BY-LAWS

OF

THE JEFFERSON COUNTY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER CONSORTIUM

LOCAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

Jefferson County Educational Service Center

2023 Sunset Boulevard

Steubenville, Ohio 43952

(740) 283-3347

 

 

 

Preface

 

            Along with the Teacher Education and Licensure Standards and passage of Senate Bill 230, ORC 3319.22 authorizes establishment of Local Professional Development Committees (LPDCs).  This enactment enables Ohio to connect professional growth of educators directly to the transition to or the renewal of professional licenses.

 

Article I.  Operational Foundations - Philosophy and Purpose

 

Section A.  Vision/Mission Statements

1.                              Vision

The vision of the Jefferson County Educational Service Center Consortium LPDC is to implement Ohio’s Professional Development vision that provides educators freedom to shape their own professional development.

 

2.                              Mission

The mission of the Jefferson County Educational Service Center Consortium LPDC is to implement the NSDC Standards for Professional Development and the seven principles of quality professional development.  The consortium is committed to assisting individual educators and educational leaders as they work together to create high-quality professional development plans, teams, and systems.

 

Section B.  Statement of Authority

 

1.                              Senate Bill 230

In 1996, the Ohio General Assembly passed Senate Bill 230 authorizing the establishment of Local Professional Development Committees (LPDCs).  This legislation signaled a major change in Ohio’s approach to the development of its teaching force—it placed the responsibility for professional development in the hands of educators themselves.

 

·                                            While the Ohio Department of Education still issues all licenses, educators employed in Ohio public schools, or chartered nonpublic schools, and seeking to fulfill license renewal requirements must develop Individual Professional Development Plans (IPDPs) for course work, continuing education activities, or equivalent other activities.  The plans must be based on needs of educators, their students, schools, and districts.

·                                            To review and approve IPDPs, public school districts and chartered nonpublic schools in Ohio now have LPDCs consisting of at least three classroom teachers, one principal, and one other district employee appointed by the superintendent.  LPDCs can have additional members, but the majority must be teachers.

 

2.                              ORC 3319.22

ORC 3319.22 sets forth rules establishing standards and requirements for educator licenses and local professional development committees to regulate continuing education.

 

3.                              Board of Education Resolutions

Boards of education of participating districts and the Jefferson County Governing Board adopted identical resolutions approving the consortium LPDC and authorizing participation.

 

Section C.  Identification of Those to be Served

The Jefferson County Educational Service Center Consortium LPDC serves all certificated/licensed employees in the Buckeye Local, Edison Local, Indian Creek Local, Harrison Hills City, and Toronto City School Districts as well as the Jefferson County Educational Service Center.

 

Section D.  Belief Statements/Guiding Principles

1.                              Belief Statements

·                                            We believe the primary responsibility for educators’ professional development lies with educators.

·                                            We believe high quality professional development will change the work, the roles, and the relationships that exist in schools.

·                                            We believe high quality professional development will require new levels and types of support from the educational system.

·                                            We believe high quality professional development will modify and improve teaching and increase learning.

 

2.                              The Seven Guiding Principles of Quality Professional Development

At the heart of the Ohio LPDC Advisory Council framework are seven guiding principles of quality professional development based primarily on professional development research and experiences of LPDC pilots.  Each principle highlights an important component or characteristic of quality professional development.  However, all seven principles are interdependent.

 

Each principle can be viewed through two different perspectives—that of individual educators seeking professional development that is meaningful and productive and that of people and organizations whose roles are to support professional growth of educators.

 

The seven guiding principles found in the Quality Professional Development: A Guide for Ohio’s Educators describe quality professional development as:

·                    Results-Oriented:  Quality professional development increases the capacity of educators to improve student achievement.

·                    Individualized:  Quality professional development addresses educators’ varied experiences and learning needs.

·                    Job-Embedded:  Quality professional development is relevant to and embedded in each educator’s principal work.

·                    Collaborative:  Quality professional development creates communities of educators who support continuous inquiry, collaboration, and growth.

·                    Research-Based:  Quality professional development applies knowledge from learning theory and research, as well as lessons from sound educational practice.

·                    Data-Driven:  Quality professional development is based on student data aligned with district and building goals, and focused on a specific set of targeted improvements in student learning.

·                    Systemic:  Quality professional development is a process that occurs over time with system support for acquiring new skills and incorporating them into practice.

 

3.                              The National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Professional Development

·                    The revised National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Staff Development are a landmark contribution to raising the performance levels of students.  One of the strengths of the standards is that they are rooted in the belief that it is not only educators who should benefit from high quality professional development but also students.

·                    This is a radical shift in how most educators think about staff development.  Much professional development educators currently experience is only tenuously linked to increasing student achievement.  Those responsible for conceiving, planning, and implementing staff development often do so with good intentions, but devote more attention to the activity than to how it will benefit students.

·                    Certainly professional development can be about giving educators a “shot in the arm,” inspiring and focusing them to carry out their responsibilities with renewed commitment.  However, this function does not substantively address the need of students to learn how to read and comprehend well, or understand higher order mathematical concepts.

·                    NSDC’s Standards for Staff Development start from the premise that the primary purpose of staff development should be to help educators develop the insights, knowledge, and skills they need to become effective classroom and school leaders, better able to increase student learning.

·                    The standards are a sophisticated analysis of what it takes to bring high quality professional development to fruition.  While underscoring the importance of content—the “what” of staff development—the standards also emphasize the process, the “how” conditions under which educators can get the most out of their adult learning experiences.  But the standards go even further.  They point out that the context in which staff development occurs is all-important.

·                    School boards and superintendents have to provide the leadership necessary for professional development to become a strategic and budgetary priority.  Principals have to provide the time and structure for high quality staff development to become an integral part of their schools’ operations, not merely periodic events.

·                    NSDC Standards for building context

§                                 Learning Communities

§                                 Leadership

§                                 Resources

·                    NSDC Standards for selecting a process

§                                 Data-Driven

§                                 Evaluation

§                                 Research-Based

§                                 Design

§                                 Learning

§                                 Collaboration

·                    NSDC Standards for determining content

§                                 Equity

§                                 Quality Teaching

§                                 Family Involvement

 

Section E.  Statements of Responsibility for LPDC

As indicated in ORC 3319.22 and in the Teacher Education and Licensure Standards, LPDCs are responsible for reviewing and approving course work and other professional development activities educators propose to complete for license renewal.  To carry out this responsibility, LPDCs will:

·                                            Establish operating procedures for the submission and review of IPDPs,

 

·                                            Establish clear criteria by which the LPDC will review IPDPs,

 

·                                            Abide consistently by established operating procedures and criteria of the LPDC when reviewing educators’ IPDPs,

 

·                                            Develop an IPDP format for educators to use as they renew licenses,

 

·                                            Ensure that educators’ course work and other professional development activities meet the standards for transition to or renewal of licenses,

 

·                                            Keep records of LPDC decisions regarding IPDPs,

 

·                                            Operate under the Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law), and

 

·                                            Establish a local appeal process for educators who wish to appeal decisions of the LPDC.

 

·                                            Every 3-5 years, review and revise the By-Laws using a committee consisting of one representative from each district and representatives from         JCESC.

 

Section F.  Statements of Responsibility for Educators

Educators working under professional 8-year certificates or professional 5-year licenses are responsible for meeting requirements for transition to or renewal of these licenses

 

LPDCs will develop procedures for reviewing professional development.  However, educators will have both opportunity and responsibility for (1) developing and implementing IPDPs, (2) documenting professional development and maintaining records of such work, and (3) following renewal procedures and timelines.