Professional Teacher Standards and Professional Development Plans

Video Transcription

Hello there. In this lesson, we will analyze how many of the professional teacher standards out there can be used to drive your professional development plans and activities. We have a whole lot to get to, so let's get started.

The primary means of increasing teacher capacity and building sustainability district wide is through professional development. Determining where the growth should be however isn't a guessing game. We can make wise and educated choices by reviewing many of the teacher standards to help in the development of professional development plans and activities.

There are many professional teaching standards out there. And they can all be used to set the expectations for teacher quality and skill. This is why they are embedded as rubrics in many evaluation models and why we include them in our growth plans.

In this lesson, we will review some of the most useful standards to consider when developing your professional development plans and activities. For example, InTASC teacher standards, the National Board professional teacher standards, the Danielson Framework, the Marzano teacher evaluation model, the ISTE teaching standards and professional learning standards. When these are utilized effectively they contribute to the alignment of the plan and activities associated with them and the rubrics that will help measure the effectiveness of it all.

InTASC stands for the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium. The end task model core teacher standards were published by the Council of Chief State School Officers in 2011. They are simply a set of professional teacher standards that form the basis for the standards required by the No Child Left Behind Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Both of which mandate that a teacher evaluation process is used to determine teacher quality.

InTASC is made up of four domains that include 10 standards. The list of standards is pretty thorough and both the Danielson and Marzano models use them in the development of their own domains and rubrics. Many states also use InTASC when developing their professional standards as well. Let's take a look at them. Take a moment to pause here and look these over. They are pretty straightforward and are organized in such a way that makes them fairly easy to remember.

Many districts are supporting teachers who decide to hone their craft and increase their skill set by working toward becoming nationally board certified. Achieving the title, National Board, means that you completed the certification process and have successfully demonstrated that you are a reflective educator who understands and uses the National Board teacher standards to improve your craft. It also means that you have been recognized as a highly effective teacher in your area of certification. The National Board follows their own set of teaching standards but they have a lot in common with those found in InTASC standards as well.

In some instances teachers are allowed to use the National Board certification process as the professional growth and development goal and evidence in lieu of other models. It shouldn't be surprising that research suggests that teachers who have achieved national board certification experience higher levels of student achievement then those teachers who do not hold that level of certification.

Specific standards vary according to the 25 certification areas that are available but all adhere to the following five core propositions. One, teachers are committed to students and their learning. Two, teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students. Three, teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. Four, teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience. And five, teachers are members of learning communities.

Perhaps the most widely used model in the country is the one set forth by Charlotte Danielson, simply known as the Danielson Framework. The framework includes metrics that can help teachers and their evaluators determine the effectiveness of their professional development plans. At first glance, the framework can seem overwhelming and may be even a little intimidating. However, it's truly meant to get all of us thinking about professional practice for the purpose of improving teaching and learning.

The information gathered and consolidated into these categories will guide such things as district mentoring, coaching, professional development, and teacher evaluation processes. The model is broken down into the following four domains and 22 competencies. Let's take a look.

The Robert Marzano models main focus is to support and improve teacher effectiveness and to improve student learning and achievement. The model is quite comprehensive. In fact, it consists of four domains and 60 smaller elements. The domains are structure in a way to give teachers and leaders very clear guidelines on what to consider in the organization and classroom design. Furthermore, the accompanying rubrics are unique because they help identify both student and teacher evidence for each element.

Let's take a look at how all this is organized. Domain one, classroom strategies and behaviors, contains 41 elements, which reflect observable behaviors and strategies that could be identified in the teacher observation. The elements connect to three major areas, segments involving routines, segments enacted on the spot, and segments involving content.

Domain two, planning and preparing, contains eight elements. And are connected to three areas as well, playing and preparing for lessons and units, planning and preparing for the use of materials and technology, and planning and preparing for special needs of students.

Domain three, reflecting on teaching, contains five elements and the following two areas, evaluating personal performance growth plan and developing and implementing a professional growth plan. And finally domain four, collegiality and professionalism, has six elements and three major areas. They are, promoting a positive environment, promoting exchange of ideas and strategies, promoting district and school development.

Good teaching is certainly good teaching. However, technology integration is essential and the ISTE standards for teachers can be helpful to guide our collaborative growth in this area. It's nearly impossible not to include technology into professional growth and development plans these days. Therefore the ISTE standards could be used to frame feedback for improvement in these areas.

It's not just for teachers though. Keep in mind that ISTE has standards for students, coaches, technology specialists, and administrators as well. I would like to take a quick look at how these standards can be used to guide your professional growth. I've selected various standards and provided you with an example of how they can be written as a measurable competency.

I will use exit tickets as a formative assessment tool three times per week. I will send weekly emails to families and invite them in quarterly for portfolio shares. I will become an active member of the school's PBIS team. My students will respond to literature via blog and I will monitor and post responses. As you can see, they can now be used to track teacher mastery of the standard and also to analyze the effectiveness of the professional development.

To summarize, in this lesson we looked at professional development plans and how the following sets of standards can help support your work. InTASC, National Board, the Danielson Framework, the Marzano model, and the ISTE teaching standards. We also looked at how these standards can be rewritten into measurable goals.

And now for today's food for thought. Continue the activity I started a couple slides back. Take a standard and turn it into a measurable goal. And to dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, check out the additional resources section associated with this video. That's where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time.