Professional Development Plan

The first five weeks of the course have provided opportunities for you to participate in discussions and activities focused on a growth mindset, as well as the curriculum planning and design process supported by an awareness of leadership.

Scenario – Setting the Context for the Final Project
During Week Five, you wrote a compelling cover letter that has opened the door for you to be interviewed by a school district or organization with the curriculum position you have been dreaming of. This letter provided relevant connections to your graduate coursework and highlighted the expectations for leadership that is required in education today and will serve as a source of support during your interview.

Upon your arrival to the interview, you are tasked with creating a professional development plan that you will utilize as a framework for your interview with the hiring team. This plan should align with the following three areas: the curriculum development processes (Week Two), learner outcomes demonstrated through a growth mindset (Week Three), and standards for professional learning (Week Four). You already consider yourself a servant leader with a growth mindset and know it is important to spotlight your leadership qualities. Therefore, it will be important to showcase your qualities explicitly in the plan that you create.

Content Expectations
Note the seven standards for professional learning embedded within the Professional Development Plan Template shown in italics and located in the second column. You will develop your plan addressing the following sections of the PDP Template outlined in the Content Expectations below:

Content Expectations
Part I: Professional Development Plan (PDP) Template:

• Section “A”—Goal of School/Organization/Self: Identify one SMART goal from your school or organization related to learning and achievement. (Note the examples and recommended resources to support this section are found in the Weekly Lesson.)
• Section “B”—Focus and Rationale of PDP: Describe the focus of the professional development you will design and implement for yourself or others. Include why you selected it and how it directly aligns with the specific goal you identified in Section “A.”
• Section “C”—Population: Describe who the PDP will include.
• Section “D”—Outcomes: Compose up to two specific learning objectives that will be gained at the culmination of this professional development series for those participating in the PDP as well as student learning.
• Section “E”—Curriculum Design Process: Describe the collaboration required for your plan to be successful including shared curriculum planning, revision, and analysis in the design process.
• Section “F”—Timeline: Outline the approximate number of workshops/sessions over a specified period of time.
• Section “G”—Resources: List the resources that you will utilize to gain the knowledge and skills identified as part of your learning outcomes.
• Section “H”—Accountability: Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness of your plan and outcomes. Include specific data you will collect and measure such as participant artifacts and how each measures the impact on student learning.
• Professional Learning Standards: Apply the standards for professional learning to their coordinating sections of the template.

Part II: Written Reflection

• Leadership: Describe the leadership qualities that are an important consideration for success in this professional development and their potential impact on student learning.
• Growth Mindset: Share how this plan reflects a growth mindset (review the Dweck, 2014, video from Week Two).

Written Communication Expectations

• Page Requirement: Complete the template (Part 1) and a one- to two-page written reflection (Part 2), not including title and references pages.
• APA Formatting: Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment. It is recommended you use the labels given to each of the section headings.
• Syntax and Mechanics: Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.
• Source Requirement: Reference at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course texts. You should specifically reference Lopez (2015), Dweck (2014), and Mooney and Mausbach (2008) to provide compelling evidence to support your ideas. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.