GRANVILLE COUNTY SCHOOLS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Granville County Schools adopted North Carolina's Five Strategic Priorities (FSP) as essential to continuous improvement. The Priorities include High Student Performance; Safe, Orderly and Caring Schools; Quality Teachers, Administrators and Staff; Strong Family, Community and Business Support; and Effective and Efficient Operations. Using the FSP as a baseline, the district developed a School System Improvement Plan (SSIP) as a road map for the district. Each school develops its own School Improvement Plan (SIP) that in turn aligns with the SSIP. A key component of the SIP is the Professional Development Plan. Individual professional development plans must meet the North Carolina Standards of Professional Development and the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) Standards and focus on changing teacher behavior to increase student achievement.
Each year, the district and school level improvement plans are revised based on student outcomes, with additional input from teacher, student and community surveys. Care is given to ensure that the professional development components of these plans align with the Standard Course of Study and student standards and assessments.
All Professional Development activities are directly related to the school system's mission of preparing our students today for a successful tomorrow. Granville County identifies professional development activities by:
• Determining needs based on multiple sets of data including the Title II needs assessment, surveys, test results, report cards, evaluations, Title I LEA Plan
• Determining appropriate model and design based on the audience
• Aligning with other LEA efforts and initiatives (including school improvement planning and school and district budgeting)
• Aligning with state professional development standards and standard course of study
• Planning appropriate follow-up
• Conducting evaluations and of all professional development activities Granville County uses Coursewhere, an online management system, to allow staff members to manage their professional development online. The system does the following:
• Allows staff to post all in county professional development activities online
• Helps staff find and register for appropriate professional development opportunities
• Administers an evaluation of each professional development to each staff member
• Maintains an accurate record of CEU credit for all staff In addition to each session evaluation, we review the teacher working conditions survey, class observations and report card data to determine the impact on instruction and student achievement.
