Staff Development

Staff development is a critical component of teacher/staff growth. Staff development can be defined as the processes and activities designed to increase the professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes of staff members so that they can improve the learning of students.

Some defining characteristics of staff development are:

  • It is an intentional process
  • It is an ongoing process
  • It is a systematic process
In Minnesota, staff development can primarily be found under two statutes:

Staff Development Outcomes

Staff development activities must contribute toward continuous improvement in achieving the following goals:

  1. Improve student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas of the curriculum, including areas of regular academic and applied and experiential learning, by using research-based best practices methods
  2. Effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk children, children with disabilities, English learners, and gifted children, within the regular classroom, applied and experiential learning settings, and other settings
  3. Provide an inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, linguistically, 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
  6. Effectively deliver digital and blended learning and curriculum and engage students with technology
  7. Provide teachers and other members of site-based management teams with appropriate management and financial management skills