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122A.60 Staff development program.

Subdivision 1. Staff development committee. A school board must use the revenue authorized in section 122A.61 for in-service education for programs under section 120B.22, subdivision 2, or for staff development plans under this section. The board must establish an advisory staff development committee to develop the plan, assist site professional development teams in developing a site plan consistent with the goals of the plan, and evaluate staff development efforts at the site level. A majority of the advisory committee and the site professional development team must be teachers representing various grade levels, subject areas, and special education. The advisory committee must also include nonteaching staff, parents, and administrators.

Subd. 1a. Effective staff development activities. (a) Staff development activities must:

(1) focus on the school classroom and research-based strategies that improve student learning;

(2) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional skills over time;

(3) provide opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work to increase student achievement;

(4) enhance teacher content knowledge and instructional skills;

(5) align with state and local academic standards;

(6) provide opportunities to build professional relationships, foster collaboration among principals and staff who provide instruction, and provide opportunities for teacher-to-teacher mentoring; and

(7) align with the plan of the district or site for an alternative teacher professional pay system.

Staff development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum training programs, and activities that provide teachers and other members of site-based teams training to enhance team performance. The school district also may implement other staff development activities required by law and activities associated with professional teacher compensation models.

(b) Release time provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher's knowledge and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating grades, or organizing classroom materials, may not be counted as staff development time that is financed with staff development reserved revenue under section 122A.61.

Subd. 2. Contents of the plan. The plan must include the staff development outcomes under subdivision 3, the means to achieve the outcomes, and procedures for evaluating progress at each school site toward meeting education outcomes.

Subd. 3. Staff development outcomes. The advisory staff development committee must adopt a staff development plan for improving student achievement. The plan must be consistent with education outcomes that the school board determines. The plan must include ongoing staff development activities that contribute toward continuous improvement in achievement of the following goals:

(1) improve student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas of the curriculum by using best practices methods;

(2) effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk children, children with disabilities, and gifted children, within the regular classroom and other settings;

(3) provide an inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse student population that is consistent with the state education diversity rule and the district's education diversity plan;

(4) improve staff collaboration and develop mentoring and peer coaching programs for teachers new to the school or district;

(5) effectively teach and model violence prevention policy and curriculum that address early intervention alternatives, issues of harassment, and teach nonviolent alternatives for conflict resolution; and

(6) provide teachers and other members of site-based management teams with appropriate management and financial management skills.

Subd. 4. Staff development report. (a) By October 15 of each year, the district and site staff development committees shall write and submit a report of staff development activities and expenditures for the previous year, in the form and manner determined by the commissioner. The report, signed by the district superintendent and staff development chair, must include assessment and evaluation data indicating progress toward district and site staff development goals based on teaching and learning outcomes, including the percentage of teachers and other staff involved in instruction who participate in effective staff development activities under subdivision 3.

(b) The report must break down expenditures for:

(1) curriculum development and curriculum training programs; and

(2) staff development training models, workshops, and conferences, and the cost of releasing teachers or providing substitute teachers for staff development purposes.

The report also must indicate whether the expenditures were incurred at the district level or the school site level, and whether the school site expenditures were made possible by grants to school sites that demonstrate exemplary use of allocated staff development revenue. These expenditures must be reported using the uniform financial and accounting and reporting standards.

(c) The commissioner shall report the staff development progress and expenditure data to the house of representatives and senate committees having jurisdiction over education by February 15 each year.

HIST: 1Sp1985 c 12 art 8 s 23,61; 1987 c 398 art 8 s 27,28; 1Sp1987 c 4 art 1 s 3; 1988 c 486 s 73,74; 1990 c 562 art 4 s 8; 1991 c 265 art 7 s 30-32; 1992 c 499 art 1 s 19; 1992 c 571 art 10 s 4,5; 1993 c 224 art 7 s 24; 1994 c 647 art 7 s 10,11; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 8 s 9; 1996 c 412 art 9 s 11; 1998 c 397 art 8 s 95,96,101; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 5 s 13; 1999 c 241 art 5 s 3; 1999 c 241 art 9 s 17; 1Sp2005 c 5 art 2 s 44-46

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