Positive student outcomes are dependent on high quality teacher practices. As in all professions, professional development is a vital ingredient to improving professional practice. Professional development ensures that all teachers continue to build quality instructional practices through time.
Through collaboration with the Professional Development and Evaluation Committee (PDEC), professional development opportunities for teachers are tailored to support our District improvement goals and our long-term professional development strategies of building administrator and teacher capacity and developing the leadership capacity of students, faculty, staff, and administration.
Listed below are the core vehicles that will facilitate and drive professional development throughout the district to ensure that all students are provided the best opportunities for success in tomorrow’s world.
Improvement Goal 1:
Curriculum & Instruction
• Partnership with the Center for Children with Special Needs to improve instructional practices for students with complex learning profiles
• District-wide professional learning communities
• District-wide math training to provide support for core text implementation, intervention, assessment, and best practices
• Elementary and secondary curriculum leaders in the core academic content areas
Improvement Goal 2:
Teacher & Administrator Growth = Student Growth
• Responsive classroom training PK-5
• District guidance for administrators regarding teacher growth and evaluation and instructional feedback practices
• PK-5 Math and ELA instructional coaches for classroom teachers
• PK-12 instructional technology training for teachers
Improvement Goal 3:
Organizational Health
• Focused discussions on organizational health development in all schools
• Monthly PDEC meetings to provide feedback on progress towards goals
The 2017 Suffield school calendar increases teacher professional development time through seven early release days. While our professional development calendar will be flexible to accommodate changing needs, you can see that teachers will be busy learning. We are fortunate to have teachers in Suffield who are motivated to grow their own learning in order to provide Suffield students with the best educational environment possible.