A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

National Awards Program for
Model Professional Development

Guidelines for Completing the Application

General Information

The purpose of the Mission and Principles of Professional Development is to promote excellence in teaching and learning. Applicants must adequately document improved student learning resulting from a professional development design that exemplifies these principles. Applications that do not describe evidence of improved student learning will not proceed beyond the first stage of review.

For continued consideration through subsequent stages of the review process, the application must also show how the school or school district aligns its professional development goals, activities, teacher outcomes and student outcomes, and continually assesses those relationships. Applications must show evidence of comprehensive professional development, that is, evidence of the involvement of all schools for a district application or evidence of involvement of all grade levels for a school application. However, not all schools must be involved to the same degree in a district. (See the Selection Criteria section that follows for more specific information about completing the application.)

If the applicant school or school district becomes a semi-finalist, it will be expected to have available for reviewers documentation verifying the effectiveness of its professional development activities. This may include evidence such as schedules, student and teacher portfolios, assessment data, video and audio tapes, internal and external communications, and other documents. This evidence will be necessary to help evaluators understand the quality, depth, and scope of influence of professional development in the school or district. Further information that may be helpful in preparing applications for this program is provided on the U.S. Department of Education's Website. In particular, descriptions of winning programs are available at http://www.ed.gov/inits/teachers/research.html. This information is also available in print form by contacting Sharon Horn, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Room 506e, Washington, DC 20208-5644. She may be reached by phone (202-219-2203), fax (202-219-2198) or e-mail (sharon.horn@ed.gov).

Components of Application

The application consists of the following components:

Contact information sheet (form provided): list the name, address, phone, fax and e-mail (if available) of a person with whom the Department can communicate about the application throughout the review process, including the site visit. This person should be someone who is knowledgeable about the application. Also, list the members of the team who prepared the application and the name and address of the school or district. This information also must contain a certification of the applicant's compliance laws that protect the rights of the disabled.

Demographic profile sheet (form provided): provide information about numbers and types of schools and students.

Abstract of program sheet: provide a one-page abstract (see Formatting Information below) that highlights the evidence that your school's or district's professional development reaches all teachers and is effective in increasing achievement for all students.

Description of program: provide a description of the school's or district's professional development efforts that responds to questions of the Selection Criteria section of the application packet.

Formatting Information

• Attach the single-sided, one-page abstract and no more than 15 single-sided pages of a description of the professional development efforts to the contact information sheet and the demographic profile sheet provided in this packet. Any pages beyond the 15th page of description will be discarded. Attachments to the application also will be discarded.

• Margins must be at least one inch on all sides.

• Type must be double-spaced and in a type size that enhances readability (at least 12 point).

• Submit an original and five (5) copies of your application to Sharon Horn, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Room 506e, Washington, DC 20208-5644. Please do not bind the original.

The completed application must be received no later than close of business (5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), January 16, 2001.

Selection Criteria

The degree to which applicants demonstrate alignment with the Mission and Principles of Professional Development and a link to increased student achievement will be evaluated using the criteria described below. Each of these five criteria sections includes one or more questions that are designed to help applicants formulate their responses. Applications should respond to each criterion section in order, making certain to consider carefully the guiding questions and to follow the formatting requirements described above. The description of professional development activities must address each of the five sections and provide enough information so that reviewers can determine whether the applicant's professional development is comprehensive and leads to increased teacher effectiveness and improved student achievement.

The reviewers will carefully review all responses to these criteria. However, the highest quality applications are likely to be those that respond to all questions in the selection criteria; reviewers will look for approaches to professional development that are comprehensive and, as a guide, will use review forms that include these questions.

Please keep in mind that the most important section of the application is section D, Objective Evidence of Success. The description included in this section of the application must provide evidence of improved student achievement and show how the improvement is linked to the professional development that has been implemented. In addition, the description in this section must document how achievement gaps between groups have been narrowed as a result of professional development.

A. Background and Overview of Professional Development

In this section, applicants must provide a brief explanation of why they consider professional development in their schools or districts exemplary by describing its components, and relating those to the U.S. Department of Education's Mission and Principles of Professional Development. This description must provide evidence that the professional development activities are not narrowly focused on one subgroup of students or staff within the school or district.

In responding to this section, applicants should consider carefully the following questions:

• What are the infrastructure, content, and process components of professional development in the school or district?

• How does professional development in the school or district incorporate the U.S. Department of Education's Mission and Principles of Professional Development?

• How does the applicant ensure that professional development is comprehensive (applicable across teachers and students at all grade levels and in all subjects)? How does the applicant ensure that professional development is longterm, and not narrowly focused?

• Why is professional development in the school or district exemplary?

B. Goals and Outcomes

In this section, the applicant must describe professional development goals, including how they: (1) are developed; (2) relate to school improvement; (3) are based on a needs assessment; and (4) address the achievement of all students regardless of gender, socioeconomic level or disadvantaged status, race, ethnic or cultural background, exceptional abilities or disabilities, or limited English proficiency. Applicants also must address the changes in teaching and student learning that are expected to result from professional development, and must describe how professional development goals and outcomes promote teaching and learning to high standards. In responding to this section, applicants should consider carefully the following questions:

• What are the broad goals of professional development in the school or district?

• What are the goals for all students' achievement through professional development?

• What are the ways that the professional development goals are connected to longterm school improvement plans?

• What process is used to create the professional development goals and plan, and who is involved in the development?

• What are the ways in which teachers' needs are assessed and incorporated in the professional development plan?

• How do the professional development goals and outcomes focus on increasing teachers' expertise in teaching to high standards?

• What changes in teaching and student learning should result from participation in professional development in the school or district? What is the rationale for believing these changes would result in improved teaching and learning?

C. Professional Development Design and Implementation

The description in this section must provide evidence that professional development reflects research and best practice; includes comprehensive evaluation; includes organizational structures (e.g., administrative and policy support) and resources (e.g., use of time, expertise, funds) that support it; promotes continuous inquiry and improvement; and ensures that the larger school community understands its importance to school improvement.

The applicant must describe the data-based processes that are used for ensuring that professional development is connected to the school or district improvement plan and that the professional development design supports the attainment of expected changes in teaching practice and student learning. The description also must include any formal and informal processes used to routinely collect information for monitoring how the school or district is progressing toward their goals; for assessing the links between the plan, professional development activities and teacher and student outcomes; and for adjusting what isn't working. Applicants already integrating technology into classroom instruction must include a discussion of how professional development has contributed to ensuring that technology is an effective teaching tool or, if applicable, how technology has been used to support effective professional development.

In responding to this section, applicants should consider carefully the following questions:

• How is professional development a part of what all teachers do? What role do administrators and other members of the school community play in professional development? How does professional development promote continuous inquiry and improvement?

• How do the applicant's professional development design and activities reflect research and best practice?

• How do the professional development design and activities incorporate comprehensive evaluation? What data are routinely collected to assess the alignment of professional development activities and their outcomes? How are collected data used to refine professional development?

• How do the specific content, instructional strategies, and learning activities selected for professional development address the applicant's professional development goals?

• What are the processes for ensuring and documenting that improvement plans, professional development activities, and teacher and student outcomes are in alignment?

• What structures support the implementation of professional development at individual, collegial and organizational levels?

• What resources and types of sustained support (financial and other) are available for professional development for individuals, groups, and the whole school or district? How are current resources obtained?

• How does the applicant ensure that the school community understands how the professional development components fit together and connect to the overall school plan?

D. Objective Evidence of Success

This portion of the application addresses the most important selection criterion that reviewers will use. The response to this section must clearly demonstrate that teacher effectiveness and student learning have improved as a direct result of the implemented professional development activities. Applicants here must provide and discuss data that indicate the connection between needs assessments, improvement plans, professional development activities, and teacher and student outcomes. In order to confirm that student achievement has increased, these data on student achievement must reflect multiple measures and cover a period of three years or more. The focus of this criterion is objective evidence, and a compelling argument must be made for how professional development positively affects outcomes for all teachers and all students, and must emphasize areas where any achievement gaps between groups (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, disabilities) have been addressed and narrowed.

In responding to this section, applicants should consider carefully the following questions:

• What is the evidence that demonstrates that professional development in the school or district has improved the effectiveness of all teachers?

• What is the evidence that professional development in the school or district has improved student achievement across all grade levels and subject areas?

• What is the evidence that professional development in the school or district has led to a narrowing of existing achievement gaps between groups of students?

E. Implications for the Field

This section of the application describes the lessons learned by the applicant as its professional development activities have matured. In responding to this section, applicants should consider carefully the following questions:

• What knowledge and documentation (e.g., training materials, strategies, or processes) are available that can benefit others?

• What lessons and practical advice about providing quality professional development have been learned that other schools and districts could use?

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1965, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1880-0534. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651. If you have any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Sharon Horn, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Room 506e,Washington, DC 20208-5644, or you may phone (202-219-2203), fax (202-219-2198) or e-mail (sharon.horn@ed.gov) with your questions.

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[Application Package]

[Applicant Contact Information]