Professional Development & Supporting ResourcesThis is a featured page

In crafting a plan for professional development (PD), Portland Public Schools started with the following statements:
  • Professional development at Portland Public Schools is intended to align technology and its use with our District's vision and mission because good technology enhances productivity and professional practices.
  • PPS teachers, principals, administrators, school library media personnel and support staff are experts in their field and/or subject area.
  • For professional development to be effective, it must be:
    • Clear and easy to access
    • Derived from appropriate standards and connected to an acknowledged District deficit.
    • Designed with the particular user in mind because we realize that schedules, needs, and skill levels vary among staff members.
With these statements as a guide, we conduct needs assessments both formal and informal to determine areas for PD. These assessments are ongoing and frequent. The assessments are based on appropriate state and federal technology standards for staff:

  • Intenational Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students, Teachers, and Administrators.
  • Michigan Education Technology Standards (METS) for Students.
These assessments are then used to make decisions about importance and priority and timing of PD both in regards to time of the year to achieve best results and longest retention to timing in regards to time of day including before or after school, during the day, etc.

Finally, depending on the type of training needed we choose the method of PD (professional trainer, in-house trainer, video, conference call, etc.). Portland Public Schools uses the follow sources and resources for staff training and support PPS technologies:
  • Ionia ISD provides conferences, training sessions, and seminars at the ISD as well as at PPS.
  • Kent ISD also provides conferences, training sessions, and seminars at the ISD.
  • New Horizons Computer Learning Center. We have a contract which allows a person to get training out of the District and then provide training to other teacher and/or staff in a train the trainer model.
  • Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, and Professional Organizations. There are several conferences throughout the year that allow teachers and staff to gain professional development.
  • Portland PS Technology Department Tech Helps web page (http://www.portlandk12.org/TechHelps.html). This pages includes recipes to resolve issues, information, and FAQs.
  • Portland PS Technology Department Email. Throughout the year and as requested, email can be sent out to staff to refresh them on how to use specific technologies.
  • Portlandk12.org. Portland Public Schools continues to evaluate and update training and informational pages on its website. Using a district website allows teachers, staff, students, and the community to easily access training information both at school and from home.
  • Michigan Teacher Resources Portal. This portal is designed to provide a ‘one-stop’ portal to assist teachers in locating curriculum-based resources (lesson plans, units, rubrics, assessments, etc.) for classroom use.
  • Manufacturer Training Resources. Manuals and online training videos.
  • Local College Courses. Many of our staff receive course reimbursements.
In addition we are also looking to implement and test the following methods :

  • List serves and email groups. Electronic discussions provide members with a variety of assistance ranging from content area development to technical assistance.We are looking at creating a list of forums providing teachers with an opportunity to gain valuable real world examples of best practices in technology integration. Expected timeline for implementation: Fall/Winter 2009.
  • Streaming Video. Video is beginning to make its way into professional development. The technology department is currently working to provide digital training videos on specific skill sets. Expected timeline for implementation: Fall/Winter 2009, ongoing.
  • Technology Training Folders. These folders would be distributed to all new staff and made available to anyone who needs extra assistance. These manuals would provide step-step directions on all of the software that we support. Manuals would be updated on a regular basis. Expected timeline for implementation: On-going 2009 – 2011.
  • New Staff Orientation Seminars. We recognize the need to prepare new staff for success at Portland Public Schools. The focus of the New Staff Orientation Seminar would be to ensure that incoming staff are ready to use and maintain technology for teaching and learning via a set of training sessions. This training would be designed to provide new staff with specific training necessary to begin the first day of school rather than just an email address, login, and password. It is also the ideal time to introduce key technology staff at each building and to introduce new staff to technology the “Portland way.” Expected timeline for implementation: Fall 2009 – 2010, ongoing.
  • Summer Technology Academy. The academy would provide up to 12 hours over two days of in depth training on a wide variety of topics. Presenters and trainers would include teaching and technology staff, as well as secretaries and paraprofessionals according to a train the trainer model. Outside trainers would also be used as needed. Topics for sessions would come directly from the staff at Portland. The goal of the summer technology academy is to provide pertinent training to staff at a point in time when they don’t have the distractions of the normal school year. Expected timeline for implementation: Each Summer 2009 – 2010.
Communicating PD opportunities is important to providing access. Methods for Communicating PD opportunities include staff meetings, email, the PPS web site, and word of mouth.


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dpalme 		Latest page update: made by dpalme , Apr 28 2009, 5:17 PM EDT (about this update About This Update dpalme Edited by dpalme


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