Professional Development
Teachers in St. Clair County Schools are required to get a certain amount of professional hours to maintain an Alabama Teaching Certificate. They may participate in workshops or classes from outside sources or from many options provided in the district. Currently workshops and job-embedded training is available in technology integration, strategic instruction, and Response to Instruction (RTI). Teachers log their professional hours into STI-PD online.
For information on professional development, please contact Greg Cobb greg.cobb@sccboe,org (Strategic Instruction & RTI), Brandi Caldwell brandi.caldwell@sccboe.org (Technology Integration) or Jan Bailey jan.bailey@sccboe.org (School Improvement Specialist).
Quality Teaching Standards
Alabama Leadership and Evaluation http://alex.state.al.us/leadership/
Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders PDF Version
Alabama Quality Teaching Standards PDF Version
The Alabama Continuum of Teacher Development includes five levels of teacher development and practice:
Pre-service and Beginning
Individuals who are at the Pre-Service and Beginning level of practice work within the context of supported and guided internship or induction experiences. Pre-service teachers engage in ongoing learning in classrooms and clinical settings. Through multiple and varied opportunities for guided practice in preK-12 settings, they receive ongoing formative feedback that enables them to reflect on their individual teaching practices and how those practices affect student learning. Teacher candidates emerge from the pre-service experience with the requisite knowledge and skills to assume full-time positions in the profession.
With full responsibility for classrooms and as teachers of record, beginning teachers work to internalize and apply what they have learned about teaching. They develop a working knowledge of academic standards and assessments. They reflect on teaching practices and their impact on student learning. Beginning teachers rely on ongoing assistance from mentors and experienced colleagues for support and guidance.
Emerging
At the Emerging level of practice, teachers draw upon ongoing assistance and support from a mentor and other experienced colleagues to expand and enrich their knowledge and skills. These teachers utilize teaching theories and episodic classroom experiences to adjust and modify instruction. Emerging teachers become increasingly self-directed and independent in their professional practice, which is focused on their classrooms and each student therein.
Applying
At the Applying level of practice, career teachers operate at high levels of autonomy, internalizing and applying what they have learned about effective teaching. Utilizing their heightened awareness of students’ academic and behavioral patterns, career teachers anticipate students’ learning needs and responsively contextualize classroom experiences, both in the moment and in instructional planning. Career teachers systematically collect and use data to demonstrate the impact of their teaching on student achievement. They build upon varied professional learning opportunities to enhance personal practice while working collaboratively with colleagues to advance student learning.
Integrating
At the Integrating level of practice, accomplished teachers cultivate the classroom as a community of learners in which students are engaged and motivated. They skillfully adjust practice in response to various contexts. Their highly developed skills and self-efficacy enable them to integrate complex elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to maximize student engagement and learning. Their students consistently demonstrate increases in learning and achievement. Teachers at the Integrating level are also leaders among peers; they collaborate reflectively in learning communities to move classroom and schoolwide practices forward through aligned professional learning. Teachers at this level of practice guide apprentice and intern teachers, mentor beginning teachers, coach peers, assume leadership roles, and otherwise work to guide and develop colleagues.
Innovating
At the Innovating level of practice, teacher leaders are consistently creating in all areas of teaching and learning. They facilitate the complex integration of teaching and learning among teachers at all levels of practice and continue to innovate in their own teaching to support increases in student learning and achievement. Innovating teachers initiate and provide leadership for collaborative learning communities that are engaged in such activities as enhancing curriculum, developing innovative instructional delivery techniques, and fostering positive learning cultures in a variety of educational settings. Leaders in the school, district, and local community, teachers at the Innovating level often lead professional learning and classroom-based research activities, write for professional print-based and electronic journals, or otherwise contribute to the broader education community.