Staff Development - Yes, it's important!
By Nathan Wear
You may be wondering how staff development, those late starts every Wednesday morning, holds the key to student success. And you may also wonder what goes on during those sessions. Here are a few facts about staff development:
- Research has shown that the competency of the teacher to make learning come alive for the student is the number one way to improve student achievement.
- Every subject has specific teaching strategies which ensure the information that's important to know is presented in the best possible way. Having time to explore all the different strategies is one of the purposes of staff development.
- Teachers are trained by AEA experts in the content areas of reading, math, and science. They then come back and share the information with the other teachers during staff development times.
- At the elementary level, teachers are spread across the district in four different buildings. It is important for students to receive the same viable curriculum at each building and staff development times offer the change for them to work together as a team.
- At the secondary level, there are a number of teachers in one content area and staff development time gives them the opportunity to work together to make sure everything the district has decided is important for students to know and do is covered in the different courses in any one area.
- The demands on teachers are great and one day a month they are given extra time for planning, making reports, preparing newsletters, entering grades in the computer, planning for future activities, etc.
