Professional Development Plan (PDP)
Information on the Professional Development Plan (PDP)
The PDP is a component of the teacher evaluation system that focuses on professional development. Successful teachers on continuing contract explore and implement innovative strategies to improve student learning.
How does it work?
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The teacher designs a professional growth plan in collaboration with his/her administrator.
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The goals of the plan are associated with student learning.
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The plan may be individually developed or collaboratively developed with a team of teachers. If developed with a team, each teacher has implementation responsibility.
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The plan addresses one or more of the following professional components: planning and preparation; classroom environment; instruction; professional responsibility.
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The plan is reviewed annually with the administrator to assess progress. A description of the process undertaken is written by the teacher, signed by the teacher and administrator and placed in the teacher’s personnel file.
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The result of the plan may be shared with others.
Four Options for Developing the Professional Development Plan
All plans must have these four requirements:
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The plan addresses student learning.
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It arises from the teacher’s own professional experience.
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It is worth a year or more of study and effort.
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It is innovative for the teacher.
Collaborative Inquiry
A collaborative team of teachers will meet regularly to study a common educational interest or concern. The teachers may develop and implement a classroom-based inquiry, or they may decide to incorporate a proven practice and adapt it to the needs of their students. The team will consult resources and implement appropriate strategies and activities. The team will collect and evaluate data. The conclusion may lead to further investigation(s). See the
Teacher Evaluation Handbook.
Teacher Research/Classroom-Based InquiryIn teacher research (sometimes referred to as classroom-based inquiry), the teacher will formulate a question. The teacher investigates the question by examining different sources such as seeking expertise of colleagues, reviewing literature on the subject, and checking student records and/or teacher observations. After implementing new strategies and activities, the teacher will collect and evaluate data that could be either qualitative or quantitative. The conclusions may lead to further investigation. See the
Teacher Evaluation Handbook.
Implementing a Proven Practice, New to the Teacher
The teacher will implement a curriculum or technique that the teacher has never used. The “proven practice” may be modified to fit his/her own setting, so professional input is also incorporated in this option. The source of the “proven practice” will be documented on Form A. Data gathering may be narrative or reflective and/or qualitative or quantitative in nature. See the Teacher Evaluation Handbook.
Guided Observation
The teacher will choose and focus on improving an instructional practice which can be assessed by classroom observations. The Plan will specify that the teacher’s administrator will observe him/her. The teacher will assume greater professional responsibility by targeting a specific area of (Best Instructional Practices). The frequency of observations will be determined by the teacher and administrator collaboratively. Peer coaching would fit into this model. What do I want my evaluator to observe when he/she comes to my classroom? See the
Teacher Evaluation Handbook.
PDP Ideas
Teacher Evaluation Handbook contains
sample PDP ideas. Sample questions of each of the five options are listed first, then questions that might apply to teachers of all levels are listed and then sample questions are listed by various subjects.
PDP - Form A
Click here to access PDP Form A.
Use this form at the beginning of the school year to plan your PDP. FIRST, download the Word file, save it and then open it to type using MS Word.
Click here to access the checklist for PDP Form A. You can use this to make sure that you have properly completed Form A. Principals can use this checklist when reviewing teachers' proposed PDPs.
NOTE: The files are "locked" MS Word forms. If you wish to "unlock" the form you can do so by:
1) From the Review menu/ribbon click the Restrict Editing button
2) On the right a window opens, click the "Stop Protection" button at the bottom of the page.
Unlocking the form will allow you to use bullets and spell check.
PDP - Form B
Use this form at the end of the school year to report the findings of your PDP.
Click here to access the checklist for PDP Form B. You can use this checklist to make sure that you have addressed professional growth and student learning.
NOTE: The files are "locked" MS Word forms. If you wish to "unlock" the form you can do so by:
1) From the Review menu/ribbon click the Restrict Editing button
2) On the right a window opens, click the "Stop Protection" button at the bottom of the page.
Unlocking the form will allow you to use bullets and spell check.
Summarizing Professional Development Activities
Use this form at the end of the school year to report Professional Development Activities since July 1 of the current school year. If you wish to type in the form using Word, FIRST download the Word file, save it to your network drive, and then open it in Word.
Workshops to Support the PDP Process
Click here to view the flyer for the PDP support workshops.
PDP Frequently Asked Questions
