entered into the electronic
TKES PDP form found in the TLE Electronic Platform.
Dr. John D. Barge, State School Superintendent
February 13, 2013 ● Page 1 of 1
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