The Professional Learning Department received
Learning Forward Florida’s 2019 Outstanding Professional Learning Practices Award.
PLD won the coveted award for the development and implementation of the District Professional Learning Community and its sustained growth in the use of distributive leadership, collegial relationships and steady increases in student proficiency and learning gains since its inception.
“We were impressed with the work the team did to create a system of professional learning to impact teacher pedagogy, leadership capacity, and ultimately student achievement,” Katy Dyer, Learning Forward Florida President-elect, said. “We appreciated that through strategic cycles of professional learning, the DPLC was able to support school teams to increase their focus and intensity on literacy across content areas through a distributive leadership model that promoted collective efficacy.”
The concept of the DPLC grew from student assessment data exhibiting a plateau and a disconnect between the teacher and administrative perspectives on the type of work in which collaborative teams are engaged. Through the development and execution of the district initiative, the data indicates favorable results. The data shows a steady increase in student proficiency and learning gains and teacher evaluation data indicates a steady rise in the use of the targeted standards-based literacy strategies. Moreover, collaborative team practices show a deepened focus on healthy and productive collegial relationships.
“While the team designs the content, which is the biggest lift, there are so many other layers of support that made this award possible. Our PL team supports all eight days of each session; the area superintendents and executive area directors are coaching around the literacy and leadership in the schools; and the school teams (teachers and principals) actually bring the learning back to their schools. This award truly represents the outstanding professional learning practices in OCPS,” Susan Abbe, Professional Learning executive director, said.