Professional Learning and Development
The purpose of Professional Learning and Development in the Iron County School District is to ensure that there are highly qualified teachers in every classroom, that there are highly qualified principals and assistant principals in every school, and continued and sustained improvements in student academic achievement across the board.
All professional development given in Iron County School District should meet the following guidelines:
Learning experiences designed for direct transfer to the classroom and student learning.
Learning experiences for both teachers and students based on current theories, research, and models of human learning. Includes the coordination, monitoring, and prioritizing of topics and resources.
Incorporates learning strategies that have effect sizes greater than .50 (Hattie, 2009) and that align with the UETS teaching standards.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that create a support system for professional learning, teacher leadership capacity, instructional growth, and student learning
Data-driven decision making to track the effectiveness of the professional development (Guskey’s 5 level evaluation model), and to assess the effects on student learning.
Iron County School District Professional Learning Opportunities
Upcoming Events
Utah Statewide Professional Learning Opportunities
Professional Learning and Development
Endorsements
Iron County School District will not be offering endorsements for the 2020-2021 calendar year.
Endorsement courses are being offered at all regional educational development centers, through local universities, and Utah Education Network.
New Teacher Supports Program
The State of Utah requires all educators with a professional license in their first three years of teaching to participate in an induction program. This program is designed to support teachers as they begin their teaching career and to help them become a valuable member of our district’s professional learning community.
Professional Learning Communities
Iron County School District is a Professional Learning Community. Professional learning communities function as an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students that they serve.
Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved student learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.
In the Iron County School District, Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) meet monthly to discuss schoolwide data in the areas of student academic achievement, educator professional learning and growth, positive behavior interventions and supports, and multi-tiered systems of support for all learners.
Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) meet weekly to discuss grade level or content area data in the areas of student academic achievement, educator professional learning and growth, positive behavior interventions and supports, and multi-tiered systems of support for all learners. Teams analyze data from common formative assessments (CFAs) and determine next steps, focusing on either interventions or enrichment for all students, ensuring that they can and do succeed
Every team meeting is guided by four questions during their weekly meetings.
What do students need to know and be able to do?
How will we know that they have learned it?
What will we do when they haven’t learned it?
What will we do when they already know it?
