704 KAR 3:035. Annual professional development plan.
RELATES TO: KRS 156.095, 158.070
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 156.070,
156.095, 158.070(5)
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS
156.095 requires the Kentucky Board of Education to establish, direct, and
maintain a statewide program of professional development to improve instruction
in the public schools. KRS 158.070(5) requires the state board to promulgate
administrative regulations establishing guidelines and procedures to be
followed for the approval of the days utilized for four (4) days of the minimum
school term required to be utilized by each local school district for
professional development activities for the professional staff. This
administrative regulation establishes the requirements for the annual
professional development plan.
Section 1. Definitions. (1)
“Comprehensive School Improvement Plan” is defined in 703 KAR 5:225, Section 1(3).
(2) "Needs assessment" means
the gathering, sorting, and analysis of student, educator, and system data that
lead to conclusions regarding the need for content and learning designs for professional
development in identified areas related to educator performance and student
achievement.
(3) "Professional development"
means professional learning that is an individual and collective responsibility,
that fosters shared accountability among the entire education workforce for
student achievement, and:
(a) Aligns with Kentucky’s Core Academic
Standards in 704 KAR 3:303, educator effectiveness standards, individual
professional growth goals, and school, school district, and state goals for student
achievement;
(b) Focuses on content and pedagogy, as
specified in certification requirements, and other related job-specific
performance standards and expectations;
(c) Occurs among educators who share responsibility
for student growth;
(d) Is facilitated by school and district
leaders, including curriculum specialists, principals, instructional coaches, competent
and qualified third-party facilitators, mentors, teachers or teacher leaders;
(e) Focuses on individual improvement,
school improvement, and program implementation; and
(f) Is on-going.
(4) "Professional development
program" means a sustained, coherent, relevant, and useful professional
learning process that is measurable by indicators and provides professional
learning and ongoing support to transfer that learning to practice.
Section 2. Each local school and district
shall develop a process to design a professional development plan that meets the
goals established in KRS 158.6451 and in the local needs assessment. A school
professional development plan shall be incorporated into the school improvement
plan and shall be made public prior to the implementation of the plan. The
local district professional development plan shall be incorporated into the
district improvement plan and posted to the local district Web site prior to
the implementation of the plan.
Section 3. Each school and local district
professional development plan shall contain the following six (6) elements:
(1) A clear statement of the school or
district mission;
(2) Evidence of representation of all
persons affected by the professional development plan;
(3) A needs assessment analysis;
(4) Professional development objectives
that are focused on the school or district mission, derived from needs
assessment, and that specify changes in educator practice needed to improve
student achievement; and
(5) A process for evaluating impact on
student learning and improving professional learning, using evaluation results.
Section 4. (1) The school or district
improvement plan shall, in compliance with KRS 158.6451, address professional
learning required to improve instruction.
(2) Professional development shall:
(a) Be related to the teachers’
instructional assignments and the administrators’ professional
responsibilities;
(b) Be aligned with the school or
district improvement plan or the individual professional growth plans of
teachers;
(c) Occur within learning communities
committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal
alignment;
(d) Be facilitated by skillful leaders
who develop capacity and advocate and create support systems for professional
learning;
(e) Be prioritized and monitored by the
district;
(f) Use a variety of sources and types of
student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional
learning;
(g) Integrate theories, research, and
models of human learning to achieve its intended outcomes;
(h) Apply current research on systems
change and sustain support for implementation of professional learning for
long-term instructional improvement as evidenced by student growth;
(i) Align its outcomes with educator
performance and student curriculum standards; and
(j) Focus resources on areas of
identified need.
(3) Professional development shall not
supplant any of the six (6) hour instructional day.
(4) A district may report flexible
professional development on unpaid noncontact days. This shall require a
district calendar change and the change shall be reported to the Department of
Education.
(5) Professional development that relates
to an individual professional growth plan may be used to satisfy the requirements
for certification or renewal options as established by the Kentucky Education
Professional Standards Board in Title 16 KAR.
(6)(a) Professional development grant
dollars may reimburse college or graduate course tuition expended for a teacher
to deepen content knowledge and content-specific pedagogy in math, science,
English/language arts, social studies, arts and humanities, and practical
living and career studies, if the teacher is assigned to teach in those areas.
(b) The use of professional development
funds for tuition reimbursement shall be specified in the district improvement
plan approved by the school board or the school plan approved by the school
council as to funds under its control.
(c) Particular content areas and grade
levels, which qualify for reimbursement, may be specified based upon
information about the level of academic preparation of the teacher employed,
local student performance data, and student learning needs.
(7) Professional development credit shall
not be awarded for those experiences that provide remuneration beyond travel,
food, lodging or tuition.
(8) A school district implementing a
flexible professional development schedule shall award professional development
credit for any experience that addresses the goals of the school, the goals of
the district improvement plan, or the individual professional growth plans of
teachers.
(9) Parent-teacher conferencing skill
development shall be permissible as a professional development experience.
Section 5. The Qualifications and Duties
of the District Professional Development Coordinator. (1) Qualifications for
the position of district professional development coordinator shall include:
(a) A staff member meeting the
certification requirement for a professional development coordinator as
established by the Education Professional Standards Board in 16 KAR 4:010;
(b) A demonstrated ability to work with
schools to plan, design, implement, and evaluate professional development that
aligns with the requirements of this administrative regulation; and
(c) A demonstrated ability to work with
schools to connect professional development with effective instructional
practices and student achievement data.
(2) Duties of the district professional
development coordinator shall include:
(a) Facilitating analysis of student,
educator, and system data to conduct the district professional development
needs assessment;
(b) Coordinating the intradistrict
alignment of professional learning to achieve identified goals and objectives
for professional development;
(c) Building capacity of school leaders,
school council members, and other school and district leaders to plan, access
resources, implement, and evaluate professional learning;
(d) Disseminating professional
development information to school councils, staff members, and professional
development committees;
(e) Providing technical assistance to
school councils on scheduling to allow for job-embedded professional learning
opportunities;
(f) Coordinating the planning,
implementation, and evaluation of the district professional development plan
that is aligned, supportive of, and developed in conjunction with school improvement
plans;
(g) Coordinating the establishment of
local policies, procedures, timetables, necessary forms and letters, assignment
of workshop sites, and all other practical elements of professional
development, including fiscal management;
(h) Maintaining, verifying, and, if
appropriate, submitting district and school professional development records,
documentation, and other pertinent information to the Department of Education;
(i) Explaining the district's
professional development plan’s objectives, results, and needs to school professionals,
district staff, board members, civic and parent groups, teacher training institutions,
and others, as requested;
(j) Maintaining contact with the Department
of Education and other agencies involved in providing professional development;
and
(k) Identifying, selecting, coordinating
and evaluating the services of third-party professional development providers.
Section 6. A maximum of fifteen (15) percent
of the district's professional development grant may be used for administrative
purposes.
Section 7. When implementing professional
development plans under KRS 158.070, a local school or district shall adhere to
its school or district improvement plan. (7 Ky.R. 697; Am. 902; eff. 4-23-81; 11
Ky.R. 251; eff. 9-11-84; 1472; eff. 5-14-85; 12 Ky.R. 1165; eff. 2-4-86; 1635;
eff. 5-6-86; 17 Ky.R. 455; 1485; eff. 12-7-90; 3254; 18 Ky.R. 45; eff. 7-5-91;
3523; 19 Ky.R. 394; eff. 8-1-92; 394; 1885; eff. 4-19-93; 20 Ky.R. 843; eff.
12-6-93; 3311; eff. 8-4-94; 21 Ky.R. 2531; eff. 6-1-95; 25 Ky.R. 1141; eff.
1-19-99; 31 Ky.R. 1585; 1814; eff. 5-26-05; 40 Ky.R. 439; 1102; 1261; eff.
1-3-2014.)
