PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WHEREAS, rigorous content standards and related curriculum and assessment could and should shape the design of new school programs and the instructional practices that will implement them; and

WHEREAS, the professional development we know is too removed from the real tasks of school and classroom; too captured by the latest fads in education - fads that usually arrive in superficial form, without a solid research base, and are adopted quickly and just as quickly abandoned; and

WHEREAS, despite ample, available research about teaching and learning, we continue with school policies and organizational structures that discourage colleagues from working together with the best information to focus on learning in their schools; and

WHEREAS, unlike their counterparts in other countries, most of our teachers and paraprofessionals function in school environments where professional colleagues remain isolated and disconnected from one another. They lack the opportunity to be involved in the strongest form of professional development we know - the chance to meet, discuss and share knowledge and strategies with others about such specific educational challenges as how to group students, what materials are best or how to reach all students; and

WHEREAS, the new challenges presented by more rigorous standards for student achievement will intensify the need for schools to create and to use high-performance professional work teams as never before - making the inadequacies of current patterns all the more glaring:

RESOLVED, that the AFT call upon every state and school district to make student attainment of high standards of academic achievement the central purpose of all professional development for classroom educators; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT urge states, districts and schools to offer ongoing professional development central to school reform characterized by these features:

• high academic standards for students in core subjects;
• integration of academic and school-to-career standards;
• a system of external standards and consequences for students that will explicitly define learning success;
• commitment to the use of sound research, continuously updated, on content, pedagogy and classroom management; and
• guarantees of a safe and orderly classroom and school environment; and

RESOLVED, that school systems must support schedules and organizational designs for schools that make deep, rich professional development an ongoing component of school improvement using teams, networks, discussion groups and clinical investigation of teaching and classrooms; and

RESOLVED, that professional development be designed by representatives of those who will participate, together with other experts in the field, and that such development provide sufficient school time for formal learning to occur, for conferencing with and coaching colleagues to implement new strategies, for new practices to be incorporated in the classroom, and for teachers and paraprofessionals to adjust and refine what they do so that the best strategies and lessons will emerge; and

RESOLVED, that professional development be designed with a goal of bringing together all classroom staff to learn in a collegial atmosphere and to apply new practices in a collaborative manner to create schools where the professional culture, climate and relationships are supportive and focused on learning; and

RESOLVED, that incentives for participation in professional development be negotiated through the collective bargaining process; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT call for schools and school districts to promote professional communication across schools about the strategies, lessons and practice that are proven to be most effective for student learning, including use of the most advanced technologies. This will enable the profession to develop a tested body of knowledge that can be available to all new and veteran teachers and paraprofessionals and standardize effective practice; and

RESOLVED, that districts should promote models for professional development that engage all those involved in teacher development from preparation through advanced certification. Professional development schools, where teacher preparation institutions, school districts and unions all work together in behalf of good teaching, are an example of this.