School Type: Public	School Setting: Suburban
Level: K-12	School Design: Traditional
Content Presented By:
National Awards Program for Model Professional Development

Summary

The practice: Professional development should be connected to a comprehensive change process focused on improving student learning.

• Each initiative lasts two to three years
• Bimonthly newsletter distributed by the district administrator
• Lists of all conferences and workshop opportunities in the state and beyond
• 40+ teachers hold instructional leader roles
• 60 teachers qualify to mentor new teachers through completion of BEST program
• 1999 SAT math scores highest in Connecticut
• 8th grade math students ranked first in the state
• Common writing rubric developed for grades 3-12
• Students linked through e-mail to professional mentors like NASA astronauts and theoretical physicists

The Wilton School District aligns professional development practices with the long range plans of individual schools and the district. Each school has a long range planning team consisting of community members, teachers, board of education members, and the principal. This team examines testing results, community perceptions concerning education, and current research.

A long-range plan is written during the course of the year specifically for that school. These plans steer in-house professional development efforts and collectively serve as a foundation for the creation of a long range plan for the district. From these priorities, a "vital few" are emphasized. These "vital few" become the focus for district in-service training.

In order to support the expanded professional development efforts, the district negotiated a longer work week for teachers. Outside evaluators found strong evidence of processes for building understanding of how professional development fits into larger overall school improvement plans.

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This resource is developed and maintained by The Education Alliance at Brown University. Seed funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Send comments to: loom@alliance.brown.edu