Adopted: MSBA/MASA Model Policy 425
Revised: Rev. 2023
425 STAFF
DEVELOPMENT AND MENTORING
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to establish a staff
development program and structure to carry out planning and reporting on staff
development that supports improved student learning.
II. ADVISORY
STAFF DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND SITE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAMS
A. The school board
will establish an Advisory Staff Development Committee to develop a Staff
Development Plan, assist Site Professional Development Teams in developing a
site plan consistent with the goals of the Staff Development Plan, and evaluate
staff development efforts at the site level.
1. The majority
of the membership of the Advisory Staff Development Committee shall consist of
teachers representing various grade levels, subject areas, and special
education. The Committee also will include nonteaching staff, parents, and
administrators.
2. Members of
the Advisory Staff Development Committee shall be appointed by the school board.
Committee members shall serve a two-year term* based upon
nominations by board members, teachers, and paraprofessionals. The school board
shall appoint replacement members of the Advisory Staff Development Committee
as soon as possible following the resignation, death, serious illness, or
removal of a member from the Committee.
B. The school board
will establish the Site Professional Development Teams.
1. Members of
the Site Professional Development Teams will be appointed by the school board.
Team members shall serve a two-year term* based upon nominations by
board members, teachers, and paraprofessionals. The school board shall appoint
replacement members of the Site Professional Development Teams as soon as
possible following the resignation, death, serious illness, or removal of a
member from the Team.
2. The majority
of the Site Professional Development Teams shall be teachers representing
various grade levels, subject areas, and special education.
III. DUTIES OF THE
ADVISORY STAFF DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
A. The Advisory
Staff Development Committee will develop a Staff Development Plan that will be
reviewed and subject to approval by the school board twice a year.*
B. The Staff
Development Plan must contain the following elements:
1. Staff
development outcomes that are consistent with the education outcomes as may be
determined periodically by the school board;
[Note: The board-determined education outcomes for your
district could be inserted here.]
2. The means to
achieve the Staff Development outcomes;
3. The
procedures for evaluating progress at each school site toward meeting
educational outcomes consistent with relicensure
requirements under Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.187;
4. Ongoing
staff development activities that contribute toward continuous improvement in
achievement of the following goals:
a. Improve
student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas of the
curriculum, including areas of regular academic and applied and experiential
learning, by using research-based best practices methods;
b. Effectively
meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk children,
children with disabilities, English learners, and gifted children, within the
regular classroom, applied and experiential learning settings, and other
settings;
c. Provide an
inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, linguistically, and culturally
diverse student population that is consistent with state education diversity
rule and the district’s education diversity plan;
d. Improve
staff collaboration and develop mentoring and peer coaching programs for
teachers new to the school or district;
e. Effectively
teach and model violence prevention policy and curriculum that address early
intervention alternatives, issues of harassment, and teach nonviolent
alternatives for conflict resolution;
f. Effectively
deliver digital and blended learning and curriculum and engage students with
technology; and
g. Provide
teachers and other members of site-based management teams with appropriate
management and financial management skills.
5. The Staff
Development Plan also must:
a. Support
stable and productive professional communities achieved through ongoing and
schoolwide progress and growth in teaching practice;
b. Emphasize
coaching, professional learning communities, classroom action research, and
other job-embedded models;
c. Maintain a
strong subject matter focus premised on students’ learning goals consistent
with Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.125;
d. Ensure
specialized preparation and learning about issues related to teaching English
learners and students with special needs by focusing on long-term systemic
efforts to improve educational services and opportunities and raise student
achievement; and
e. Reinforce national
and state standards of effective teaching practice.
6. Staff
development activities must:
a. Focus on the
school classroom and research-based strategies that improve student learning;
b. Provide
opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional skills
over time;
c. Provide
opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work to
increase student achievement;
d. Enhance
teacher content knowledge and instructional skills, including to accommodate
the delivery of digital and blended learning and curriculum and engage students
with technology;
e. Align with
state and local academic standards;
f. Provide
opportunities to build professional relationships, foster collaboration among
principals and staff who provide instruction, and provide opportunities for
teacher-to-teacher mentoring;
g. Align with
the plan, if any, of the district or site for an alternative teacher
professional pay system;
h. Provide teachers of English learners, including
English as a second language, and content teachers with differentiated
instructional strategies critical for ensuring students long-term academic
success, the means to effectively use assessment data on the academic literacy,
oral academic language, and English language development of English learners,
and skills to support native and English language development across the
curriculum; and
i.
Provide opportunities for staff to
learn about current workforce trends, the connections between workforce trends
and postsecondary education, and training options, including career and
technical education options.
7. Staff
development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum
training programs and activities that provide teachers and other members of
site-based teams training to enhance team performance.
8. The school
district may implement other staff development activities required by law and
activities associated with professional teacher compensation models.
[Note: To the extent the school board offers K-12 teachers
the opportunity for more staff development training under Minnesota Statutes, section
122A.40, Subdivisions. 7 and 7a, or Minnesota Statutes section 122A.41, subdivisions.
4 and 4a, such additional days of staff development should include peer
mentoring, peer gathering, continuing education, professional development, or
other training which enable teachers to achieve the staff development outcomes
enumerated above in Section III.B.4.]
C. The Advisory
Staff Development Committee will assist Site Professional Development Teams in
developing a site plan consistent with the goals and outcomes of the Staff
Development Plan.
D. The Advisory
Staff Development Committee will evaluate staff development efforts at the site
level and will report to the school board on a quarterly basis*
the extent to which staff at the site have met the outcomes of the Staff
Development Plan.
E. In addition
to developing a Staff Development Plan, the Staff Development Advisory
Committee also must develop teacher mentoring programs for teachers new to the
profession or school district, including teaching residents, teachers of color,
teachers who are American Indian, teachers in license shortage areas, teachers
with special needs, or experienced teachers in need of peer coaching. Teacher mentoring
programs must be included in or aligned with the school district's teacher
evaluation and peer review processes under Minnesota Statutes, sections 122A.40,
subdivision 8 or 122A.41, subdivision 5.
F. The Advisory
Staff Development Committee shall assist the school district in preparing any
reports required by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) relating to
staff development or teacher mentoring including, but not limited to, the
reports referenced in Section VII. below.
IV. DUTIES OF THE
SITE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM
A. Each Site
Professional Development Team shall develop a site plan, consistent with the
goals of the Staff Development Plan. The school board will review the site plans
for consistency with the Staff Development Plan twice a year.*
B. The Site
Professional Development Team must demonstrate to the school board the extent
to which staff at the site have met the outcomes of the Staff Development Plan.
The actual reports to the school board can be made by the Advisory Staff
Development Committee to avoid duplication of effort.
C. If the school
board determines that staff development outcomes are not being met, it may
withhold a portion of the initial allocation of revenue referenced in Section
V. below.
V. STAFF
DEVELOPMENT FUNDING
A. Unless the school
district is in statutory operating debt or a majority of the school board and a
majority of its licensed teachers annually vote to waive the requirement to
reserve basic revenue for staff development, the school district will reserve
an amount equal to at least two percent of its basic revenue for: (1) teacher
development and evaluation under Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.40, subdivision
8 or 122A.41, subdivision 5; (2) principal development and evaluation under
section 123B.147, subdivision. 3; (3) professional development under section
122A.60; (4) in-service education for programs under section 120B.22, subdivision
2; and (5) teacher mentorship under section 122A.70, subdivision 1. . To the extent
extra funds remain, staff development revenue may be used for development
plans, including plans for challenging instructional activities and experiences
under section 122A.60, and for curriculum development and programs, other
in-service education, teacher’s workshops, teacher conferences, the cost of substitute
teachers for staff development purposes, preservice and in-service education
for special education professionals and paraprofessionals, and other related
costs for staff development efforts. The school district also may use the
revenue reserved for staff development for grants to the school district’s
teachers to pay for coursework and training leading to certification as either
a college in the schools teacher or a concurrent
enrollment teacher. To receive a grant,
the teacher must be enrolled in a program that includes coursework and training
focused on teaching a core subject.
B. The school district
may, in its discretion, expend an additional amount of unreserved revenue for
staff development based on its needs.
C. Release time
provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school
activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher’s
knowledge and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating
grades, or organizing classroom materials, may not be counted as staff
development time that is financed with staff development reserved revenue under
Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.61.
VI. PROCEDURE FOR
USE OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
A. On a yearly*
basis, the Advisory Staff Development Committee, with the assistance of the
Site Professional Development Teams, shall prepare a projected budget setting
forth proposals for allocating staff development and mentoring funds reserved
for each school site. Such budgets shall
include, but not be limited to, projections as to the cost of building site
training programs, costs of individual staff seminars, and cost of substitutes.
B. Upon
approval of the budget by the school board, the Advisory Committee shall be
responsible for monitoring the use of such funds in accordance with the Staff
Development Plan and budget. The requested use of staff development funds must
meet or make progress toward the goals and objectives of the Staff Development
Plan. All costs/expenditures will be reviewed by the school board and/or superintendent
for consistency with the Staff Development Plan on a quarterly basis.*
C. Individual
requests from staff for leave to attend staff development activities shall be
submitted and reviewed according to school district policy, staff procedures,
contractual agreement, and the effect on school district operations. Failure to timely submit such requests may be
cause for denial of the request.
D. The school district may use staff development revenue, special grant
programs established by the legislature, or another funding source to pay a
stipend to a mentor who may be a current or former teacher who has taught at
least three (3) years and is not on an improvement plan. Other initiatives using such funds. or funds
available under Minnesota Statutes, sections 124D.861 and 124D.862, may
include:
1. additional stipends as incentives to
mentors of color or who are American Indian;
2. financial supports for professional
learning community affinity groups across schools within and between districts
for teachers from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to come together
throughout the school year;
3. programs for induction aligned with the
school district or school mentorship program during the first three (3) years
of teaching, especially for teachers from underrepresented racial and ethnic
groups; or
4. grants supporting licensed and nonlicensed educator participation in professional
development, such as workshops and graduate courses, related to increasing
student achievement for students of color and American Indian students in order
to close opportunity and achievement gaps.
To the extent the school district receives a
grant for any of the above purposes, it will negotiate additional retention
strategies or protection from unrequested leave of absences in the beginning
years of employment for teachers of color and teachers who are American
Indian. Retention strategies may include
providing financial incentives for teachers of color and teachers who are
American Indian to work in the school or district for at least five (5) years
and placing American Indian educators at sites with other American Indian
educators and educators of color at sites with other educators of color to
reduce isolation and increase opportunity for collegial support.
VII. PARAPROFESSIONALS, TITLE I AIDES, AND OTHER
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT STAFF
A. The school
district must provide a minimum of eight hours of paid orientation or
professional development annually to all paraprofessionals, Title I aides, and
other instructional support staff. Six of the eight hours must be completed
before the first instructional day of the school year or within 30 days of
hire.
B. The orientation or
professional development must be relevant to the employee's occupation and may
include collaboration time with classroom teachers and planning for the school
year.
C. For paraprofessionals
who provide direct support to students, at least 50 percent of the professional
development or orientation must be dedicated to meeting the requirements of
this section. Professional development for paraprofessionals may also address
the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.363, subdivision 3.
D. A school administrator
must provide an annual certification of compliance with this requirement to the
MDE Commissioner.
VIII. REPORTING
A. The school district
and site staff development committee shall prepare a report of the previous
fiscal year’s staff development activities and expenditures as part of the
school district’s world’s best workforce report.
1. The report must
include assessment and evaluation data indicating progress toward district and
site staff development goals based on teaching and learning outcomes, including
the percentage of teachers and other staff involved in instruction who
participate in effective staff development activities.
2. The report
will provide a breakdown of expenditures for:
a. Curriculum
development and curriculum training programs;
b. Staff
development training models, workshops, and conferences; and
c. The cost of releasing
teachers or providing substitute teachers for staff development purposes.
The report also must indicate whether the expenditures were
incurred at the district level or the school site level and whether the school
site expenditures were made possible by the grants to school sites that
demonstrate exemplary use of allocated staff development revenue. These expenditures must be reported using the
uniform financial and accounting and reporting standards (UFARS).
3. The report
will be signed by the superintendent and staff development chair.
B. To the extent
the school district receives a grant for mentorship activities described in
Section V.D., by June 30 of each
year after receiving a grant, the site staff development committee must submit
a report to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board on program
efforts that describes mentoring and induction activities and assesses the impact
of these programs on teacher effectiveness and retention.
Legal References: Minn. Stat. § 120A.41 (Length of School
Year; Days of Instruction)
Minn. Stat. § 120A.415 (Extended School Calendar)
Minn. Stat. § 120B.125 (Planning for Students’ Successful
Transition to Postsecondary Education and Employment; Personal Learning Plans)
Minn. Stat. § 120B.22, Subd. 2
(Violence Prevention Education)
Minn. Stat. § 121A.642 (Paraprofessional Training)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.187 (Expiration and Renewal)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.40, Subds. 7, 7a
and 8 (Employment; Contracts; Termination - Additional Staff Development and
Salary)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.41, Subds. 4, 4a
and 5 (Teacher Tenure Act; Cities of the First Class; Definitions - Additional
Staff Development and Salary)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.60 (Staff Development Program)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.70 (Teacher Mentorship and Retention of
Effective Teachers)
Minn. Stat. § 122A.61 (Reserved Revenue for Staff
Development)
Minn. Stat. § 123B.147, subd. 3
(Principals)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.861 (Achievement and Integration for
Minnesota)
Minn. Stat. § 124D.862 (Achievement and Integration Revenue)
Minn. Stat. § 126C.10, Subds. 2
and 2b (General Education Revenue)
Minn. Stat. § 126C.13, Subd. 5
(General Education Levy and Aid)
Cross References: None.