All Professional Development Resources

The Blueprint was created by the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development and a State Literacy Team of Alaskan educators, to focus on the development of children's literacy from birth to graduation. The Blueprint is intended to provide guidance to policymakers, districts, school and community leaders, educators and families about ways to support all children in becoming literate and prepared to fully participate in their chosen.....

The Center on Instruction has published a series of four Improving K-3 Reading Comprehension professional development modules designed to provide key principles and practices that support classroom instruction. Each module provides resources useful to federally funded School Improvement Grant (SIG) programs. The webinar modules introduce the Center on Instruction (COI) and Doing What Works (DWW) websites' tools and resources and address 1) the supporting research, 2) teaching comprehension strategies, 3) engaging students with text, and 5).....
This is the second in a series of webinars especially designed to assist rural school staff with implementation of their School Improvement Grants (SIGs). The intended audience for this webinar includes all educators engaged in or interested in improving literacy instruction for adolescents—grades 6–12. The presenters were Dr. Debby Houston Miller and Vicki LaRock from the Center on Instruction's Literacy Team. During this one hour webinar, presenters focused on the following guiding questions: What are the major goals of adolescent.....
This course is for school and district staff participating in Alaska STEPP. The course is organized into 17 chapters. The first chapter is an overview of the purpose and process of Alaska STEPP. The remaining 16 chapters outline other specific details in navigating STEPP and applying it to the School and District Improvement process. 1. To access this course, you must first login as a user at www.eed.state.ak.us/ELearning/ 2. After successfully logging in, you will see a Welcome page. On the right hand side of the page is a link for.....
Are you concerned about how to implement and sustain classroom management and behavioral interventions? This webinar will highlight the free, online professional development modules and resources on Classroom and Behavior Management provided by the IRIS (IDEA '04 and Research for Inclusive Settings) Center for Training Enhancements. Silvia DeRuvo, Senior Program Associate at the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, and two classroom teachers will discuss how the content of these instructional resources are effective when setting the.....
Teacher collaboration is crucial to improving instruction and accelerating student achievement. In this last session in our webinar series on extended learning time, Ben Lummis, Vice President for the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) and Sarah Gallagher, Program Associate at NCTL will share how more time can be best used to improve teacher collaboration and professional development. The session will explore the essential components of productive teacher time through examples of effective practices at both elementary and high.....
The Center on Instruction has released a series of five webinar modules designed to provide key adolescent literacy principles and practices to support the federally funded School Improvement Grants (SIG). The webinar modules introduce the Center on Instruction (COI) and Doing What Works (DWW) websites' tools and resources and address 1) school leadership, 2) research overview, 3) explicit vocabulary instruction in middle and high school, 4) text discussion, and 5) intensive interventions for struggling readers. Also included for each module.....
About this document This booklet has three main parts: • What is collaboration? • Recommendations for supporting state-level collaboration • Building capacity for collaboration Part one compares collaboration to other forms of active partnership (cooperation and coordination) and encourages readers to consider which type of partnership is most appropriate for their situation. Part two describes seven recommendations for fostering collaboration at the state level and illustrates them with examples of “collaboration in.....
A Guide for Coaches and Their Supervisors offers tools, tips, and strategies for coaches working with school improvement teams. The guide also offers examples and recommendations for coaches working with teams who are using the online Indistar® tool created by CII. http://www.centerii.org/restructuring/
This link takes you to the monthly newsletter from the National RTI Center. It highlights topics of both national and statewide interest related to response to intervention practices, including resources from the USDOE website "Doing What Works." Educators can sign up to receive this newsletter through their personal email accounts.
The FindYouthInfo Program Directory features evidence-based programs whose purpose is to prevent and/or reduce delinquency or other problem behaviors in young people. Currently, you can search the directory by risk factor or protective factor.
FindYouthInfo.gov was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), which is composed of representatives from 12 Federal agencies that support programs and services focusing on youth. The IWGYP promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth in three significant ways: » Create and Support youth-serving organizations » Identify and Disseminate Promising and Effective Strategies » Promote Enhanced Collaboration
This rich website from the Library of Congress contains ready-to-use materials that bring the Library’s primary sources into the classroom. In addition, it builds teacher skills with the Library's professional development curriculum. Educators can find classroom materials, professional development activities, Teaching with Primary Sources partners, news and events, class starters, teacher updates, and more Library of Congress resources.
“An increasing body of evidence points to the link between effective data use and student learning,” said Margaret Heritage who managed the comprehensive revisions. She noted that the “Race to the Top” program goals place a high priority on better data systems that inform schools and teachers. The new site includes a data users guide plus specific examples from states, school districts, and schools of successful data use. This site also has components of formative and diagnostic assessment.
This document lists information and resources relating to principal and teacher evaluation that districts may find helpful as they develop tools to review a teacher's or principal’s performance. ACC has identified a number of tools, some of which provide examples that include student data in the evaluation process, which are research-based and offer promise as an effective practice. However, any resource’s inclusion or omission from this list does not constitute ACC’s endorsement or lack of endorsement.
The word “protocol” has taken on a more specific meaning in education in recent years. In the context of educators working to improve their practice, a protocol is a structured process or set of guidelines to promote meaningful and efficient communication and learning. The National School Reform Faculty website has compiled several protocols for educator use. Protocols are most powerful and effective when used within an ongoing professional learning community such as a Critical Friends Group® and facilitated by a skilled coach.
PBS TeacherLine's high quality, standards-based graduate-level courses offer teachers the professional development opportunities they need in an accessible online format that makes learning fun, flexible and collaborative. You can earn graduate credit, PDPs, or CEUs while gaining strategies and resources to bring directly to your classroom.
Alaska State System of Support (SSOS) Operations Manual, Building Local Capacity, 2011-2012 The Alaska SSOS's mission is to support districts as they build their capacity to implement sustainable school improvement strategies with fidelity. Authority for developing and implementing a system of support for districts and schools comes from both State and Federal law. This document provides an overview of the SSOS program and resources that are available to districts and schools in Alaska.