TITLE 126

LEGISLATIVE RULE

BOARD OF EDUCATION


SERIES 149

COUNTY PROFESSIONAL STAFF

DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS (5500)



'126-149-1.  General.


1.1.  Scope  --  This legislative rule establishes the general implementation process for staff development activities in the 55 county school systems.  This staff development program provides for job-related training for school personnel on three noninstructional days (eighteen clock hours) in the school calendar.


1.2.  Authority  --  W. Va. Constitution, Article XII, '2 and W.Va. Code ''18-5-15, 18-2-5 and 18A-3-8.


1.3.  Filing Date  --  June 24, 1997.


1.4.  Effective Date  --  July 24, 1997.


'126-149-2.  Purpose.


2.1.  Schools exist to facilitate student learning. Ongoing professional staff development for all personnel is essential to enhancing improved teaching and student learning.  Professional staff development should be a continuous, developmental process ultimately based on staff needs.  High standards for the design and delivery of high quality professional/staff development shall include but not be limited to the following issues: county responsibility, principles of operation, general implementation process, and monitoring.


'126-149-3.  County Responsibility.


3.1.  Each county board of education shall schedule annually at least three noninstructional days of staff development for professional staff.  At least two of the three days or their equivalent, must be scheduled prior to January 1.  Exceptions to the schedule and/or staff development content, may be granted for innovative programs and/or delivery upon the written request of the county superintendent to the state superintendent.


3.2.  County boards of education shall establish a professional staff development council and shall implement a comprehensive system of staff development.


3.3.  The county board of education shall make available an amount at least equal to one tenth of one percent of the amount provided in accordance with section four, article nine Chapter eighteen of this code and credit such funds to an account to be used by the professional staff development council to fulfill its objectives. The council shall prepare for review and approval by the county board of education an annual budget that details all expenses and revenues including staff support.  Any funds remaining in this account at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in this account and be used solely for staff development. The county board of education will have final approval for all disbursements.  This does not preclude the use of other funding sources for additional staff development.




3.4.  At the first professional staff development council meeting following the county board of education=s approval of their annual budget, the county superintendent or his/her designee shall provide the professional staff development council with the funding computation provided in Section 3.3. of this policy.


3.5.  In order to meet the growing demands of school, county, state, and national priorities, counties are encouraged to seek ways to provide additional opportunities for staff development above and beyond the minimal number of eighteen clock hours.  Some strategies include, but are not limited to, the following: the use of banked time, extending the school calendar, seeking grant funding sources to cover costs of additional staff development, and the use of community resources.


'126-149-4.  Principles of Operation.


4.1.  County boards of education and county professional staff development councils shall incorporate the following components and governing principles of operation in their county staff development policy.


4.1.1.  The process of planning school and/or county staff development initiatives to promote teaching and learning, shall include but not be limited to the following:


a.  Individual school, county, regional, state, national and international priorities.


b.  Multiple input sources such as state board goals and objectives, student test scores, faculty senate recommendations, and county board policies to identify program needs.


c.  Needs based objectives.


d.  Activities that provide for individual needs as well as groups such as local school improvement councils, faculty senates and school curriculum teams.


e.  A systematic evaluation process for the delivery, quality, and impact of staff development.


f.  Provisions for follow-up staff development  when the objective(s) are beyond awareness level.


4.2.  All professional staff shall participate in eighteen clock hours of job related staff development each year.  Twelve of the eighteen clock hours shall be directly relevant to: 1) educational priorities for West Virginia to include, but not limited to implementation of regulations, trends, and issues at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels (ie. Multicultural education, new instructional materials education, and AIDS; education) 2) the areas of study in which they are currently teaching; 3)  the teaching strategies appropriate to those areas of study; 4) classroom management skills; 5) techniques appropriate for learners with various exceptionalities and learning styles; 6) alignment of instructional goals and objectives with effective strategies, methods and/or techniques, or 7) student and program evaluation methods and instruments (Policy 2510).


4.3.  County professional staff development councils shall standardize the amount of staff development credit granted for staff development plans for individual schools and persons within the county.


'126-149-5.  General Implementation Process.


5.1.  Each county will have a professional  staff development council that shall have final authority to propose staff development programs for their peers.



5.2.  The professional staff development council=s proposed program shall be presented to the county board of education as an information item prior to its implementation.  The professional staff development council will also present the annual evaluation report at the end of the school year.


5.3.  Each county  professional staff development council shall consist of between nine and fifteen members at the discretion of the county superintendent based on the size of the county.


5.4.  The professional staff development council shall be comprised of proportional representation from the major school levels and from vocational education, special education, and other educators in proportion to their employment numbers in the county.


5.5.  Teacher nominations to serve on the county professional staff development council may be submitted by the faculty senates of the district to the superintendent who shall prepare and distribute ballots and tabulate the votes of the county=s instructional personnel voting on the persons nominated.


5.6.  Election to the professional staff development council shall be made on a staggered three-year sequence. No staff development council member may serve more than two consecutive terms.  Vacancies occurring during an elected term will be filled by the professional staff development council according to 5.4. until the next election.


5.7.  The county superintendent or his/her designee shall hold an advisory, nonvoting role on the professional staff development council and shall: provide input in design of the staff development council=s program; coordinate the implementation of the staff development council=s program after approval of the plan by the council and presentation of the plan to the county board of education; distribute information concerning program objectives, location and time, prerequisites, and other pertinent information about staff development offerings to all professional personnel within the county; maintain records of enrollment, scheduling, and evaluation of each staff development activity; and compile those records into an annual report for submission to the professional staff development council.


5.8.  At the first meeting of the professional staff development council in each school year (July 1-June 30), the members of the council shall elect a chair by majority vote.  The chair shall preside over all staff development council meetings; present, prior to implementa- tion, any program approved by the staff development council to the county board of education; and present the annual evaluation report to the county board of education.


5.9.  The professional staff development council shall meet at least quarterly each year.  The county staff development council may elect to use funds appropriated in 3.3. to pay council members time and/or expenses.  (ie., substitute teachers, class coverage).  The county board may provide at least two hours of release time as long as funds are available.


5.10.  Two or more county professional staff development councils may be involved in cooperatively planning, funding, and implementing county, regional, and/or state coordinated staff development initiatives.  The professional staff development council and the service personnel staff development council within a county may cooperatively plan, fund, and implement staff development programs in the county.


'126-149-6.  Monitoring.


6.1.  Monitoring of the implementation of Policy 5500 - County Professional Staff Development Council shall be conducted via the accreditation system described in W. Va. Code '18-2E-5.