Connecting High Quality Professional Development and Educator Evaluation

Lessons from Massachusetts Districts: Presentation at 2014 Educator Evaluation Convening

FAQs: Elaborating on the Work Done in Chelmsford Public Schools and Southeastern Regional Vocational School District

Answers to the FAQs were based on interviews with the district professional development leaders from Chelmsford Public Schools and Southeastern Regional Vocational School District.

How do you use the Massachusetts Standards for Professional Development in your district?

Chelmsford Public School district leaders are implementing the Massachusetts Standards for Professional Development by:

• Building the high quality professional development (HQPD) standards into an annual survey of teachers and principals and rewording the 10 standards as questions as a way to monitor the quality of professional development that educators receive.
• Building selected standards into post-session surveys to get immediate feedback on the quality of the professional development.
• Embedding two of the standards in the professional development proposal requirements that would qualify for PDPs (professional development points) for teacher recertification. View a sample proposal form developed by Chelmsford Public Schools.
• Reviewing the standards informally during professional development selection and planning.

Kristan Rodriquez, former Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Chelmsford Public Schools: "These HQPD standards aren't that difficult to implement. You just need to have a group of teachers and administrators working together to see what we already do and what we need to work on."

Southeastern Regional Vocational School District leaders are implementing the Massachusetts Standards for Professional Development by:

• Reviewing the standards when selecting or deselecting outside vendors.
• Reviewing the standards informally at the district-level as a check on the quality of the professional development.

Heidi Driscoll, Curriculum Director for Southeastern Regional Vocational School District: "If you are a school that wants to make sure you don't waste time and that your PD days are impactful for teachers, these HQPD Standards are a nice check. For us, it was almost like a reassurance that we're doing the right thing for teachers."

How do you connect educator evaluation with professional development in your district?

What factors enable your school's success in making these connections?

How is your Professional Development Committee structured and what does it do?

Which data system(s) do you use to manage professional development data?

How much dedicated time do teachers have to engage in high-quality professional development?

What funding streams support professional development in your district?

Last Updated: June 5, 2020