Last modified: January 5, 2024

Policy 4040: Professional Development for Educators

• Download Policy 4040 Professional Development for Educators

Purpose

The Provo City School District Board recognizes the importance of maintaining, developing and extending the skills of administrators and teachers in order to meet local and state goals, rules, regulations, and district goals and improvement plans. The Board is committed to providing the best educational experiences for students. The Board encourages employees at all levels to seek professional development according to approved district, school, and individual goals.

District professional development must have a clear link between the improvement of instruction and continuous school improvement for the goal of maximizing student learning. The professional development plan will include coordinated learning activities that are standards-based and support transfer of training. It will include training to meet various needs, including those of the state, district, schools, and individuals, all designed to meet district goals.

Planning

The superintendent directs the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning to work with the Director of Professional Development to develop and maintain a professional development plan and to provide administrative oversight and supervision of that plan. The Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning seeks input from the Board, Executive Cabinet, the Instructional Council, the Teaching & Learning Department, teachers and administrators in designing the yearly plan. Professional development must support educators with evolving state and national standards and processes. Additionally, several information sources will be reviewed to create the yearly plan, including: teacher surveys about professional development, evaluations of professional development implementation, student performance data, district curriculum cycle (and associated adoptions of instructional materials), state standards/ assessments/ programs, and professional development research.

District employees may provide professional development to teachers. For this professional development to be considered for district salary advancement credit (see 5320 P4), the person(s) offering the professional development must submit, to the assistant to the Director of Professional Development an application of the proposed professional development at least 3 (three) weeks prior to the start date (see P1).

Licensed Educators

Provo City School District’s professional development plan is aligned with the state programs related to licensing, both for administrators and teachers. Participation in professional development is a requirement for administrators and educators in accordance with state law, district policy (Board Policy 5100), and the employment contract. As licensed educators develop personal professional growth plans and student learning outcomes/goals, they may utilize district professional development offerings to meet goals.

The Board prioritizes teachers and administrators working on site with students, and therefore encourages professional development activities to be held outside of school hours. As exempt employees, under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, teachers and administrators do not qualify for overtime pay and may be required to work beyond regular school hours (see 5320 P3).

Methods

Various stakeholders offer educators professional development opportunities, including universities, professional associations, businesses, the state, and individual vendors. Educators are encouraged to seek opportunities for professional learning that match educator job responsibilities, are supported by research, align with Board and district goals, and have a direct effect on improving student learning.

The district’s annual professional development plan will be focused and aligned to Board and district goals. All district offerings will be directly related to instruction and student learning. The plan not only includes the professional learning event, but also follow-up to support implementation of new practices, with the purpose of classroom implementation.

The district utilizes various methods of professional development. The following methods are encouraged:

• District courses, book studies, and seminars
• Online district courses
• University courses, including district-university partnership classes
• Utah State Board of Education/UEN courses
• Conferences, workshops, symposia, and institutes
• Mentoring
• Instructional coaching (peer, expert, goal-based cycles, EYE, etc.)
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification
• School-/team-based study (i.e. PLC Action Groups and Data Teams)
• Reading professional journals/books
• Serving in professional associations

Legal References & Synopsis

• Utah Rule R277-500
  • Educator Licensing Renewal, Timelines, and Required Fingerprint Background Checks

Approved by Board of Education

• December 12, 2023

Procedures

• 4040 Procedure 1 Professional Development for Educators