Our Greatest Asset: Our People!

"In the long run, your human capital is your main base of competition.  Your leading indicator of where you're going to be 20 years from now is how well you're doing in your education system."  —Bill Gates

Over the past few weeks, the District 107 administrator blogs have focused on our Future Planning process, highlighting exciting plans in the areas of Building Learning Capacity and Building Learning Environments.  Our third goal area of Building Human Capital is another critical piece of our plan.  The Future Planning Committee determined our goal in this area is to "Ensure PSD 107 is recruiting, hiring and retaining high-level professionals that engage in collaborative professional development and are committed to learning and implementing innovative strategies focused on improved student learning."

In the Bill Gates quote above, he begins to articulate why building human capital is so crucial.  Continuous learning is pivotal to capacity building.  In Michael Fullan's book The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact (2014) he states that, "humans are fundamentally motivated by two factors: doing things that are intrinsically meaningful to themselves and working with others—peers for example—in accomplishing worthwhile goals never before reached" (p. 7).  District 107 is committed to building the capacity of our staff members by providing rich opportunities for professional development based on teachers' needs and interests.  Likewise, it is important for us to build collaborative time into professional development for staff members so they are able to do this meaningful work with others who our common mission, "to create a community of inspired learners."

PMS math teachers collaborate

 Research shows that when teachers are provided with well-designed, sustained professional development, which includes time for collaborative conversations and on-going support, student learning improves.  Currently, our staff members have been receiving on-going professional development related to NWEA MAP testing and how it can inform instructional practices, as well as Schoology the Learning Management System (LMS) we adopted this year.  Math teachers have been engaging in professional development as a part of the Metro Chicago Math Initiative, and science teachers have been working diligently with a consultant to revamp science units in light of the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

As we look to the future of Pleasantdale professional development, the district is committed to creating a robust professional development plan aligned with best practices given teacher feedback on their passions and needs.  It is exciting to think of the growth ahead for our staff!

PES teachers collaborate