The NSDC Staff Development Standards

At this National Staff Development Council webpage, learn what other educators are saying about the NSDC standards, how they are implementing them in their districts, and take a self-assessment to determine how your school or district measures up to the new standards. You can also order implementation resources.

"How To Get There From Here"
Journal of Staff Development (Summer 2001).

National school reform leader Hayes Mizell compares the NSDC standards to the Bill of Rights. "Just as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution were a reaction to the abuses of British rule, the standards are in part a reaction to frequent abuses of staff development, from concept to implementation."

Standards-Driven Staff Development
NSDC Library

A collection of more than 50 articles and columns from NSDC publications describing how schools and districts are using high-quality, standards-based staff development to drive teacher growth and student achievement gains.

South Carolina's Cutting-Edge Standards for Staff Development

South Carolina's 1998 Educational Accountability Act required the development of statewide standards for teacher staff development. The SC Department of Education enlisted NSDC's help in working with 250 SC educators to develop these standard. They apply to all levels of the educational system -- the State Department of Education, school districts, schools, and state- operated programs. These tools provide direction for planning, monitoring, and assessing professional development.

"Grounded in Research"
Journal of Staff Development (Summer 2001).

When the Hoover City Schools' Professional Development Planning Council began crafting a set of eight principles for effective staff development, they drew on the ideas rooted in NSDC's Standards and the work of a statewide teacher quality task force.

Staff Development Standards for E-Learning

Professional development online offers enormous opportunities to customize learning around individual teacher needs and to make learning convenient for teachers. But e-learning also has the potential to accentuate the worst parts of traditional staff development - the fragmentation and isolation - without any monitoring of the rigor or the work that teachers are doing. NSDC's e-learning standards and resources can help educators have cyber-success.

E-Learning for Educators: Implementing the Standards for Staff Development
National Staff Development Council, 2001

Download NSDC's new book on e-learning. This link will begin a free download of the 1.2 mg PDF file.

"Providing Professional Development for Effective Technology Use."
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory Critical Issues Series.

Professional development in a technological age requires new definitions and new resources. It cannot take the traditional forms of individual workshops or one-time training sessions. Instead, it must be viewed as an ongoing and integral part of teachers' professional lives.

A New Vision for Staff Development by Dennis Sparks and Stephanie Hirsh. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (1997)

In this 1997 book, the philosophical leaders of NSDC described a new, wholistic, job-embedded approach to professional development. The national professional development standards emerged from this "new vision." Read several lengthy excerpts at this link.

Michigan Standards for Professional Development

Here's an example of another state's standards framework for teacher professional development. These standards follow the NSDC model: context, process, and content.

Schools to Watch

When the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform searched the nation for exemplary "schools to watch," it made high-quality, results-driven staff development a chief criterion for selection. At this website, visitors can "tour" the four schools selected by the Forum and learn how principals and teachers are building learning communities that link continuous adult learning to student achievement.

Teaching and Learning: Meeting the Challenge of High Standards, a report from the Alabama Task Force on Teaching and Student Achievement

Special section on professional development, with many examples of good practice and a discussion of important policy issues.