BCS Flex Days
District Wide In-Service Days
When the instructional calendar is created, days are set aside for professional learning per SBE Policy 5.200. District Wide In-service Days are for educators to come together to learn from each other during their contracted work days. Hours spent learning on these designated days and hours spent in professional learning during the contracted work day count towards Professional Development Points (PDPs) for license renewal.
Flex Professional Learning Days
At the start of the 2018-2019 school year, Bartlett City Schools will be implementing Flex Professional Learning Days. Educators will earn 24 Flex Hours during the calendar school year and in return have 4 scheduled days off. Flex Professional Learning Days will allow educators to personalize their learning throughout the school year and should align to the educator’s growth area. Flex Hours are hours earned outside of the contracted school day. Flex Hours count as Professional Development Points (PDPs); however, Professional Development Points (PDPs) do not always count towards Flex Hours. All Flex Hours must relate to the educator’s current assignment or district goal.
In Practice
Creating and planning for professional learning is a complex task. Using informal and formal observation data is highly encouraged to gain a big picture of areas of strength and areas to grow. Analyzing Individual Growth Scores for educators, departments/grade levels, and the school building as a whole are strong practices to determine areas of focus. Learning from peers is a cornerstone for long term, sustainable growth. It is recommended to use the Quick Guide for Professional Learning when planning professional learning.
Professional Learning Framework
Bartlett City Schools believes the greatest resource an organization can have is its people. As a result, the district chooses to invest in our employees and foster a culture of collaborative, continuous learning. Bartlett City Schools is committed to educators having access to multiple avenues of professional learning. Educators learning from one another and being allowed to personalize the learning leads to empowering improvement.
Bartlett City Schools relies on the Standards for Professional Learning adopted by the State of Tennessee and the professional learning organization, Learning Forward. These standards support creating professional learning experiences that grow educators, leaders, and students.
Standards for Professional Learning
LEARNING COMMUNITIES: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment.
LEADERSHIP: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.
RESOURCES: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning.
DATA: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess, and evaluate professional learning.
LEARNING DESIGNS: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students integrates theories, research, and models of human learning to achieve its intended outcomes.
IMPLEMENTATION: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students applies research on change and sustains support for implementation of professional learning for long term change.
OUTCOMES: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards.