Professional Development Rubric - Background

The Kansas Staff Development Rubric for District/School Assessment is based upon the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) Standards for Staff Development. NSDC is an organization that supports efforts to improve and identify model professional development practices. The rubric was developed by the Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA) Staff Development Sub Committee consisting of representatives from the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) and Kansas Staff Development Council (KSDC). The NSDC standards and resulting rubric provide a foundation for understanding quality staff development practices and for comprehensive planning. On April 11, 2002 the Kansas State Board of Education unanimously endorsed the use of the rubric as a suggested tool to:

(1) identify sites of model staff development practices in Kansas, and

(2) guide groups at the school, district and state levels to strengthen current staff development practices.

Background and Timeline:

• In October 2001 a staff development summit, "Making the Connection Between Staff Development and Student Learning" was convened to bring people together to gather input on the proposed rubric. This summit, convened and co-sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), the Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA) and the Kansas Staff Development Council (KSDC), included 100 participants made up of teams of teachers, curriculum specialists, and administrators from 24 districts. The districts represented the various school populations in Kansas. Each district was asked to use the draft rubric to assess their district, individual schools and or specific staff development programs and to share their results and insight with similar sized districts in attendance. Summit participants provided feedback on the usability, format and content of the rubric at the Summit and have continued to provide valuable feedback for further refinement of the rubric.
• In March 2002 as part of a separate Kansas Staff Development Council (KSDC) project, a modification of the rubric was used to survey administrators and teachers from schools who met the Kansas Academic Standard of Excellence in one or more of the content areas. The results of this survey will be used to provide further information in the identification of model practices of high quality staff development in Kansas.
• In April 2002 the Kansas State Department of Education endorsed the use of the rubric.
• In May 2002 a special session was held at the annual Kansas State Department of Education/Staff Development Council Conference that introduced the Kansas rubric to other schools and districts from across the state. Following the conference, the draft rubric was disseminated to all districts in Kansas for their review and use as a tool for developing comprehensive staff development programs that can result in improved student learning. In addition the rubric will be used to begin the process of identifying sites that model these effective staff development practices. Feedback regarding the usefulness of the rubric will be solicited over the course of next year.

If you have questions or comments regarding the rubric, please contact Kathy Boyer at 785-296-7945.  The Rubric may also be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF file.