2023-2024 PD Opportunities
A school PD Series for educators and staff that offers:
- Overview of the NPS English Learner Education Program
- Training for educators who have Former English Learners and who need to complete their mandated monitoring forms electronically through Ellevation
- Sheltered Content Instructional Strategies & SEI Smart card for educators
- Discussion about schools’ ELs, curriculum benchmark assessments for ELs, family engagement, multilingual communication supports, and any other topics raised by attendees
- Any related topics you would like to discuss!
All attendees will receive;
- First edition of the NPS English Learner Education Handbook
- SEI Smart Card Resource
- Ellevation Software – FEL monitoring training packet
- ELE PDP’s for licensure renewal (electronically through Frontline) Please check Frontline to claim your PDPs, if participating!
Please contact Lauren Barry for details. lbarry@northampton-k12.us
The Hitchcock Center is in its third year of partnering with NPS K-3 teachers in offering this exciting, standards-based science program which takes students outdoors and teaches students to think critically about our environment through an animal assigned to each grade level! Read about it HERE. More information to follow regarding Year 3 plans with the Hitchcock Center. Stay tuned!
District Improvement Plan Goal#3: Provide instruction and curriculum that empowers all students to explore who they are, to embrace and honor the world around them, to identify and think critially about the messages they receive, and to be powerful contributors to change.
This PD aligns with the DIP Goals and is eligible for PDPs. Please visit Frontline to claim your PDPs if you are participating!
AdaptiveX is a Professional Development and Software company specifically committed to creating equitable outcomes and improving the lives of students through Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. To us, Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning means helping teachers recognize their own biases, while also arming them with research-based practices in order to appropriately respond to student needs. Our roster of highly trained educational professionals is uniquely qualified to provide high quality, research-based professional development to teachers and school leaders using a mixture of in-person and web-based training, virtual coaching, and unique assessments. Watch a video on how teachers are trained in culturally responsive practices by clicking HERE
This year teachers at the NPS High School and JFK Middle School have the opportunity to be part of this exciting professional development opportunity which is a continuation of the work started last year. Teachers will meet for 2 full days and also afterschool once a month (paid at the ontractual rate) to read articles, learn about culturally responsive teaching practices, and to help to develop observation and teaching tools that can be used in coaching, mentoring, and to self-reflect.
If you are a high school teacher, middle schoool teacher, or ETS and would like to participate please contact the following building based leads:
District Improvement Plan Goal#1: Strengthen and sustain professional growth opportunities and collaboration for district employees with a focus on equity and anti-bias work in order to increase student engagement and mastery of content area standards (i.e. learning goals).
This PD aligns with the DIP Goals and PDPs will be available to participants in June 2023 through Frontline. Any secondary NPS teacher or ESP who is interested in attending can contact the following leads to learn more and sign up:
NHS- mharrison@northampton-k12.us
JFK- sbuchanan@northampton-k12.us
The Center for Teacher Education and Research (CENTER) at Westfield State University and Northampton Public Schools have a partnership.
All Northampton teachers and administrators, including support staff (school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, school counselors), may take any of the following courses at no cost from each month from August 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024:
- SEI: ‘Understanding Academic Language to Improve Content Area Instruction for ELLs’ (differentiated by content area)
Course Description:
This 15 hour self-paced online PD course will provide in-service teachers with the subject matter knowledge, professional standards, skills, and dispositions essential to effectively shelter their content instruction to ensure English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms will successfully access curriculum and achieve academic success in the area of academic vocabulary. Teachers will learn about theories and experience evidence-based instructional practices, protocols, methods, and strategies to develop academic vocabulary. Teachers will have opportunities to practice specific modeled instructional strategies for teaching identified features of academic language in different disciplines (math, science, social studies, and ELA) while promoting language development in all language domains (reading, speaking, listening, writing) in ways appropriate for ELL students at different language proficiency levels. Teachers will take into account the English Language Development (ELD) World Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards and the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework, which incorporates the CCSS (Pre K-12), when creating lesson plans. They will use the Teacher Endorsement Lesson Plan Template, approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to create mini-lessons focused on integrating academic vocabulary for the target grade level/content area.
NPS professional educators may only register for one Westfield State PD course per month. NPS professional educators must register electronically in order to have access for one self-paced online PD course on the first of the month through the last day of the month.
- Here is the registration link to self-register:
https://forms.gle/rCXRU974rNLq8g618
The WSU will use NPS professional educators’ school email address to provide access to the course.
- Electronic registration forms must be received by the 20th of the month preceding the desired month start date to assure enrollment.
- On the first of the month, WSU will send an email to each registered professional educator with log-in information: link to course platform, username, and password for the registered course. If this email is not received by 3:00 pm on the first of the month, check spam and if not in spam, email Dr. Olsen, molsen@westfield.ma.edu who will have email resent.
- Professional educators will have one month to successfully complete the self-paced online course.
- The CENTER will provide Professional Development Points and certificates for successful completion of each online course. Dr. Olsen is the person to contact. molsen@westfield.ma.edu
District Improvement Plan Goal#2: Strengthen and sustain professional growth opportunities and collaboration for district employees with a focus on equity and anti-bias work in order to increase student engagement and mastery of content area standards (i.e. learning goals).
The Center for Teacher Education and Research (CENTER) at Westfield State University and Northampton Public Schools have a partnership.
All Northampton teachers and administrators, including support staff (school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, school counselors), may take any of the following courses at no cost from each month from August 1, 2023 through June, 2024:
The purpose of this 15 hour self-paced online PD course is to present evidence-based classroom strategies for modifying instruction and behavior management to meet the unique learning needs of students with disabilities. Readings, reflective discussions, module content, and online activities will describe specific teaching strategies to facilitate and support student progress. Utilizing a case study approach course participants will develop an Instructional Strategy Plan for at least one student with a mild or moderate disability. These action plans will spell out in detail specific instructional strategies matched to annual goals in a student’s Individual Education Plan. The following teaching priorities will be addressed: student learning style, discipline, classroom routines, classroom organization,
test taking procedures, and general/special education collaboration. The components of the Instructional Strategy Plan will include description of student strength and weakness, instructional/behavioral interventions, classroom accommodations/modifications, data collection method, and evaluation timeline.
NPS professional educators may only register for one Westfield State PD course per month. NPS professional educators must register electronically in order to have access for one self-paced online PD course on the first of the month through the last day of the month.
- Here is the registration link to self-register:
https://forms.gle/rCXRU974rNLq8g618
The WSU will use NPS professional educators’ school email address to provide access to the course.
- Electronic registration forms must be received by the 20th of the month preceding the desired month start date to assure enrollment.
- On the first of the month, WSU will send an email to each registered professional educator with log-in information: link to course platform, username, and password for the registered course. If this email is not received by 3:00 pm on the first of the month, check spam and if not in spam, email Dr. Olsen, molsen@westfield.ma.edu who will have email resent.
- Professional educators will have one month to successfully complete the self-paced online course.
- The CENTER will provide Professional Development Points and certificates for successful completion of each online course. Dr. Olsen is the person to contact. molsen@westfield.ma.edu
District Improvement Plan Goal#4: Address the current inequity of educational resources through a data-driven framework of strategies that provide equitable outcomes for students.
About Add+VantageMR® Courses
These professional development courses focus on early numeracy development. Add+VantageMR® (AVMR) supports elementary educators, special education instructors, math interventionists, and math coaches in diagnosing and advancing student understanding and numeracy development. The assessment, data collection, and teaching tools are designed to accelerate the ability of educators to recognize students’ current levels of numeracy understanding to make data-driven instructional decisions. During these professional learning courses, participants will be actively involved in rich discussions around students’ mathematical thinking. Participants leave the course ready to work with students and implement new knowledge in their teaching practices to meet the needs of a diverse range of students.
- Add+VantageMR® Course 1 (AVMR 1): Foundational learning of whole number topics such as number words and numerals, structuring numbers, addition and subtraction, and topics that affect the development of future mathematical understanding. The topics and domains covered often appear later on as holes in understanding for older struggling students.
- Add+VantageMR® Course 2 (AVMR 2): Expand and deepen knowledge and understanding of mathematical development for all students by implementing diagnostic assessments for multiplication and division and place value understanding.
- Add+VantageMR® Fractions (AVMR Fractions): Explore how students develop concepts and strategies with fractions to support algebraic reasoning and applying operations.
More information about 2023-2024 AVMR courses will be posted when it becomes available. Stay tuned!
Self–Evident Education will work with Northampton Public Schools‘ fifth grade classroom teachers to effectively access and implement the SEE library of multimedia resources and follow up curriculum. SEE’s resources are designed to help educators and students examine the histories and legacies of systemic racism and use an understanding of the past to envision and move towards a just future.
During our work together, we will examine all of the SEE resources and work together to be intentional about which resources work in the fifth grade classroom in terms of appropriateness of the content and alignment with the MA SS frameworks.
- SEE will conduct three workshops (1.5 hours each) with Northampton Public School fifth grade teachers
■ first workshop will be 11/28/2022
■ second workshop, date TBD
■ third workshop, date TBD
- SEE will provide four “office hours” and email availability
- Guest teaching:
Self–Evident team members will visit all fifth grade classrooms at NPS schools over the course of four days (scheduled with teachers) to guest teach and demonstrate the utility of the S.E.E resource library (shortly after the first workshop session)
District Improvement Plan Goal#1: Strengthen and sustain professional growth opportunities and collaboration for district employees with a focus on equity and anti-bias work in order to increase student engagement and mastery of content area standards (i.e. learning goals).
This PD aligns with the DIP Goals and PDPs will be available to participants in June 2023 through Frontline.