This discussion post is used in conjunction with EYPD Education courses. The purpose is to increase awareness on the specific topic that may coincide with courses.
What is the real cost for professional development and training? How much are school districts, government agencies, and businesses spending per person? We may never know the full answer to those questions. In my opinion, you should provide professional development and new content training as often as possible in accordance to the need. Professional development and growth has to be a big part of any plan for improvement of staff, faculty or employee. Do all districts identify educators that lack in some areas from those that don’t? Do a government office or private business put structure into their training for employees? What about internal professional development and training? There are individuals through an organization (whether education, government or business) that have a wealth of knowledge to share with others. However there are factors that could hinder the creation of quality internal professional development. This includes (1) time, (2) training resources, (3) schedules, (4) lack of collaboration between schools or business or government offices, (5) lack of cooperation and (6) changes in personnel.
With all the budget cuts in education, government and business, leaders have to be creative and spend professional development and training funds smarter and get more in return. Earnyourpd.org is a great resource for sustainable online professional development and training. We work with other educational sources to offer a budget friendly service. Customers will have access to their own customized learning platform. We are able to convert current hard copies, electronic or any materials into engaging training content for your entire business or organization. Our education services are different from government and business services. Contact us for more information or click on menu to find service area that meets your needs. Let’s review article from Education Week. It has some good information on this topic.
My team mate and I were just discussing this topic. Our district has the support and resources to provide professional development throughout the year. However, it seems that too often professional development seminar are being held during the summer and on weekends. I feel with all of the changes with district test, state test, exit exams, etc. that training should be offered immediately. Another option would be having the building level representative from the teacher’s union to plan professional development for members. I
Ongoing professional development is very important for the classroom teacher. The half day workshops are insufficient to keep us abreast of the updates and continual changes that keeps coming. The week long summer sessions is good but more is needed in order to maintain a successful classroom. It is good when the school district offers the needed trainings without cost to the teacher.
Professional Development and growth has to be a big part of any plan for improvement of staff, faculty, or employees.
Professional Development is essential for teachers, leaders, administrators and those who impact the educational system. Professional development should take place during the summer and not during school time. There is less interruptions spent from instruction. There is less cost incurred because of not having to schedule substitutes in the absence of the teacher.
It is good when the school district offers the needed trainings cost free to the teacher. In professional development sessions, there are too many times we are taught things that we can’t always apply in our classroom, or aren’t realistic. During training we are often times given all these tools to use, but all it does is add to our workload. As it stands, I already spend several nights late trying to stay caught up.
I agree! I feel like PD should be offered during work hours because we are constantly working longer hours than we get paid for as it is. That is just part of a teacher that loves her/his job. I wish the district paid for more PD opportunities that would help pay for CEUs and give more opportunities for in district close by events,trainings, etc. On bad weather make up days, have a training that gives us credits that we can actually use and not just a “work day”
I agree. Teachers should have more input when districts are choosing district wide PD opportunities. The problems faced in today’s classrooms and the types of PD being offered seem to be at a major disconnect.
This article sums it up perfectly. Professional development is often picked because it looks good on paper, but I feel those who choose these sessions do not always think about the application or usefulness for teachers. When doing a professional development session, I feel like there are too many times where we are taught things that we can’t always apply in our classroom, or aren’t realistic. They give us all these tools to use, but all it does is add to our workload. Often times, some of the techniques they show us won’t overlap with what we are already doing, so we just add it to our stack of things to do. I don’t need more work, I need techniques and strategies to help me reach my students. As it stands, I already spend 3-4 nights late (7pm or later) and countless hours on the weekend working.
I also feel as though professional development doesn’t come at the best times. We will be given training on a new set of curriculum in November – nearly halfway through the year!! I needed this training at the beginning of the year (or better yet at the end of the previous year so I can become familiar with the material over the summer). Another aspect that is often overlooked is personalizing the workshop. Give us something we can apply in our classrooms at that moment. The professional development sessions that stand out to me the most are the ones I was able to put the techniques/strategies they were teaching into place with a current student – while the instructor was still there! It allows us to see how it should look from start to finish.
We were just discussing how professional development opportunities seem to be few and far between during the school year. Also, our district spends money to bring in prof. dev. personnel and then asks everyone to attend when only few need the training. It is often a waste of time. We are fortunate in our district to have full reimbursement for PD during the school year if we have to travel and days missed are excused and compensated for. However, as stated above there is often a shortage of opportunities during the school year and online training is not reimbursed.
I thing professional development CEUs should be given any time teachers are required to stay after school for PLC meetings, they are usually relevant in their content, and that would lighten the load of teachers who are scrambling to get those CEUs all of the time.
This article is correct in all aspects. I believe everything in the education world is constantly changing and teachers should be trained on every change as soon as we can be. I think professional development should not be a fee for teachers, it is hard enough on us as it is. Professional development is extremely important for the growth of teachers, and I think each teacher should have a certain amount of PD time every year. I feel as though it should be beneficial to us, not just a PD to pass time.
Teacher professional development is only effective if is research-based and easy for teachers to apply in their classrooms. More importantly, if the training is undifferentiated, core subject teachers may not be allowed enough time to apply it to already scaffolded lessons to have the greatest impact on teaching practices.
Professional development is vital for the success of children and adult education. Education is based upon the idea of revolving knowledge that enhance society. Therefore, all educators should constantly sharpen their craft by adapting to old ideas with a new generation twist. It is important that professional development is provided no matter the circumstances schools, districts, or other entities may encounter.
Profesional development is very important. It is important that schools offer ongoing professional development to ensure students growth and success. Education never stops and should’t stop for teachers.
I agree with this article. I think that most teachers do not look forward to professional development, because they are often not well thought out or planned out. An effective PD should help teachers grow and develop, and hopefully infuse some energy into their teaching efforts.
I agree with this article! I personally never like school days where we have professional development because a lot of the time it is information that I’ve already learned about at a previous PD or is not relative. In addition, professional development opportunites that offer CEUs are hard to find and usually very expensive. I have loved earnyourpd.org and the flexibility I have in completing the course. Also, it is very cost friendly!
While I think Professional Development is a good and essential part of creating a successful learning environment, I think that teachers generally procrastinate or moan at the the thought of PD because, as stated, it is poorly thought out and not cost effective for teachers on a slim salary. I recently attended a PD event that lasted ALL day and consisted of numerous break-out workshops and in the end, all we got was 0.5 CEUs. Many of us felt that sacrificing a day of our class time, travel expenses and so forth were surely worth at least 1.0 CEUs….which we also had to pay for. I also noticed while there that some districts paid for their teachers PD as well as their CEUs. I thought that was a great idea and good incentive for teachers to be more positive about attending PD events.
Our district often holds PD that was obviously planned at the last minute, and is rarely beneficial. (No CEU’s are offered) Also, they rarely if EVER approve requests to go to workshops to learn new things or earn CEU’s. This leaves teachers scrambling to find CEU’s and figure out how to pay for them. This is frustrating to me, because I would love to go to workshops and really learn new things to better myself in the classroom. Instead, I am forced to pay money to go to available classes that are often outside of my content area. Then I have to pay to purchase the CEU!
My district offers PD a couple of times a year. Most of the time CEU’s aren’t offered to the teachers that attend in district PD. With the amount we are required to meet, it would be benefit both the districts and teachers if CEU’s were offered. I think more opportunities to go to professional development would increase the knowledge of your teachers and in return your students would benefit.
The cost and the time spent obtaining professional development credits have given me the blues this year. The education department have rejected some of my CEUs because they want them to come from a specific source of their choosing. I think that it is unfair, especially when it cost of some of the PDs are expensive. The feel district should provide CEUs throughout the year.
While the need for continued education is imperative to growth as an educator, it is ridiculous the amount of money that has to be spent in order to keep a valid educator license in the state of Mississippi. It’s not enough that we are the bottom of every single salary scale in the U.S., or to have to continually purchase items for our own classrooms to promote learning; but, we also have to find the time and financial resources to prove to the state that we should continue being able to work in a career field that we might be able to pay off the student loans that were taken out to get by noon on the day of our funeral. We are not expected to use school/work time to gain this professional development credit. Our administrators scowl at us when we ask to take a day or two off to go to a training that we have to spend $300 dollars on for a two-day trip. When are we expected to do all of this? Oh yes. During our summer break. And I am sure that I speak for all Mississippi educators when I say that we do absolutely NOTHING during our break before getting ready for the next school year. The whole process is sickening. It makes me happy that there are sources like EYPD that tries to help those of us who can’t help ourselves.
The cost for CEUs is punnative to teachers in my opinion. Some teachers do not always have a school district that offers many opportunities to acquire CEUs, so it is something that must be done on the teacher’s time, which we all know with the work-load we face, is limited, and on incomes that often cannot handle the burden. This is a real problem for that many teachers face.
I was amazed by the statement the most urban school districts were spending an average of 6-8 thousand dollars a year per teacher on professional development and inservice hours. I don’t think my school district is spending that much (I hope not).
I think professional development is very important. I wish there were more opportunities for meaningful professional development. My school district does a good job on professional development for new curriculum but many times it is very rushed and hard to gain a lot of useful information.
The previous district I was in had the support and resources to provide professional development throughout the year at the school you attended. In the present district I am now in, you are on your own trying to get CEU’s. Most CEU’s are offered during the summer and on weekends or offered through a class online which you had to pay quite a bit for. I feel there should be more professional development offered during the school year on school days.
I think professional development is very important but it needs to relevant to a teacher’s needs. The district I work in decides on a PD and then everyone has to attend. Usually the PDs are on reading strategies but math and science teachers have to attend as well. I teach math and not once have I used anything from these PDs in my classroom. It would be wonderful if the money that is allotted per teacher for PD be available for teachers to use in areas like earnyourpd.org sites so that they can get professional development that is relevant to them and earn ceus at no cost to the teacher.
When I first started working in my district 10 years ago, our HR director was a former teacher and administrator. She KNEW what we needed and she made sure that nearly every training session we attended, earned us some CEU through our local community college. Looking back, I complained A LOT about all the things I had to do back then, but I see what she was building in us and how she helped us. She retired and was replaced with someone with no education experience. We are in trainings, meetings and professional development consistently, but we have very little to NO CEU help. I cannot even tell you how much money I’m spending to get my CEUs for my license to be renewed. Don’t get me started on the pilot program that I spent two summers in and received no CEU credit for.
I absolutely love applicable professional development. I have been in some that I come away with tools that I can immediately implement in my classroom, but as good as those are there is nothing worse than sitting through hours of PD that do not apply to me or I can’t use because of lack of funding. It is also frustrating when there is a demand for CEU’s but the school or district won’t help me attain them financially. The money spent on the development is not as critical as making sure that teachers are up to date on their license.
I think that it is very important for school district to make this a priority for their teachers and offer it at free cost. School districts also need to make sure that is something that is relevant to the teachers needs
In my opinion, PD should be offered to educators throughout the year and at different times. This would allow teachers to have a choice of when to attend and what subject to be covered within the chosen PD. I also hope that in the future CEUs can be offer for free to the participants of these PDs. It has been brought to my attention many times that other professions can receive CEUs at not cost. Are educators not as important as doctors and lawyers? I believe we are if not more. I mean no disrespect for these occupations. Districts need to help their teachers by supporting time off and out of the classroom to attend PDs. If a teacher can gleam one thing to use in the educating of his/her students from a PD it is worth it.
PD is absolutely needed to keep teachers up to date in the ever changing world of education. It is also required so that we can keep our teaching license. That being said, I feel that districts should offer more PD that allows teachers to earn credits. My district requires many PD throughout the school year but does not offer credits for completing them. I feel that if my district requires that I complete all these PDs that they should at least OFFER the credits at the end. Teachers are underpaid. In the state that I teach in, I barley male above minimum wage. I realize that we have to pay for courses to earn these credits and further our knowledge. I just with the courses that allow you to earn up to 3 credits or more were more affordable. The free courses I have found require several weeks of work but only earn .5 credit. Teachers’ already struggle with a workload that is killing us. Affordable course that allow us to earn more credits at a time would be fabulous.
I totally agree with how stressful being a teacher can be. And, NO ONE except another teacher really understands that! My family is full of teachers so we can “talk shop” and bounce things off of one another a good bit. Having mental health days and a buddy are essential in teaching. I have not figured out the whole exercise thing yet. When do people have time??!? I enjoyed reading this article. I hope more parents and administration will step up to remove some stress from the classroom teacher.
I think there should be an easier, more affordable way to obtain CEUs and keep our license up-to-date. I am thankful for earnyourpd.org, but it is costly if you have to take 3 classes, which is what I usually end up doing because I’ve only acquired a few .2s or .3s. Teachers stay very busy, and we are required to attend multiple days of professional development throughout the school year, which don’t offer any type of CEUs. It would be nice if we were able to obtain CEUs through those, and not have to pay for them. Paying $250+ to renew my license does seem like a bit much, but like I said… I am thankful there are options out there that allow me to obtain them quickly, and provide good information about strategies that I can implement in my classroom immediately.