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Haslett reviews choice-based professional development day, highlights student panel and strong staff ratings
Summary
District leaders reported on a choice-based professional development day that offered 17 morning session options, afternoon building work, a student panel and wellness activities; staff survey responses averaged about 4.2–4.5 out of 5 and the board discussed scaling successful elements.
Haslett administrators told the school board April 13 that the district’s recent professional development (PD) day used a “menu” of options to give staff choice while aligning sessions to the district’s continuous improvement plan.
Mr. Hamilton, who led the presentation, said the morning session window ran from 8:20 to 11:30 a.m. with 17 one-hour options and that “we gave them that menu about 2 weeks prior” so teams and individuals could plan. Staff then returned to their buildings in the afternoon to work on building-level initiatives tied to the district strategic plan and continuous-improvement efforts.
Why it matters: The PD model aims to increase teacher engagement, support vertical curriculum planning and spread effective practices from teacher leaders to their peers. Board members flagged the student panel as a particularly powerful outcome: the student advisory group spoke about how they want to be treated at school, and Hamilton said staff and administrators called that session “super super powerful.”
Support for the approach was evident in a follow-up survey Hamilton described: approximately 85 staff members (roughly half of the staff) completed the survey; the average rating across all sessions was about 4.22 out of 5 and overall PD value averaged 4.35. Hamilton highlighted an application measure — staff-rated ability to apply what they learned — at 4.5.
Board members discussed how to balance choice with mandatory sessions (for example, required K–5 literacy training) and suggested repeating high-demand sessions so staff have multiple opportunities to attend. Hamilton said the district will continue the option/must-attend mix: some sessions will be required and others will remain choice-based.
Next steps: The board will consider how to scale preferred sessions, move successful student-panel formats into other grade bands, and refine the menu of options so it remains manageable while preserving teacher choice.
