Teacher Professional Development

 We believe that educators have an immense power to positively impact the life outcomes of their students. We also believe that educators will be most successful if they are supported in their work. Therefore, the Office of Professional Development is committed to providing support for educators as they implement the Teaching and Learning Framework in their classrooms.

Our primary method of teacher support is through job-embedded professional development, which is one of the six elements of the Effective Schools Framework. To support our teachers, DCPS has 150 school-based Instructional Coaches, a position we added in the 2008-2009 school year. As integral members of school teams, coaches work to support teachers with planning, delivery and using student level data to inform instructional decisions to continuously improve teacher effectiveness. Coaches are non-evaluative.

In addition to utilizing Instructional Coaches for job-embedded professional development, we also offer support to schools through a variety of other means, including workshops and training modules.

Finally, we offer induction and mentoring to support the unique needs of our beginning teachers.

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Office of Professional Development