In an effort to be the most effective in their roles within the EVSC, staff, faculty, and administrators strive to improve their skills, excel in their work, and stay on the leading edge of technology and best practices implementation. The EVSC is committed to providing ongoing, job embedded professional development activities for its employees.
Environment
Environment plays a key role in learning for children and adults. The most effective professional development occurs as a community of practice, where faculty and staff have the opportunity to learn from others, discuss best practices, and to share ideas.
Professional development is not best captured by the contents of a topic-driven workshop. It must be a culture of continuous learning rooted in daily EVSC activities and focused on staff and faculty needs with one goal in mind—student success.
Focused Training
Professional development within the EVSC for educators is centered on three main skill areas:
- Pedagogical Knowledge—How to create classroom environments that support learning
- Discipline Knowledge—In-depth knowledge of subject areas being taught
- Pedagogical Content Knowledge—How students learn subject matter
Coaching Model
The implementation of a coaching model is the most recent stride forward in EVSC professional development practices for its teachers.
EVSC coaches are experienced educators within the EVSC who go into classrooms and work with teachers during class, or with groups of teachers. As they provide intentional and on-going support in schools, the coach strengthens teaching practice within the classroom by facilitating meaningful collaboration and training their peers in effective instructional strategies.
EVSC coaches...
- Provide mentoring to teachers for data-driven instruction and its effects on curriculum instruction
- Work with multiple schools to ensure implementation of best teaching practices, assessment measurements, and analysis of data and engagement strategies
- Assist with review of standards, lesson design, modeling of best practices, and observation of student behaviors
- Go into the work environment of other EVSC staff members and model best practices