The Oakley Union School District is committed to ensuring success for all students through professional development for everyone who affects student learning.  High quality staff development programs are essential to creating schools in which all students and staff members are learners who continually improve their performance.  District teachers participate in a variety of other forms of staff development including workshops after school and on weekends, study groups, book clubs, visitations to other classrooms, grade level meetings, faculty meetings, conferences, one-on-one coaching, collegial planning and support networks.

Staff Development Days

In the past, one never heard about teachers continuing their education once they had completed their teaching credentials, unless they were pursuing advanced degrees.

Today, professional development is a critical component of a successful, dynamic school district.  As knowledge continues to rapidly expand in all fields, teachers must renew their knowledge in the content areas, such as science and technology. Just in the last ten years, the study of English/Language Arts, including listening, speaking, reading and writing has gained tremendous insights from the fields of linguistics and cognitive science.  In addition, teachers need to have access to the findings in the field of education.  Our goal is to translate this new information into more effective strategies to better meet the needs of our diverse population of students today.

District Staff Development

The district professional development will take place on three full days during the school year as well as CLT times on the adjusted Wednesdays.  Teachers at all schools will focus on Universal Design for Learning and Common Core State Standards.  The K-8 school teachers will meet each Wednesday to work collaboratively with their grade level colleagues to examine student progress, analyze student work and plan for instruction.  The middle school teachers meet monthly in curricular groups to do the same. 

Other Professional Development

During the school year the Educational Services Department will offer 3 Technology Academies for 10 hours each.  Beginning teachers will be offered 10 hours of Professional Development after school throughout the year.