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University Writing Program
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, California 92521

(951) 827-3666
(951) 827-6330 Fax

sharen.topham@ucr.edu

Professional Development Programs:
the SMP Philosophy

1. Professional development programs should address long-term as well as short-term goals.
2. They should address the needs and interests of teachers as well as administrators, while expanding the horizon of those concerns so that other topics related to the curriculum come into play.
3. They should involve discussion of specific examples of students' work, and the goals that teachers, schools, and districts have for students' achievement.
4. They should pay careful attention to the State Standards, and to the need to address those standards by means of a systemic approach to teaching.
5. They should attract teachers by working with them to develop inservice programs, and by giving teachers the option to attend.
6. They should build on good things already being done. They should recognize, encourage, and use the "best practices" of participating teachers.
7. They should offer stipends or other incentives to participating teachers.
8. They should "build capacity" by finding and cultivating teacher-leaders, and by developing programs that rely on those leaders to help in their own schools and in the district.
9. They should attempt to build site teams, if necessary beginning with a pair of teachers, so that faculties begin to share and improve upon best practices on a routine basis.
10. They should encourage various forms of self-assessment within individual classrooms, schools, and in the district itself. (See item 3.)
11. They should offer ways for teachers to network with other professional development opportunities, especially the offerings of the Subject Matter Projects.
12. They should take the long view. Good self-sustaining professional development programs take years to mature.

The goal of the IAWP programs and institutes is to develop strong teacher leaders. A Leadership Advisory Group, directed by Phyllis Dinwiddie, meets monthly to discuss ways to improve the services the IAWP offers and to develop programs to strengthen the leadership within the teaching community.