Laurie Salem

EAD-523 Developing Professional Capacity

Lisa Schlabra
November 30, 2022
 Leadership and How to Develop Staff/ Topics of Professional Development
This interview was enlightening in that it provided insight into how the leaders at my school
begin to create and implement professional development for their staff. My mentor stated that
her main responsibility relating to professional development of staff is determining the
professional needs of staff and aligning them with the areas that the district suggests for staff
development. While there is no formal professional development program, she has implemented
several collaborations that will provide support. She has started sending out surveys to allow
teachers and staff to have more voice and choice about what they need for their own
development. Prior to this, she meets with her admin team to discuss any trends that they are
noticing in the schools. These trends are then weighed against the CIP goals and mission and
vision of the school. Finally, a schedule is created where these trends or topics are scheduled.
There are many topics that repeatedly come up in the surveys that are conducted. Curriculum and
effective instruction, differentiating instruction, small group interventions, analyzing data and
reading and math platform trainings are several topics that are covered in the professional
development at my school. She shared that when choosing topics, she has some autonomy.
However, there are often areas that the district wants principals to include in their staff
development. Any site based professional development is determined by the trends that are
discussed when administration meets. Many data points are discussed and placed in order of
importance. It is from this list, that agendas are created.
Mentor Program
One of the programs at our school that supports staff development is a teacher/staff mentoring
program. The teachers and staff on board are our two educational associates and four teachers.
The program outline was created by the district, but each school has freedom in how it is run.
Our principal has a hands-off approach because she wants the new teachers and staff to feel
comfortable as they are building relationships with their mentors. Mentors and mentees meet
monthly to review important topics such as testing, data analysis and small group. She was
unsure of the exact data points that the district uses to determine the need for a mentor program,
but she considers how many new teachers are coming into the district on a yearly basis.
Professional Development and the CIP
My mentor shared how her goal is to identify and develop teachers and staff members that she
considers leaders in the school. However, this year presented a host of new challenges since
there is a large-scale teacher and staff shortage. The CIP includes a focus on providing highly
qualified teachers who are able to give high quality instruction. When creating agendas for in
school professional development, she looks for sessions that will help her develop her teachers
into highly effective instructors who are able to improve student achievement and well-being as
mentioned in PSEL Standard 6 (NPBEA, 2015).
She uses informal observations, student data analysis and feedback forms to determine if the PD
achieved the goal or outcome. A rubric for success is created and that rubric is used to gauge
whether or not strategies from the PD sessions were utilized and what impact it had on the
students.
In addition to the other questions, I wanted to know what her process is for teachers or staff
members who she believes are not improving with the professional development and training
provided. She responded by saying that teachers are put on a PIP, professional improvement plan
for specific goals. They are then provided with specific support in that area. Several observations
are conducted over a predetermined amount of time and feedback is provided with advice for
next steps.
Application for Future Professional Practice
Standard 7 mentions providing a community where teachers and staff are professionals, engaging
in teaching and learning, all to the benefit of students (NPBEA, 2015). I like the idea of
developing teachers to become leaders. However, I think once those teachers' become leaders,
their workload increases, and they are still responsible for their daily teaching tasks. What I
would do is allow teachers to choose how they will support themselves and each other.
 References
Professional standards for educational leaders. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from
http://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-
Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf