For the final assignment, you will create a Personal Learning and Development Plan. This assignment allows you to apply course concepts to a school-wide or organizational plan involving student and content standards and professional learning standards. The plan provides support for faculty with the goals of enhancing teacher practice and improving student learning. Professional learning standards from federal to state levels will be included that align instruction with professional learning practices and provide accountability measures for both teacher and student progress. Moreover, collaborative practices that involve Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are utilized to promote a learning system conducive to 21st century learning and teaching, shared responsibility, and distributed leadership. An excellent example of a long-term professional development plan for Duval County Schools is provided in the resources for the course and will give you a big-picture model of what a finished plan might include.
Writing the Final Project
Scenario - Setting the Context for the Assignment
The first five weeks of the course have provided opportunities for you to participate in activities that are similar to those implemented in schools and districts across the nation as part of professional learning and development programs. Imagine you have assumed roles as a teacher-participant and then a teacher-leader/mentor in a school-wide/organizational professional learning (development) program including professional learning community practices. Further, imagine you have been promoted to a full leadership position in your school or organization. As a part of this new role, you have been given the responsibility of creating a long-term, sustainable professional learning and development plan to be implemented in one of the following arenas:
The upcoming academic school year (August through June)
The length of approximately one year for any entity outside of K12 education, such as training for any community-based, non or for-profit organization, corporate, military, higher-education. If you choose to develop your project around an organization that is not a K12 education environment, your plan must still focus on teaching and learning within that organization.
Content Expectations
You will develop your plan as if it would be submitted for review and approval to the school principal or company manager and to the district professional development coordinator or a department-level manager. Format your plan as outlined below in the Content Expectations section and be sure to adhere to the Written Communication Expectations stated below as well. Use this example as a reference.
I. Plan (4.5 points)
Introduction: Introduce your plan and its purpose in approximately one paragraph.
School/Organization Vision: State your school/organization vision in one to two sentences.
Professional Development Vision/Goal: State your professional development vision/goal in one to two sentences.
School/Organization Guiding Principles : State five to eight school/organization guiding principles.
II. Implementation of Professional Learning Standards (13 points)
In this section, you will designate how all seven Standards for Professional Learning will be implemented. Explain your ideas for each of the seven standards as well as how they align with the 21st Century Professional Development Standards, the Federal (NCLB) standards, and your respective state's professional development standards. To do this, you must conduct research online to find your respective state's professional development standards. For example, you can search for "Your state" professional development standards or "Your state" Department of Education to find the needed information. Next, access each of the above links and determine which, if not all, align with the seven standards listed below.
Standards - Learning Communities: Continuous improvement, collective responsibility/ decision making and goal alignment.
Standards -Leadership : Skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning. Needs to support distributive leadership.
Standards - Resources : Prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning.
Standards- Data: Uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning.
Standards- Learning Designs : Aligns outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards.
Standards- Implementation: Applies research on change and sustains support for implementation of professional learning for long term change. How and to what degree professional learning is embedded. Reaches all levels of teachers (new/novice, practitioner, expert).
Standards - Outcomes (2.5 points) : Aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards. Includes evaluation tool/process of professional learning and describes how plan will affect student achievement.
You will clearly label each of the seven standards and provide a detailed, yet succinct explanation (two to three paragraphs) of how your plan addresses the components included for each respective standard. Under each of the seven standards, you will address the following:
21st Century Professional Development standards
Federal (NCLB) standards
Your respective state's standards
Points for the above standards are included in values for each of the seven professional learning standards.
III. Learning-Systems Reflection
In this section, you will start by reflecting on the benefits of schools/organizations becoming a learning-system as discussed on pages 46-48 in School Systems That Learn: Improving Professional Practice, Overcoming Limitations, and Diffusing Innovation. Next, you will detail how the four drivers of change will be addressed in your plan and how each will enhance teaching and learning. Finally, you will explain the effect on culture when the four drivers of change are in place. The explanation of the four drivers working together is presented on page 49 of the text.
Change Driver -Trust: In at least one paragraph, evaluate the importance of trust.
Change Driver - Collaboration: In at least one paragraph, evaluate the importance of collaboration in all directions (teamwork).
Change Driver -Capacity Building: In at least one paragraph, evaluate how to build capacity for all educators with regard to personal, interpersonal, and organizational considerations.
Change Driver -Leaders at All Levels: In at least one paragraph, evaluate how to develop leaders at all levels.
Evaluation of Change: In 2-3 paragraphs, evaluate how the culture shifts from isolation, compliance, and standardization to a culture of collaboration, engagement, capacity building, and differentiation throughout the school systems.
Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (0.5 points): 10 to 15 double-spaced pages, not including title and references pages.
APA Formatting (0.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment. It is recommended you use the labels given to each of the section headings.
Syntax and Mechanics (0.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.
Source Requirement (0.5 points): Reference at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook providing compelling evidence to support your ideas. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
Next Steps: Review and Submit the Assignment
Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion. Then, submit your assignment for evaluation no later than Day 7.