Learning With and From Each Other……
If professional development is based on the Iowa Professional Development Model and focused on improved content, instruction, and assessment practices and educators fully implement what they learn, then student learning and performance will increase.
Iowa Department of Education
Continual professional learning for educators is essential in our ever-evolving world. The intended outcome of teacher professional learning is to improve teaching practices, resulting in a positive impact on academic and behavioral student learning and performance. Learning opportunities must be well planned, targeted, goal-oriented, differentiated, supported with adequate time and resources, implemented in teachers’ daily routines and monitored through the use of student and teacher implementation data.
The Iowa Department of Education has carefully constructed and outlined Iowa Core expectations for all Iowa schools. As part of the Iowa Core, effective teaching characteristics support the development of student-centered, high-yield instructional practices to support learner differences, as well as provide effective and authentic assessments to guide and inform instruction. To help prepare our students for global success, the Iowa Core calls for meaningful technology integration throughout educational experiences.
The JCSD Portrait of a Learner defines the skills, mindsets and dispositions all our learners need for success in today’s world. Mindfully crafting professional learning with collaboration, creativity and innovation, communication, critical thinking, flexibility and adaptability, productivity and accountability, and community and global mindedness hones educators’ ability to support students in this same realm.
Professional learning, aligned with district and building goals, is provided in a variety of ways: designated professional learning days, district-designed/building facilitated learning, building-designed/district supported professional learning, job-embedded experiences, blended formats, graduate study cohorts, externships in business settings, and other flexible manners. To foster and promote a positive and progressive learning culture in Johnston Schools, we support and build on the strengths of our teachers and support them in preparing our students for a world of lifelong learning, contribution and satisfaction.
