Professional+Development

Regardless of experience, professional development is vital for all teachers, and thus must be a requirement for all groups. Over the span of a career, teachers and administrators will undergo many changes in job requirements and therefore professional development needs will also change. A professional development program is well thought out and designed systematically to address gaps in knowledge that may occur as a result of the evolution of educational theories or professional inexperience. An effective professional development program is diagnostic and includes in-service trainings designed and implemented to address those needs. The process is completed through an evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the in-service activities (Young, 2008).

Crucial in-service activities:
 * Engage teachers in teaching, assessment, observation and reflection
 * Are grounded in inquiry, reflection and experimentation
 * Are collaborative and focus on teaching communities
 * Are connected to teachers work with their students
 * Are sustained and supported by coaching and practice
 * Are connected to school Change (Darling-Hammond & Mclaughlin, 1995).

To ensure these aspects are occurring in professional development, teachers are provided with opportunities to work beyond initial training sessions. Once a training session has occurred, time is scheduled to allow teachers to work together and learn as a collaborative unit with school based coaches and administrators to apply concepts to the needs of specific teachers and learners within their classrooms.