Professional Development

Professional Development Coordinator
Dr. Amanda Jones
#1 Go-Devil Road; Gurdon, AR 71743
870-353-4454
jonesa@go-devils.net

Welcome
Welcome to the Professional Development section of the website. On this page, you will find resources to help personnel with local, state, and federal initiatives.
Required Professional Development for License Renewal is based on the Rules Governing Professional Development and Standards for Professional Learning (LearningForward.org) as approved by the State Board of Education (SBE).
Act 44 of 2015 amended the definition of basic contract to mean a teacher employment contract for one hundred ninety (190) days that includes no less than six (6) days of professional development. Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, educators are required to obtain a minimum of thirty six (36) hours of professional development for licensure renewal and contractual agreement. This training is based on the Rules Governing Professional Development which can found on the DESE Current Rules page.
Arkansas School Board Members are required to obtain a minimum number of hours of professional development each year depending on term. This required training is based upon the Rules Governing Arkansas School Board Member Training which can be found on the DESE Current Rules page.
Important Updates and Resources
ADE:DESE Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in Arkansas
The Gurdon Public School District has been fortunate to be part of the state-funded Cohort 2 of the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) imitative across our state. Although Solution Tree typically works with a single campus, Gurdon is fortunate that our size and proximity allowed all three campuses to participate simultaneously. This is a three-year commitment of partnership with Solution Tree. Over the three years, local personnel learn the essentials of the PLC process, how to tailor learning through the Response to Intervention (RtI) process, and how to strengthen assessment for better progress monitoring and more effective interventions. We are partnering with state personnel, Solution Tree representatives, and other districts from Fall 2018 through Spring 2021. After that point, GPSD will continue to participate with the districts and campuses that completed the three-year commitment in order to support one another and in order to support incoming districts and campuses.
If you are interested in the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) initiative across the state, check here.
Since its launch in the 2017-2018 school year, PLC at Work® has had a positive impact on achievement growth in Arkansas, particularly in math. To learn more, please read the Arkansas PLC at Work Cohort 1 Year 2 Report.
In partnership with Solution Tree, a leading provider in education professional development, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is committed to developing and expanding the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work process into Arkansas schools. When the PLC at Work process is implemented with fidelity, schools experience dramatic improvement in learning results by both students and adults. Selected Arkansas schools will serve as working laboratories for the PLC at Work process, conducting action research and sharing best practices with other schools throughout the state.
ADE:DESE Microcredentials
What are microcredentials?
A microcredential is personalized, job-embedded, competency-based professional learning. Educators select micro-credentials to improve a discreate skill related to instructional practice, students’ needs, school-improvement goals, or professional-growth goals. Educators earn digital badges for successful completion of the microcredential to display as evidence of effective and consistent use of the target skill or concept in their professional practice.
Why earn microcredentials?
The current system of obtaining professional development credits tends to produce a system of compliance to “seat time” rather than true professional learning. Teachers have expressed that many professional development offerings are “not relevant, not effective, and most of all, not connected to their core work of helping students learn.” Microcredentials allow educators time to learn, reflect, and implement content that will impact their professional practices and lead to higher achievement for all students. The majority of microcredential issuers provide teachers with a coach (usually remote) to guide and support them through the microcredential process.
How are microcredentials being used in Arkansas?
In an effort to improve professional development experiences for Arkansas teachers, the DESE has joined with other innovators in education to encourage the use of microcredentials for professional learning. Arkansas educators have currently earned over 1,000 microcredentials and DESE has established approved microcredentials as part of a transformational shift toward job-embedded professional learning.
Early Career Professionals: DESE offers nine microcredentials that support early career educators in their journey to becoming highly effective teachers. Novice teachers can work collaboratively with their administrator or with Retention and Recruitment facilitators at school cooperatives to select the micro-credentials that best meet the needs of early career professionals.
Pedagogy Assessment Microcredential: The nine Early Career Professional microcredentials are available to aspiring teachers employed under a Provisional Professional Teaching License (PPTL). The principal and teacher work collaboratively to determine the microcredential(s) that may be used as a measure of pedagogical assessment.
Content Assessment Microcredential: Aspiring teachers who score within minus two (-2) standard errors of measurement on the Praxis Content Area exam, may complete one of two approved DESE micro-credentials issued by BloomBoard: Scaffolding Questions to Drive Student Learning or Using Formative Assessment to Modify Future Instruction as part of an alternative assessment plan. By demonstrating the targeted competencies, aspiring teachers may transition from a provisional teaching license to a standard teaching license.
Arkansas Teacher Career Continuum: Career Professionals seeking to earn the Master Teacher or Lead Teacher Professional designation can select from approved microcredential pathways to earn these distinctions for licensure.
Additional Opportunities: Districts may elect to use stacks of microcredentials to create opportunities for advancement on the district’s salary schedule.