Fostering a Culture of Growth: Council Rock School District

Council Rock Professional Development: An Overview

Professional development standards

The professional development program at Council Rock follows three standards:

• ESSA
• Learning Forward’s standards for professional development
• Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching

A culture of continual growth

With a long-standing history of valuing professional development, the foundation of Council Rock’s culture of continual growth starts with:

• High expectations with high levels of support
• Staff committed to meeting needs of all students and continuing their own learning in order to do so
• A program designed to support teachers’ success in the classroom and to enhance student learning

Staff development programs

Council Rock fosters continuous improvement for all stages of the employee life cycle:

• Teacher induction program
• District professional development program
• Curriculum focused program
• Technology program
• Out of school conferences

A look back at the pandemic

Did COVID impact your district’s professional learning programming?

“Our teachers were hungry for best practices for virtual learning, which caused our program to pivot to on-demand, needs-based, and in the moment.”

What PD formats did you adopt during this time?

“We quickly switched to virtual formats, which were a lot shorter in nature and a lot more frequent. We also shifted to more self-paced courses, which teachers could access in their own time. And we also built collaborative components into almost every learning experience teachers were having, which they valued more than ever.”

Did this change how teachers view PD in your district?

“We did a lot of co-planning and co-teaching with teachers to help them with implementation of so many of the new technology tools and strategies we were using to reach learners in the virtual world. As a result, I think the teachers really started to value professional development. They saw how it could serve them and how we pivoted to better meet their needs.”

What about instructional coaching?

“Our instructional coaching also shifted as a result. Again, we weren’t physically present in the classrooms during this time, so we became instructional coaches virtually. We did a lot of co-planning and co-teaching with teachers to help them with implementation of so many of the new technology tools and strategies we were using to reach learners in the virtual world.”

Putting the ‘best’ in best practice

What sets Council Rock apart in terms of professional development?

“We provide graduate credits as an option to our participants. We have partnered with a local university, which provides an incentive for our teachers to gain a little something extra besides lots of learning and applicable classroom practices.”

What can new staff members expect after being hired?

“From the moment our staff is brought on board, they are immersed in this culture of high expectations, and it’s coupled with a very high level of support as well. Our new hires also have a (compensated) mentor to acclimate them to not only to the district, but also to the specific building in which the teacher will be working.”

What does your induction program look like?

“Our induction program centers around everything that teachers will need to know, understand, and be able to do in order to be successful in the classroom. Within the program, we base all of our focus around Danielson’s’ Framework for Teaching. The induction program really is a lifeline for our new teachers. It also runs after school hours, which is kind of unique.”

Are there any other unique factors to your PD programming?

“In each of our PD events, we build in an opportunity for wellness checks, a sort of social-emotional component. We started doing this during COVID because it was such an incredibly stressful time for teachers. So, we wanted to say listen, your wellness and your wellbeing are very important to us. Not just as a teacher, but as a person. In doing so, we encourage our teachers to do the same for the students in the classroom.”

Have you refined any specific areas to your programming this year?

“This year we’re working to get back to the data-driven cycle and refining our common formative assessments. In addition, we have an annual in-service calendar, in which we have in-service days that are divided among district focus, curriculum focus, and building focus. We are also continuing to build our library of self-paced courses, based on needs, and based on data.”

What benefits have teachers experienced with the on-demand library of resources?

“We have recently had an influx of students from Ukraine, so I’m working hand in hand with our ELD coordinator, not only to support these students and their families, but also to build a library of courses and resources for our teachers who will be working with non-English speaking students. We can provide professional learning opportunities which can be addresses in more of an on-demand style for our teachers who don’t have the time to be out of the classroom or to attend after school events.”

Are there areas of your program you are looking to refine in the next year?

“We are continually looking for ways to improve our professional development programming. We are looking to refine and reevaluate. We want to continue to build our programming around relationships and supporting all of our staff members in addressing the needs of all students and building the trust to make our teachers successful.”

Has your professional development program had an impact on retention?

“I’d like to think that our professional development programming is one of the reasons we have a very high retention rate here in our district. Over the last five years, on average, we retain about 93% of our teachers. We have a lot of wonderful things happening in our school community, but again, I think professional development is an important part of that process.”

Ready to supercharge professional learning in your district?

Like Council Rock School district, you can provide personalized professional learning for teachers – and all employees – to improve practice and enhance student outcomes. And Frontline Professional Learning Management can help:

1. Offer a catalog of goal-aligned learning opportunities

   Provide relevant learning experiences for all teachers and employees with online/virtual courses, in-district workshops, out-of-district events, conferences and more.

2. Track progress toward state and district requirements

   Use Professional Learning Management to track hours and credits for annual requirements or relicensure.

3. Use evaluation results to drive learning, and track its impact on the classroom

   Identify areas where teachers need additional support to provide relevant learning opportunities and use impact forms to assess classroom outcomes.

4. Engage your employees in the learning process

   Enable employees to take an active role in their professional growth by setting up individual professional development plans and making activity proposals.