Professional Development and the No Child Left Behind Act What is professional development for educators? For some, professional development involves individual engagement: teachers assess their own needs and seek the appropriate activities. For others, professional development means school administrations assess the needs of the staff and require attendance to organized sessions. A third approach involves administrators administering a "needs assessment" tool, then organizing staff development for the entire faculty based on the findings of the survey. For policy makers in Washington, the term "professional development" is section 9101 of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. As with other aspects of NCLB reform, the legislation establishes exhaustive criteria to define professional development for Title I districts who receive Title II funding for professional development programs. General NCLB Professional Development Provisions No Child Left Behind focuses on professional development activities that: involve both administrators and teachers. move teachers to "high-qualified status." improve student achievement on standardized tests. NCLB requires professional development activities to be evaluated to determine the impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved student academic achievement. Specifically, the legislation defines "high-quality" professional development activities as those that are developed through the extensive participation of teachers, principals, parents, and administrators of schools, with the goal being the improvement and increased teachers' knowledge of the academic subjects they teach. Professional development activities must advance teacher understanding of effective instructional strategies that are: based on scientifically based research. strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers. aligned with and directly related to state academic content standards, student academic achievement standards, and assessments. They also must take into consideration "highly qualified" regulations and should enable teachers to become highly qualified. These activities must simultaneously give teachers, principals, and administrators the knowledge and skills necessary to provide students the opportunity to meet challenging state learning standards. Additional regulations require that professional development activities: Are an integral part of broad school-wide and district-wide educational improvement plans. Include instruction in ways that teachers, principals, pupil services personnel, and school administrators may work more effectively with parents. Improve classroom management skills. Include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice. Provide instruction in methods of teaching children with special needs. Are high quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and the teacher's performance in the classroom; and are not one-day or short-term workshops or conferences. Support the recruiting, hiring, and training of highly qualified teachers, including teachers who became highly qualified through state and local alternative routes to certification. No Child Left Behind and Specific Professional Development Provisions While the legislation dictates the criteria for professional development in general, it also suggests specialized development for specific groups or areas: ESL/LEP Professional development should be designed to give teachers of limited English proficient children, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and academic support services to those children. Instruction must include the appropriate use of curricula and assessments. Technology Professional development should, to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers and principals in the use of technology. The goal is for technology and technology applications to be effectively used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning in the curricula and core academic subjects. Beginning Teachers Professional development may involve the forming of partnerships with institutions of higher education to establish school-based teacher training programs. These partnerships should provide prospective teachers and beginning teachers with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced teachers and college faculty. Paraprofessionals Professional development may create programs to enable paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency receiving assistance under Part A of Title I) to obtain the education necessary for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers. Overall Goals of NCLB Professional Development Mandates Recently, the U.S. Department of Education contacted those who subscribe to its free NCLB listserv (teachers4-join@listserv2.westat.com), encouraging teachers to "make their voices heard" in how districts spend or allocate the nearly $3 billion Title II teacher-quality funding. The U.S. Department of Education encourages districts to use funds in a way that best suits professional development needs. Here the agency describes one system that report success in using Title II funds to reward high-quality teachers: In Chattanooga, Tenn., the school district is using Title II funds to pay bonuses to teachers who are significantly improving student achievement. The bonuses are based on Tennessee's "value-added" assessment scores, which give teachers and administrators detailed information on how much each teacher is raising the achievement of his or her students. Bonuses are paid to teachers in schools where their average value-added score exceeds a determined benchmark. Along with the help of other local initiatives, district officials have witnessed an increase in collaboration among teachers, reduced teacher turnover, and improved student achievement. This article was contributed by Janice Christy, M.Ed., English Department Chair, Louisa County High School, Louisa, Virginia.