Professional+Development

 **Professional Development** The goals of the Professional Development Collaborative include, but, are not limited to:
 * Development of in-service and pre service professional standards for 21st century teaching that include integration of 21st century teaching guidelines;
 * Development of onsite and online courses geared for a variety of stakeholders;
 * Utilization of redesigned 21st Century New Jersey Professional Development Port (NJPEP 21) as a portal for professional development resources and best practices that reflect 21st Century Skills and assessments;
 * Recommending a plan for phasing-in 21st Century Skills into teacher preparation programs that includes a requirement for demonstration of competency in criteria for accreditation;
 * Communication of new professional standards and requirements to stakeholders; and
 * Recommending an appropriate process and tools to measure the impact of professional development on student acquisition of 21st Century Knowledge and skills.

 From http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/docs/1108/item1.pdf ** 21 **** st **** century educators ** will be high achievers who will model the behavior they expect their students to learn. Through the use of team projects and the latest technology they will maintain a focus on core academic skills and use their classrooms as laboratories for students to explore, create and work together. They will participate in professional development opportunities – both online and in person – to keep their skills up-to-date, and collaborate with their colleagues around the state to share best practices. ** Levers for Change ** **__ Lever I: Educator Quality and Support __** **// Overhaul the state's teacher training and professional development programs to recruit and retain high achieving educators who have a background in and up-to-date knowledge of 21 //****// st //****// century skills. //**   We cannot change how our students learn until our teachers are equipped to teach in new ways. It is unreasonable to expect that our students will ever gain the skills and knowledge to succeed in the 21 st century if they are taught primarily by educators trained using a model developed in the 19 th century. To revamp how our students are taught the Commonwealth must improve the quality of our teaching force by heightening the rigor and expectations across the spectrum of services and requirements surrounding educator preparation, recruitment, licensure and re-licensure. As a state we must seek to attract, nurture and retain the most capable, qualified and committed individuals into our educator workforce and create a working environment they will find fulfilling. This means providing our current cadre of educators with the professional development and training they need to update their techniques, and demanding that the next generation of educators be high achievers who come into our schools already 21 st century-savvy and committed to continuing to grow and refine their skills. The Task Force recommends that 21 st century educators be equipped with these skills: 􀂃 A deep understanding and knowledge of the content in the subject(s) they teach 􀂃 Proficiency with reasoning, problem-solving, and critical thinking 􀂃 Technological competence and an ability to help students use technology effectively 􀂃 The ability to collaborate effectively with other teachers and with experts from other fields 􀂃 A working knowledge of STEM-related subjects and an understanding of their relevance in today's global economy 􀂃 Global and cultural knowledge and understanding 􀂃 An ongoing and measurable commitment to improving instructional practice Specific recommendations for this lever are: 􀂃 Redesign the teacher preparation, licensure and professional development systems to attract, retain and nurture high-achieving candidates. Enable them to obtain a rigorous, content-rich education, supplemented by high-quality pedagogical experience and training from instructors with broad, recent experience in K-12 classrooms. Create a system of oversight to ensure that all preparation and professional development programs include 21 st century skills when appropriate. 􀂃 Build public/private partnerships to create summer internships and other opportunities to enhance teacher growth and learning. 􀂃 Offer unique professional development opportunities for educators, administrators, and the entire staff of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to reinforce the importance of embedding 21 st century skills in public education, administration and state leadership. 􀂃 During the licensure process and through on-going professional development, require all educators to demonstrate mastery in the use of technology to teach, assess and manage student learning. Rewrite licensure regulations to build this requirement in to certification and re-licensure standards. 􀂃 Develop a series of online "Hubs" for information, best practices, and success stories, to be managed and monitored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These should include a “Curriculum Hub” for exemplary 21 st century skills curriculum, a “Professional Development Hub” for exemplary PD curriculum to improve instructional practice and an "Assessment Hub." Primary Source, a professional development organization focused on history and the humanities, recently offered educators a course to link them with their international peers. //Teaching for Global Understanding in the 21st Century// readied educators to provide their students with the content knowledge of other cultures, peoples, and histories. The intensive one-week summer program provided 57 educators with a strong background in a range of contemporary global issues, an introduction on how to address these challenges, and a model for using new technologies to develop students' 21st century skills, such as cross- cultural communication and critical thinking. Educators of all grade levels and subjects explored themes that cross national boundaries including the global economy, social justice and human rights, the globalization of culture, the environment, and health and education.” More on this project: __[|http://www.primarysource.org__].__ ** #3: **** Expand the “Creative Teaching Partners Initiative,” and strive to place up to 1,000 artists, scientists and/or engineers-in-residence in schools part-time over the next five years. **   There is no question that students learn best when they are able to connect what they are learning to the real world. With that in mind, the Task Force recommends bringing a cadre of practicing professionals into the classroom in a statewide program modeled after the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Creative Teaching Partners Program (see box below). Participants would be required to complete a training program and then to commit to either an intensive two-week residency or to an ongoing part-time position for up to 100 hours over the course of the school year. Visiting teachers would be encouraged to collaborate with the classroom teachers on curricula and to develop alternative, pull-out seminars for students to complete hands-on science or art projects. The Massachusetts Cultural Council's **Creative Teaching Partners Initiative** connects schools, cultural groups, social service organizations, and others with outstanding artists, science educators, cultural organizations, and folklorists qualified to conduct in-depth residencies, professional development workshops for educators, school and district planning projects, and youth development programs. The Partners are individual artists, artist groups, and science educators who have track records working in school and/or after-school settings and maintain active professional involvement in arts, humanities, or science disciplines and in their education work. These artists and educators have a commitment to ongoing professional development that enhances their artistic, scientific, and pedagogical skills.

http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/technology Position paper on technology from ncss...  There are many resources that we may want to look at such as this site: http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/search.php?output=HTML&collectionID=98%26amp%3Bquot%3B&type=item&offset=0&order Valued resource for PD from SETA: [|http://www.setda.org/web/guest/2020/professional-developmen]t Are there approaches here that would support 21st Century learners?

I believe the first step is to get school leadership to understand the necessity of teaching 21st Century Skills and the connection to the workforce of the future (actually now). I was part of an Apple conference last spring in CA. Another panel they had was a group of twenty-somethings who worked in a variety of occupations. Those young people related what skills they were using for their positions and the disconnect from the way they were taught in high school and for the most part college as well. Their tesitmonies were very enlightening for the group of school leaders.

It might not be a bad idea to have the State or this committee solicit and collect best practices in promoting 21st Century Skills and place them on the K-12 iTunes U that Larry Cocco has been involved.

As aside, I send out emails to approximately 85 superintendents for our Bergen County superintendents' roundtable meetings and received approximately 85% return faxes.

A great concept: 21st Century teachers__ It would be a thought to focus on developing the 21st Century Teacher and Leader. What does that entail? Why would we do that? What would be the through line to students with that focus?

Check out http://edorigami.wikispaces.com

Interesting aside: “Arizona is the first Leadership State to specifically focus on embedding 21st century skills in teacher preparation and youth development activities,” said Ken Kay, president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. “These efforts represent national groundbreaking initiatives. Incorporating 21st century skills in Arizona’s colleges of education and youth development activities will not only improve the state’s education system, but serve as a national role model.”

Perhaps a few of these concepts could be integrated somewhere: From National Council of Teachers of English

__As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to__ __From http://www.ncte.org/pathways/21stcentury
 * __Develop proficiency with the tools of technology__
 * __Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally__
 * __Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes__
 * __Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information__
 * __Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts__
 * __Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments__

Also from NCTE. Of course, we would need to pick and choose. These are student goals. Perhaps we can adapt a few of them.__

Students in the 21st century should have experience with and develop skills around technological tools used in the classroom and the world around them. Through this they will learn about technology and learn through technology. In addition, they must be able to select the most appropriate tools to address particular needs. Students in the 21st century must be aware of the global nature of our world and be able to select, organize, and design information to be shared, understood, and distributed beyond their classrooms. Students in the 21st century must be able to take information from multiple places and in a variety of different formats, determine its reliability, and create new knowledge from that information. From http://www.ncte.org/governance/21stcenturyframework?source=gs
 * Develop proficiency with the tools of technology**
 * Do students use technology as a tool for communication, research, and creation of new works?
 * Do students evaluate and use digital tools and resources that match the work they are doing?
 * Do students find relevant and reliable sources that meet their needs?
 * Do students take risks and try new things with tools available to them?
 * Do students, independently and collaboratively, solve problems as they arise in their work?
 * Do students use a variety of tools correctly and efficiently?
 * Design and share information for global communities that have a variety of purposes**
 * Do students use inquiry to ask questions and solve problems?
 * Do students critically analyze a variety of information from a variety of sources?
 * Do students take responsibility for communicating their ideas in a variety of ways?
 * Do students choose tools to share information that match their need and audience?
 * Do students share and publish their work in a variety of ways?
 * Do students solve real problems and share results with real audiences?
 * Do students publish in ways that meet the needs of a particular, authentic audience?
 * Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneously presented information**
 * Do students create new ideas using knowledge gained?
 * Do students locate information from a variety of source?
 * Do students analyze the credibility of information and its appropriateness in meeting their needs?
 * Do students synthesize information from a variety of sources?
 * Do students manage new information to help them solve problems?
 * Do students use information to make decisions as informed citizens?