Good afternoon everyone,

 

Kentucky is in the second year of a new professional development (PD)
system that encourages practitioners to conduct self-directed activities
(SDAs). In the past practitioners could also conduct SDAs, but under our
new system they may actually earn more PD credit in the classroom than
they can by attending a PD conference or workshop. The program director
or supervisor must approve the SDA prior to its implementation and
discuss with the practitioner the specific SDA documentation
requirements. Once the practitioner has completed an SDA, the director
marks it as complete on the Web-based PD tracking system (PDtrack). The
documentation is filed in the practitioner's staff folder. 

 

Practitioners can also earn credit when they "disseminate" a best or
promising practice to coworkers in their program and/or surrounding
counties. We believe this encourages the use of best practices and will
help to elevate the professionalism of practitioners as they develop
their expertise in instructional approaches and course content.  An even
higher level of dissemination is called "demonstrating expertise." These
SDAs award more PD credit since the SDA involves disseminating a
presentation at a national conference or an article in a juried
professional journal or Web site. 

 

By working with our practitioner advisory team, we have rethought the
way we provide PD in Kentucky. Our next steps include another round of
PDtrack training for those practitioners and supervisors who feel they
need more practice with the Web site and the development of new reports
on PDtrack to review SDA activity.  

 

Full-time practitioners must earn eight PDUs each year and part-time
practitioners must earn at least two. They have the option of attending
KYAE recognized workshops or conducting one or more of the 23 SDAs now
on PDtrack. Here's a brief description of the four SDA categories:

*     Investigation of a topic is valued at one professional development
unit (PDU).  Ways to earn this unit include attending a workshop,
conference or pre-conference session or reviewing professional
literature.

*     Disseminating a practice or curriculum is valued at three PDUs.
Ways to earn these units include sharing a new instructional or
leadership practice with colleagues or presenting a session at a state
conference. 

*     Demonstrating expertise is valued at four PDUs.  Ways to earn
these units include presenting at a national conference or publishing an
article in a juried publication or Web site recognized by KYAE.  These
might include: Focus on Basics, The Adult Learner, OVAE Web site, KAELI
Web site, and PD Connections.

*     Application and evaluation is valued at five PDUs.  Ways to earn
these units involve applying and evaluating knowledge and skills that
lead to improved student outcomes in the classroom or program. 

 

If you are interested in learning more about our SDAs, please visit
PDtrack http://pdtrack.kyvae.org/. You don't need to log on to review
the SDAs. Enter "sda" in the search field on the left-hand side. Right
below that it says "Item Title." Change it to "Item Code" and click the
search button. The list of SDAs will appear, and you can click on each
title to read more about the individual SDA.   

 

 

Joyce Bullock

Associate

Kentucky Adult Education

Council on Postsecondary Education

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 250

Frankfort, KY 40601

Phone: 502-573-5114, ext 118

800-928-7323 

Fax: 502-573-5436

joyce.bullock at ky.gov

 

 

________________________________

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Taylor,
Jackie
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 12:58 PM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 911] The role of self-study in PD

 

Hi Kearney and All,

Kearney, you bring up the use of tools in self-study as an approach to
professional development. This raises a couple of questions for me, and
I am interested in hearing what folks think:

 

* What is the role of self-study as a PD approach in adult literacy? Are
teachers using self-study strategies more and more for their own PD? Why
or why not? And is self-study primarily done informally, or otherwise?

 

* What are the ways in which PD systems support teacher self-study? Does
your area's PD system support it? Why or why not?

 

(For example, visit:
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/PDMethodsMatrix and note the last
column on "supported self-study." What tools are needed to support
teachers in developing an "individualized learning plan" and documenting
learning? How is the learning shared back with other teachers? Etc.)

 

Thanks! Jackie

 

Jackie Taylor, Adult Literacy Professional Development List Moderator,
jataylor at utk.edu 

 

________________________________

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kearney
Lykins
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 8:27 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 907] Re: Nourishing Teacher Creativity
andInnovation

 

David,

Creativity is very important to me. But from my perspective teacher
"creativity" and "innovation" become oxymoronic in the company of words
such as "programs" and "agencies" and "state." Creativity is a product
of inspiration, but it is also a function of ones ability to be oneself.
Like many creative people who do their work in isolation (a philosopher
in the woods, a painter in a lofty studio, a writer in a secluded beach
house), when I feel least encumbered by administrative oversight I
perform the best. I measure this best performance as student interest,
student attendance, and student academic achievement. I sing better in
the shower than on national TV. 

I mentioned in a previous post that my best friend is Google, because I
have found dozens of useful techniques, drills, exercises, etc. through
a simple search for "ESOL ____". The overwhelming sources of useful
information that I find comes from individuals (e.g., Dave's ESL Cafe,
Karin's ESL PartyLand, etc.) who have collected and published lesson
ideas on their websites. Sites such as these operate without tax dollars
and steering committees. They do not attempt to conform to education
standards drafted by any government agency. They do not rely on
symposiums, round tables, or air travel. "Best practices" are a given.
These sites simply provide a means for teachers to share what works for
them. Hence a Google search is the most efficient, available,
convenient, inexpensive, current, flexible, adaptable, innovative and
effective professional development tool I know. 

As for having time for creativity, I make the time, because I value it. 

/Kearney Lykins

 

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