Professional Development for School Leaders

1. Provide teachers with ongoing professional development that reflects plan goals and strategies

2. Use PD to create/support Building Leadership Teams and other networks for school leaders.

3. Monitor and evaluate the implementation of professional development for school leaders.


1. Provide teachers with ongoing professional development that reflects plan goals and strategies

Why It Is Important

Professional development programs directly support the school improvement goals and strategies, increase school leader growth, and, ultimately, increase student learning.

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Coordinate available resources to ensure that professional development programs are rooted in the individual needs and concerns of the school leader and organizational priorities.
  • Embed the professional development in the school culture, basing it both on current organizational needs and the school leaders’ personal professional needs.
  • Ask school and district leaders what the most pressing needs of school leaders are.
  • Revisit Standard 4 of the Ohio Standards for Principals, which stipulates that principals establish and sustain collaborative learning and shared leadership to promote student learning and achievement of all students.

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Use principal evaluation data to inform professional development needs.

Align professional development and evaluation in a way that is compliant with the requirements of HB 153 passed by the 129th Ohio General Assembly.

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Provide coaching and mentoring experiences that are positive, structured, and ongoing.
  • Recognize that, although mentoring and coaching typically are associated with school leader induction, they can be valuable for school leaders as part of an ongoing, comprehensive professional development program as well.
  • Consider that networks of peers may be more valuable to experienced school leaders than formal mentoring relationships.
  • Consider that experienced school leaders also can grow professionally through mentoring new or aspiring school leaders.

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Incorporate reflection and self-assessment into professional development programs.

Create sufficient time for school leaders to reflect.

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Follow up professional development initiatives with necessary support and resources.

Focus on creating a larger impact from professional development when following up with support and resources.

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Base professional development on principles of adult learning.

Take into account the learner’s career stage and principles of how adults learn. For example, adults learn more from opportunities to consider and discuss problems and solutions than they do when the “right” solution is dictated to them.

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2. Use PD to create/support Building Leadership Teams and other networks for school leaders.

Why It Is Important
  • Professional learning communities are a vital part of growth-oriented schools in that they can promote collaboration among school leaders, teachers, and other school and district personnel (within and across these groups).
  • Professional learning communities also can provide teachers and other school staff with opportunities to share in leadership responsibilities and to develop and demonstrate leadership potential, one of the essential practices in the Ohio Leadership Development Framework.

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Provide school leaders with professional development in areas that will assist them in developing Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) and Teacher-Based Teams (TBTs).

Prioritize the need for team commitment, learning organizations, and motivation for continuous improvement as highest in terms of professional development needs.

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Support professional development opportunities that allow school leaders to network with and learn from peers.

Create opportunities for school leaders to communicate with and learn from peers within and outside of the district (or community school).

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Use professional development time to provide space for teams to work on tasks connected to school and district goals and the continuous improvement plan (CIP) and school improvement plan (SIP).

Direct a portion of professional development time and resources toward facilitating the formation of collaborative teams tasked with developing a SIP. The plan may include specific benchmarks used to identify additional professional development needs.

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Use performance-based criteria to identify highly qualified school leaders to serve as professional development instructors and principal supervisors, mentors, and coaches.
  • Draw on experienced, highly qualified school leaders as a key source of support and guidance for school leaders.
  • Guide their selection on the basis of clear expectations set out in performance-based standards.

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3. Monitor and evaluate the implementation of professional development for school leaders.

Why It Is Important
  • The quality of school leaders depends in large part on the quality of support and professional development they receive, individualized and chosen in collaboration with others depending on the needs of the individual principal.
  • Such systems will help ensure that resources are expended effectively.
  • It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of professional development programs, as they typically are measured with satisfaction surveys. LEAs should take steps to evaluate whether professional development activities are appropriate and worthwhile.
  • Determining outcomes for professional development and defining measures for ensuring that these outcomes are achieved ensures that professional development resources are used efficiently and effectively, and that they meet the Ohio Standards for Professional Development.

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Last Modified: 9/21/2016 2:59:05 PM