District Professional

Development Plan
201 4 - 201 5
July 201 4

Inver Grove Heights Community Schools

District Professional Development Plan
2014-2015
District: Inver Grove Heights Community Schools, # 199
District Superintendent: Dave Bernhardson
Director of Curriculum and Instruction: Penny Kaszas
Address: 2990 80th Street East
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
Email:
penny.kaszas@isd199.org
Phone:
651-306-7806

Inver Grove Heights Community Schools

Vision and Mission
Vision
The vision of Inver Grove Heights Community Schools is to create learning
environments that provide for high student achievement so all learners are academically
and socially prepared for life-long learning.

Mission
The mission of the Inver Grove Heights Community Schools is to provide a challenging
education through which all learners achieve success in a diverse society. This will be
accomplished through:

safe and caring environments;

a strong and stimulating curriculum;
high academic standards;
respect, honesty and accountability in all relationships;
effective and innovative teaching;
open communication and partnerships with families and community; and
facilities that support and enhance learning.

Department of Curriculum and Instruction Vision

Every educator engages in effective professional learning every day
so every student achieves
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Inver Grove Heights Community Schools

Belief Statements

We believe our schools exist to educate children, in cooperation with families, to

become responsible productive citizens and life-long learners.
We believe all learners should have the opportunity to reach their maximum
potential in a safe, caring, and respectful environment where fun is a part of
learning.
We believe a challenging comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes basic skills
will ensure the highest quality education for every child.
We believe positive open communication and a trusting partnership of families,
community and schools are keys to building and maintaining a strong learning
community.

Learning Community Overview

Inver Grove Heights is proud to have a school system that is competitive in academic
test scores and known for being student-focused. The goal of the Inver Grove Heights
Community Schools is to meet the needs and desires of both students and parents. The
district includes three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. A full-day
kindergarten program is offered at all three elementary schools. Atheneum, a magnet
program for highly gifted students, opened in 2002. The program serves students in
grades two through five and is followed by honors and advanced courses in middle
school and high school. The district Community Education program meets family needs
for life-long learning, offering a variety of programs for learners of all ages.
The diversity of the learning community continues to
grow rapidly. In 2013-2014, approximately 61% of
the student population in Inver Grove Heights
identified themselves as Caucasian. The change in
ethnic and cultural diversity has been sudden. The
district lacks racial diversity among staff, and in
turn, staff lacks the opportunity to collaborate with
racially and culturally diverse groups of colleagues.

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The District is actively involved in

the East Metro Integration Districts
programming to improve cultural
awareness and aggressively close the
achievement gap. The District has
begun work with the University of
Chicago to assess the essential
elements associated with improved
school
culture
and
student
achievement, effective leaders,
collaborative teachers, involved families, supportive environment and ambitious
instruction. Survey results will be used to identify each schools strength areas and
areas for improvement. All staff will complete the survey again during the 2014-2015
school year. In addition, the District is working in collaboration with Dr. Yvette
Jackson, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban Alliance for Effective
Education (NUA), to develop instructional practices that integrate language, cognition,
and culture to improve student learning and achievement as well as working with the
Pacific Education Group (PEG) to improve staff understanding of issues surrounding
equity and race.
The district and individual buildings have a coherent set of goals focusing on seven key
focus areas: Professional Learning Communities, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support,
Equity, Instructional and Leadership Improvement Systems, Digital Teaching and
Learning, Literacy, and College and Career Readiness. Using a variety of professional
development opportunities, staff will be afforded opportunities to improve their
professional skills in these areas and imbed their skills into their professional practice
with students.

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Planning for Staff Development

In planning for staff development, the District considers both Minnesota Statute
122A.60; Staff Development Plan, Minnesota Statute 120B.11 School District Process
for Reviewing Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Achievement; Striving for the
Worlds Best Workforce, and Learning Forwards Standards for Professional Learning.
Key legislative components include:
(1) clearly defined district and school site goals and benchmarks for instruction
and student achievement for all student demographic groups;
(2) a process for assessing and evaluating each student's progress toward meeting
state and local academic standards and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of
instruction in pursuit of student and school success and curriculum affecting students'
progress and growth toward career and college readiness and leading to the world's best
workforce;
(3) a system to periodically review and evaluate the effectiveness of all instruction
and curriculum, taking into account strategies and best practices, student outcomes,
school principal evaluations, and teacher evaluations;
(4) strategies for improving instruction, curriculum, and student achievement;
(5) education effectiveness practices that integrate high-quality instruction,
rigorous curriculum, technology, and a collaborative professional culture that develops
and supports teacher quality, performance, and effectiveness; and
(6) an annual budget for continuing to implement the district plan.
Key Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning include:
(1) Professional learning within communities with a focus on continuous
improvement, promotes collective responsibility, and supports alignment of individual,
team, school, and system goals with a focus on data and evidence.
(2) continual development of leadership and learning capacity throughout the
system (preK 12) with a focus on norms of high expectations, constructive
conversations about the alignment of student and educator performance, and an
understanding of the link between student achievement and educator professional
learning;
(3) an allocation of resources to implement the plan including staff (including
staff collaboration time and dedicated job-embedded learning time), materials,
technology, all within a realistic availability of such resources in the Districts budget;
(4) use of a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to
plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning;
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(5) careful selection of learning designs with common features such as active
engagement, modeling, reflection, meta-cognition, application, feedback, ongoing
support, and formative and summative assessment, that support change in knowledge,
skills dispositions, or practice;
(6) in order to bridge the knowing-doing gap, sustained support for three to five
years in the form of ongoing workshops, coaching, reflection, review of results, both
individually and in collaborative teams;
(7) and an alignment between outcomes for educator performance standards and
student curriculum standards.
The Inver Grove Heights Community Schools District Professional Development
Plan was developed by members of the Inver Grove Heights Learning Community. The
plan is based on Minnesota statute and focuses on effective practice and overall
outcomes.
The plan includes seven focus areas aligned with district priorities established by
the school board, identified staff development needs based on input from the District
Staff Development Advisory Committee, and strategies to provide job-embedded staff
development to meet those needs thereby improving student outcomes.

Professional learning embedded into educators' workdays increases the

opportunity for all educators to receive individual, team, or school-based support within
the work setting to promote continuous improvement. Dedicated job-embedded learning
time elevates the importance of continuous, career long learning as a professional
responsibility of all educators and aligns the focus of their learning to the identified
needs of students they serve. Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff
Development Council) Standards for Professional Learning
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2014-2015 Staff Development Goals

The overall goal of Inver Grove Heights Community School professional development
plan is to be aligned with the Worlds Best Workforce plan requirements that all
education effectiveness practices integrate high-quality instruction, rigorous
curriculum, technology, and a collaborative professional culture that develops and
supports teacher quality.
Inver Grove Heights Community Schools will evaluate 100% of district and building
staff development opportunities, reflect on evaluations, and develop and implement
change based on staff feedback.
100% of staff development in Inver Grove Heights Community Schools will be aligned
with the description of Job-Embedded Professional Development published by the
Minnesota Department of Education.
Inver Grove Heights Community Schools will review student achievement data from
summative and district-wide benchmark assessments to ensure that district-wide staff
development is meeting the needs of our students.
2014-2015 Committee Members
Michelle Anderson
Steve Anderson
Pat Blazick-Peterson
Jennifer Chappuis
Jane Cromie
Carol Ellison
Miriam Freidson
Mary Garrison
Jessica Hallin
Mary Jurrens
Penny Kaszas
Lora Lambert
Erin Kyllo
Mike LeMier
Sally McHenry
Linda Potts
Genesee Rasmussen
Abel Riodique
Kim Sievert-Disanto
Sonja Steele
Mindy Tavernier
Lynn Tenney
Tina Willette

Elementary Enrichment and Equity Coach

Simley
Hilltop
IGHMS
Hilltop
Assistant Principal, Simley
Hilltop/Pine Bend
Director of Student Services
IGHMS
Pine Bend
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Early Learning Programs Coordinator
Pine Bend
IGHMS
Pine Bend
District-Wide Special Education
Elementary Reading Coach
Assistant Director of Special Education
Simley
Pine Bend
`Elementary Math Coach
Director of Technology
Principal, Salem Hills Elementary

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Focus Area 1: Professional Learning Communities

(PLCs)

An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles

of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students
they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that
the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning
for educators. Learning by Doing, Second Edition (Rick DuFour)
Goals for Professional Learning Community
1. All teachers, and Instructional paraprofessionals when appropriate, will
participate in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) with a focus on
student learning.
2. Building leadership teams will have an improved understanding of the data
process for successful collaborative teams.
3. Staff will have the opportunity to unpack standards, identify student
learning targets, and create common formative assessments.
4. Professional Learning Community activities will include activities
generated by teachers during the development of Individual Growth and
Development Plans.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Focused on learning, commitment to continuous improvement, and a focus
on results.
2. Defined focus on teacher effectiveness to improve student achievement.
3. Educators committed to working together in order to achieve better results
for the students they serve.
4. Core mission of a formal education is not to ensure that students are taught
but to ensure that students learn.
5. Ensure that all students graduate and are college and career ready.
Strategies:
1. Cohort 3 will attend the Solution Tree PLC Summer Institute.
2. Dedicated collaborative team meeting time in each building.
3. Differentiate collaborative team structure for elementary specialists.
4. Incorporate and include special education and other support staff.
5. Develop district-wide professional learning community training based
on Research for Better Teaching professional development workshop,
Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Inquiry.
6. Designate professional development throughout the year for unpacking
standards, identifying learning targets, and creating common formative
assessments.
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Focus Area 2: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support represent a system in which increasingly intense
interventions are directed at correspondingly smaller population segments so that a
continuum of supports are available to students based on need (Mellard & Johnson,
2008). Multi-Tiered Systems of Support that Accelerate the Learning of All Students
has been identified as one of the eight common principles of effective practice that
the Minnesota Department of Education recognizes as an integral component of a
systemic framework needed to support and sustain educational innovations.
-U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs Center
on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (OSEP)
Goals for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
1. Professional development focus in literacy for 80% proficiency in core
instruction to allow for 10 15% of students in Tier II.
2. Building PBIS teams will meet twice to review building behavior data and
provide an update for all staff in building including a strategy review.
3. PRESS literacy intervention protocols and interventions will be
implemented in grades K 6.
4. A sustainable plan for SIOP training will be developed and implemented
in the 2015 2016 school year.
5. Behavioral referrals will decrease for buildings receiving Responsive
Classroom training.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Develop common expectations for student behavior and common response
sets for inappropriate behaviors across all elementary schools.
2. Defined goals and benchmarks for instruction and student achievement
with targeted interventions and support and remove the need for remedial
instruction.
3. Close the academic achievement gap among racial, ethnic, and economic
categories of students.
Strategies:
1. Professional development focused on 80% proficiency in core instruction.
2. Building PBIS team review of behavior interventions.
3. Dedicated elementary math and reading intervention time with
support from U of MN PRESS program for reading intervention.
4. Dedicated middle and high school intervention time.
5. Responsive Classroom training for Salem Hills staff.
6. Coaching for staff who are co-teaching classes.
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Focus Area 3: Equity

Inver Grove Heights Community Schools is committed to closing the academic
achievement gap among racial, ethnic, and economic categories of students. In
collaboration with EMID, NUA, and PEG, the District will establish a program to
promote diversity, racial and economic integration, and increase student
achievement. Ultimately these partnerships will substantiate an irrefutable belief
in the capacity of all public school children to achieve the highest intellectual
performances demanded by our ever-changing global community. ~NUA
Goals for Equity:
1. District-wide assessment data will show that the gap between student
groups is decreasing at a rate which will decrease the gap by 50% by 2017.
2. All district teaching staff will participate in Beyond Diversity training with
ongoing opportunities to discuss issues around race.
3. A district equity team will be formed and all staff on the team will
attend the National Urban Alliance Summer Academy.
4. The district leadership team will continue in year two with the
National Urban Alliance leadership development course of study.
5. Staff participating in APP will have the opportunity to share what they
have learned from parents through the Academy with all staff.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Eliminate barriers that decrease or deplete opportunities for students to
participate in the highest academic programs.
2. Develop a comprehensive system that is based on an equity framework.
3. Close the academic achievement gap among racial, ethnic, and economic
categories of students.
4. Ensure that all students graduate and are college and career ready.
Strategies:
1. All certified teaching staff and administrators attend Beyond Diversity.
2. Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 6, APP program for
teachers/parents.
3. Forty teachers and building administrators participate in NUA
coaching year 2 (Cohort 1).
4. Establish District Equity Team including teachers from each building;
Equity Team members attend NUA Summer Academy.
5. District leadership attend NUA Leadership Seminars.
6. Cohort 2 teachers attend EMID sponsored NUA workshops.
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Focus Area 4: Instructional and Leadership

Improvement Systems
To improve student learning and success, a school board and an exclusive
representative of the teachers in the district may develop a teacher evaluation and
peer review process for probationary and continuing contract teachers through joint
agreement. The process must include having trained observers serve as peer coaches
or having teachers participate in professional learning communities.
~MN Statute 122A.40
Goals for Instructional and Leadership Improvement Systems
1. All teaching staff will receive training on Individual Growth and
Development Plans.
2. All staff will have an improved understanding of elements within the
iObservation teacher evaluation system.
3. District coaches will have an improved understanding of cognitive
coaching and will implement coaching strategies with all first and second
year elementary teachers.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Increase the integrity and consistency of definitions, observations and
feedback to instructional staff by supervisors
2. Improve the specificity of feedback by providing explicit observation data
and applicable examples of higher order instruction
3. Utilize a system to periodically review and evaluate the effectiveness of
instruction and curriculum.
4. Utilize education effectiveness practices that integrate instruction,
curriculum, technology, teacher quality, performance, and effectiveness.
Strategies:
1. Training for all new teaching staff and principals in the iObservation
system.
2. Development of IGH Teacher Development and Evaluation Plan
including an Individual Growth and Development Plan.
3. Create customized forms within the iObservation system.
4. Provide staff development and collaborative team meeting time for
teachers to complete Individual Growth and Development Plans.
5. District coaches attend Cognitive Coaching seminars.

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Focus Area 5: Digital Teaching and Learning

National and local research shows that working with digital resources allows for
easily shared resources, allows more opportunities for differentiation, increases
student engagement, and creates learning opportunities that extend beyond the
classroom walls and outside of the school day and improves student achievement.
-Lynn Tenney, ISD 199 Digital Conversion Plan
Goals for Digital Teaching and Learning
1. The number of staff participating in technology related professional
development will increase from 75 in 2014 to 125 in 2015.
2. Staff will have the opportunity to share digital teaching and learning
strategies during staff development days.
3. Staff teaching grades 6 10 will have Naviance training.
4. Teachers participating in grade level iPad pilot programs will have
additional training and support.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. The vision of technology use in District 199 is to integrate effective and
efficient administrative and instructional applications of technology into the
educational program and the districts operations. These applications are
intended to promote and enhance the communication and collaboration
necessary for meaningful lifelong learning.
2. Utilize education effectiveness practices that integrate instruction,
curriculum, technology, teacher quality, performance, and effectiveness.
3. Create a personalized learning system that provides opportunities to
maximize the potential of all students based on their needs, abilities, and
preferences.
4. Ensure that all students graduate and are college and career ready.
Strategies
1. Staff attend TIES training as well as select TIES courses individually
throughout the year.
2. Grade level pilot programs and action research Grade 5 Pine Bend,
IGHMS Social Studies.
3. Grades 6 10 Naviance implementation.
4. Elementary media specialists implement digital teaching and learning
units for all students.

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Focus Area 6: Literacy

Literacy is the cornerstone of all learning. In each subject area, the ability to read
and produce written material is of the highest importance. Supporting the
development of capable readers at every level is our goal as educators, parents, and
as a community. In order to ensure that all students are reading well by the end of
third grade, curriculum, instruction, and assessment need to be aligned with current
research-based practices.
Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Blueprint for Literacy
Goals for Literacy:
1. The District Literacy Plan will be shared with staff.
2. All staff will participate in ongoing professional development related to MN
ELA standards.
3. Walkthrough data will be shared with staff and formative data collected will
be linked to ongoing professional development.
4. IGHMS will participate in literacy coaching and consultation as determined
by the school literacy team.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Develop a written comprehensive literacy plan that clarifies the literacy
goals in the district consistent with MN State Statute 122A.06,
subdivision 4.
2. Develop and implement grade-level benchmarks to ensure consistency in
covering the standards and pacing instruction.
3. Achieve third grade literacy for all students.
4. Ensure that all students graduate and are
college and career ready.
Strategies:
1. Outline literacy efforts in the District
Literacy Plan.
2. Provide professional development and
structure for elementary literacy intervention.
3. Utilize the Early Learning coach for improved EL instruction in preschools.
4. Utilize the Elementary Reading Coach for one-on-one coaching,
collaborative team coaching, and district-wide professional development.
5. Continue secondary ELA staff development.
6. IGHMS literacy consultation and coaching.

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Focus Area 7: College and Career Readiness

Todays world demands that students pursue formal training after high school in
order to secure career-track jobs that pay a living wage and offer opportunity for
promotion. It is imperative that all students graduate with college and career
readiness in five areas: academic readiness, admissions readiness, career readiness,
financial readiness, and personal and social readiness. Ramp-Up to Readiness
Goals for College and Career Readiness:
1. The district graduation rate will continue to increase for all student groups.
2. Middle school staff will have professional development and support from
the University of Minnesotas Ramp up to Readiness program.
3. After participating in AVID Summer Institute and Path training, AVID site
teams will share strategies with all secondary staff.
4. Parents participating in APP will have an improved understanding of
strategies for ensuring student success and college and career readiness.
Aligned with District Priorities:
1. Ensure that all students graduate and are college and career ready.
2. Create a personalized learning system that provides opportunities to
maximize the potential of all students based on their needs, abilities, and
preferences in AVID elective and other areas.
3. Establish college and career readiness outcomes that are incorporated into
student personalized learning plans.
Strategies:
1. Ramp Up to Readiness staff development based
on district established College and Career
Readiness benchmarks for Grades 6 10.
2. Secondary staff will have additional Naviance
training as needed.
3. Secondary teachers will attend AVID Path
training.
4. AVID Site Teams deliver WICOR strategy
training to all secondary staff.
5. APP parent/teacher workshops for students in grades Pre-K through grade 1
and grade 6.
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Glossary of Acronyms and Terms

5E Survey: Survey tool to guide school improvement
ACT: American College Test
AP: Advanced Placement
APP: Academy of Powerful Parents
AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination
AVID Path: AVID training for teachers to deepen knowledge of strategies
Bloomss Taxonomy: Thinking skills organized from basic to complex
CCR: College and Career Readiness
CFA: Assessments for learning
Cognitive Coaching: Research-based coaching model
Collaborative Inquiry: Bridge between data and results
District Literacy Plan: Districts guide to ensure all students are reading well by the
end of third grade
EL: English Learner
ELA: English Language Arts
EMID: East Metro Integration District
ESL: English as a Second Language
IGDP: Individual Growth and Development Plan
iObservation: District teacher evaluation model
Learning Forward: Formerly the National Standard for Professional Development
Learning Targets: What will students know and be able to do?
LEP: Limited English Proficiency
MTSS: Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports
Naviance: College and Career Readiness Platform
NUA: National Urban Alliance
PBIS: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
PEG: Pacific Educational Group
PLC: Professional Learning Community
PRESS: Path to Reading Excellence in School Sites
Ramp-Up to Readiness: Advisory program based on five pillars of college readiness
RC: Responsive Classroom
RtI: Response to Intervention
SIOP: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol
SMART Goals: Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound
Summative Assessments: Assessments of learning
TDE: Teacher Development and Evaluation Plan
TIES: Technology and Information Education Services
WBWF: Minnesotas Worlds Best Workforce Legislation
WICOR: AVID strategies in writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading