Professional Development Model Paper

After researching West Shore School District’s Professional Development model and the outlines in my research, I found each framework had a common goal behind providing teachers with professional development, to improve student achievement. West Shore School District’s Professional Learning Framework states, “The WSSD Professional Development Framework strives to provide valuable, timely and relevant learning opportunities aligned to individual and organizational needs that will ultimately result in effective and engaging learning opportunities for our students” (Professional Learning Model). Professional development was triggered by a need to meet student achievement goals associated with standardized testing. “The policy makers have sought to make the professional development that teachers participate in more effective at raising student achievement” (Wayne, Suk Yoon, Cronen & Garet, 2008, p. 469). My research on Professional Development models and West Shore School District’s Framework, all agreed that the available learning models need to be aligned with and …show more content…
Districts are realizing the offered professional development needs to be worth the teachers’ time and needs to be connected to the teacher’s assignment in the school district. Finding new ways to offer the development courses has challenged many school districts to change their learning frameworks for educators. Offering online options for teachers allows them to complete the professional development at a time that is convenient for them. I feel by providing this option, school districts might see an increase in effort from the teachers. The increased effort could also positively impact increasing student achievement. Professional development is a crucial piece to the educational puzzle for school districts, teachers and most importantly