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Having a well-trained, well-motivated classified support staff contributes highly to the overall success of our students and is an integral part of everything we do in our district. The Classified Professional Development Office is committed to providing the necessary training and support to classified instructional staff, classified non-instructional staff, and classified administrators. We work collaboratively with all departments to ensure compliance with federal, state, and district-mandated training as well as to facilitate the district’s New Employee Orientation.
Since training requirements differ with classified instructional and classified non-instructional staff, an option has been added to the professional-development (PD) system (pdCentral) that enables classified non-instructional staff to maintain a record of their training hours and content each year. Those hours are listed as Job Enhancement Training (JET) hours and are not considered a substitute for the PD hours mandated for classified instructional staff. Please refer to the pdCentral Quick Help tab for additional information.
Classified PD Information
Classified staff refers to those who are in positions that do not require a state-issued teaching certificate. There are two types of classified positions: hourly and salaried.
Hourly positions include, but are not limited to, non-administrative positions, such as a nutrition service assistant, instructional assistant (para-educator), ECE instructional assistant (para-educator), custodian, bus driver, bus monitor, in-school security monitor, secretary, clerk, or maintenance.
Salaried positions include, but are not limited to, administrative positions not requiring a teaching certificate but which require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (e.g., Family Resource Center [FRC] coordinator, School Administration Manager [SAM]).
PD requirements differ according to the type of position one holds.
Classified Instructional Support Staff
Classified instructional support staff members (instructional assistants; ECE instructional assistants; Early Childhood instructors and assistants; bus monitors; instructors I, II, and III; bilingual instructors/associates; educational interpreters; home-based instructors; full-time adult education instructors; and any other classified employee who works in an instructional capacity) are required to have a specified number of PD hours annually in order to meet district and state guidelines.
All Other Classified Staff
All other classified staff may attend JET sessions as designated by the building principal or cost center head.
High-Quality PD
JCPS Standards for High-Quality PD
Data-Driven
PD sessions are focused on addressing needs indicated by an analysis of data, particularly data resulting from state assessments.
Long-Term and Sustained
PD builds on the strengths and skills of participants. It is sustained through coaching, mentoring, teamwork, and leadership.
Results-Oriented
The focus of all PD is improving students' achievement through improved instructional practice.
Job-Embedded
Professional learning is a seamless part of the school day. Teachers use the classroom for building professional knowledge and identifying areas in which they need to grow.
Collegial
Colleagues learn from each other in formal PD sessions and through conversations focused on improving student achievement.
Appendix A – Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) PD Standards
Kentucky’s Definition and Standards for High Quality PD (June 24, 2005)
PD is considered high quality when it meets the definition of professional development in 704 KAR 3:035 – Section 1(1) and Section 4(2) and all of the Kentucky Department of Education Professional Development Standards, which are consistent with the federal criteria in Section 9101 of No Child Left Behind. Schools and districts will determine if the PD for teachers, administrators, and other school staff meets the following definition and standards for high quality PD.
All standards need to be applied in the context of the audience for PD to qualify as high quality PD. KDE recognizes that the extent to which PD meets each standard may vary.
Definition
704 KAR 3:035 – Section 1(1) "High-quality professional development" means those experiences that systematically, over a sustained period of time, enable educators to facilitate the learning of students by acquiring and applying knowledge, understanding, skills, and abilities that address the instructional improvement goals of the school district, the individual school, or the individual professional growth needs of the educator. Section 4(2) High-quality professional development experiences shall be related to teachers' instructional assignments and administrators' professional responsibilities. Experiences shall support the local school's instructional improvement goals and be aligned with the school or district improvement plan or individual professional growth plans of teachers.
KDE PD Standards
Standard 1: Professional Development is aligned with:
- Local school and district goals and priorities as reflected in the school or district improvement plan or individual professional growth plans;
- Kentucky’s Standards and Indicators for School Improvement; and
- Kentucky New or Experienced Teacher Standards or Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards, or other professional/job standards.
Standard 2: Professional Development is a continuous process of learning through consciously constructed relevant job-embedded experiences so that professional development experiences and professional learning are integrated in the day-to day work of teachers, administrators, and others to support improved practices, effectiveness and the application of skills, processes, and content.(e.g., action research, study groups, online learning, collegial professional learning networks, peer collaboration, peer coaching, mentoring, formal and informal peer observations, coaching, instructional demonstrations, collegial feedback, personal reflection, team planning, collaborative-problem solving, analysis of student work, self directed learning).
- PD is sustained, intensive, classroom-focused and is on in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction, the teacher’s performance in the classroom, and increased student performance; and
- PD is not one-day or short-term workshops or conferences unless they are a component of an intentionally designed comprehensive professional development plan based on teacher needs and student needs.
Standard 3: Professional Development focuses on the knowledge and skills teachers, principals, administrators, and other school and district staff are to know and to do in support of student learning and students’ well being. Professional development is based on what students need to know and be able to do in order to meet Kentucky’s challenging content standards and student performance standards. Student content, performance and opportunity to learn standards are the core of professional development.
- National standards (e.g., content, leadership, teacher, safety, transportation, nutrition, health)
- Kentucky Learning Goals
- Academic Expectations
- Program of Studies
- Core Content for Assessment
- Performance Standards/ Student Performance Level Descriptions (PLD)
- Kentucky Early Childhood Standards
- Technology Standards
- Character Education
- District/school aligned curriculum
Standard 4: Professional Development actively engages teachers, principals, administrators, and others in learning experiences that advance their understanding and application of research based instructional practices and skills that reduce barriers to learning, close achievement gaps, and improve student performance (e.g., inquiry-based learning, investigation, work backwards, act out the problem, make a drawing or diagram, employ guess and check, make a model, jigsaw, self monitoring strategy, simulations, formulating a model, invention, questioning, wait time, restate in own words, break into smaller steps, goal setting, experimentation, debate, reciprocal teaching, writing process, story maps, structured note taking, think aloud, round robin, pairs check, inside-outside circle, manipulatives, data collection tools, time lines, picture clues, sequence chains, compare/contract matrix, concept mapping, Venn diagrams, advanced organizers, checklists, community based instruction, bus safety, and safe physical management).
Standard 5: Professional Development prepares teachers, administrators, school council members and others in the school community as instructional leaders and collaborative partners in improving student performance (e.g., instructional leadership, organizational direction, collaborative decision making, analysis and use of data, planning, community partnerships, and creating a learning culture).
Standard 6: Professional Development is data and results driven focused on increasing teachers, administrators, and others’ effectiveness in improving student performance and is continuously evaluated to improve the quality and impact of professional development.
Standard 7: Professional Development fosters an effective ongoing learning community that supports a culture and climate conducive to performance excellence.
Standard 8: Professional Development is culturally responsive and facilitates removing barriers to learning in an effort to meet each student’s needs (e.g., intellectual, social, career, cultural, and developmental).
Standard 9: Professional Development is planned collaboratively (e.g., teachers and principals) and organized to maximize the collaborative use of all available resources to support high student and staff performance (e.g., planning, time, release time, staff, technology, funding sources).
Standard 10: Professional Development fosters a comprehensive, long-range change process that communicates clear purpose, direction, and strategies to support teaching and learning.
Standard 11: Professional development is grounded in the critical attributes of adult pedagogy(e.g., connections to work, reflective practice, guided practice, feedback, multiple intelligences, learning styles, choice, time for processing and integrating and applying information, implementation in job setting, analysis and follow-up of results, brain research, peer interaction, peer review, peer observations, mentoring, personal and active inquiry, investigations, self-reflection, and collegial networks).
NSDC Standards for Staff Development (Revised, 2001)
National Staff Development Council recommendations for effective PD:
Context Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:
- Organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district.(Learning Communities)
- Requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement.(Leadership)
- Requires resources to support adult learning and collaboration. (Resources)
Process Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:
- Uses disaggregated student data to determine adult learning priorities, monitor progress, and help sustain continuous improvement. (Data-Driven)
- Uses multiple sources of information to guide improvement and demonstrate its impact. (Evaluation)
- Prepares educators to apply research to decision making. (Research-Based) Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (Design)
- Applies knowledge about human learning and change. (Learning) Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate. (Collaboration)
Content Standards
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:
- Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement. (Equity)
- Deepens educators’ content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (Quality Teaching)
- Provides educators with knowledge and skills to involve families and other stakeholders appropriately.(Family Involvement)
Five Levels of Professional Development Evaluation
How do we know if PD is having an impact on student learning?
Content is adapted from an article by Tom Guskey.
We can use five hierarchical levels to evaluate PD effectiveness-with levels going from simple to complex. Each level builds on the one that comes before it. Successful implementation at one level is usually necessary for successful implementation at the levels that follow.
To determine the effectiveness of PD we can measure:
Level 1 Evaluation: Participants' Reactions
Format: Participants' reactions are usually collected through a questionnaire handed out at the end of a PD session or activity. This is the most common form of PD evaluation and is the easiest to gather and analyze. This format often collects the "happiness quotient" or the degree to which a participant enjoys or is satisfied with the PD.
Level 1 Evaluation helps answer questions like:
Did participants like the PD activity?
Did they feel their time was well spent?
Were activities meaningful?
Was the leader or instructor knowledgeable and helpful?
Do participants believe that what they learned will be useful?
Level 2 Evaluation: Participants' Learning
Format: This can be a pencil-and-paper assessment, a simulation, skill demonstration, oral/written reflections, portfolio entry showing what the participant actually learned in the PD. Specific criteria and indicators of successful learning must be outlined before the PD.
Level 2 Evaluation helps answer questions like:
What did the participant learn from the PD?
What new skill or attitude has the participant gained from the PD?
What can the participant do now as a result of the PD?
Level 3 Evaluation: Organizational Support and Change
Format: This information is more complicated to gather. To do this, one may analyze records or meeting minutes. Questionnaires and structured interviews may be used to determine organizational support and change.
Level 3 Evaluation helps answer questions like:
Are district and school policies compatible with implementation efforts brought about by PD?
Did the PD affect organizational climate and procedures?
Was change the leader made as a result of the PD encouraged and supported at all levels?
Was the change brought about as a result of the PD aligned with district/school mission?
Was administrative support public and overt?
Were resources sufficient?
Level 4 Evaluation: Participants' Use of Knowledge and Skills
Format: Information is gathered based on clear indicators that reveal the degree and quality of implementation resulting from the PD. One may use questionnaires, structured interviews with participants/supervisors/peers/subordinates, personal reflections, portfolios, and direct observations. Measurement occurs after the PD and over several intervals since these measures show progression of learning and implementation.
Level 4 Evaluation helps answer questions like:
Are participants using what they learned?
Are participants using what they learned well--at a high level?
Level 5 Evaluation: Student Learning Outcomes
Format: Measures of student learning (assessment scores, portfolio evaluations, grades, cognitive indicators, affective (attitudes and dispositions) and skills and behaviors. Examples include assessments of students' self-concepts, study habits, school attendance, homework completion rates, or classroom behaviors. School-wide indicators such as enrollment in advanced classes, memberships in honor societies, participation in school-related activities, disciplinary actions, and retention or dropout rates also might be considered. The major source of such information is student and school records. Results from questionnaires and structured interviews with students, parents, teachers, and/or administrators also could be included.
Level 5 Evaluation helps answer questions like:
What was the impact on students?
Did the learning from the PD program benefit students in any way?
What is the PD program's overall impact?
Guskey notes that evaluation at any of these five levels can be done well or poorly. The information gathered at each level is important and can help improve PD, but many have discovered, tracking effectiveness at one level tells nothing about impact at the next. Although success at an early level may be necessary for positive results at the next level, it is clearly not sufficient. That is why each level is important. Sadly, the bulk of professional development today is evaluated only at Level 1, if at all. Of the rest, the majority are measured only at Level 2.