The Township of Union Public School District recognizes that its staff are the most important resource for sustaining excellent teaching and service to all students. It is the District’s belief that, in order to positively impact students’ learning and growth, all staff must continually engage in learning opportunities that result in enrichment of knowledge, skills, and strategies for staff at all levels of experience. Professional Development is aligned to the Standards of Professional Learning Framework which focus on three main categories: Rigorous Content for Each Learner, Conditions for Success, and Transformational Processes.
Rigorous Content for Each Learner
This category of professional learning focuses on providing staff with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and strategies related to equity practices, curriculum, assessment, and instruction, and content area expertise.
Conditions for Success
This category of professional learning focuses on providing staff with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and strategies related to becoming driving forces behind equity-focused changes, the use of evidence and data in decision making, designing evidence-based learning experiences for students, and implementing research.
Transformational Processes
This category of professional learning focuses on providing staff with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and strategies related to creating systemic changes focused on increasing equity and access for all, creating a culture of collaborative inquiry and learning, developing the leadership capacity of all staff, and the creative use of district, school, and community resources.
To facilitate professional learning and growth, the District provides targeted, high quality, research-based professional development to all administrators, teachers, and support staff through programs that include workshops, EdCamps, book clubs, lesson studies, internships, teams and committees, Professional Learning Communities, and coaching. Staff are also supported in their participation in out of district offerings.