A Guide to Assist with Teacher Growth
Through the IPDP Process
“The only way we can improve our
schools is people.”
Dr. Richard DuFour
“When you talk about school
improvement you are talking about
people improvement.”
Ernest Boyer
•Participants
will be able to
create an Individual
Professional Development
Plan (IPDP) to enhance their
performance and make even
greater gains in the
classroom.
•
Define Action Research
•
Identify data about their
own performance and that
of their students and use
that data as part of an
action research plan
(IPDP)
•
Identify appropriate
sources of data to process
monitor
•
Identify appropriate
benchmarks of
performance from which
they can make personal
decisions about their
teaching performance
•
Maintain the plan
throughout the plan
period
•
Determine outcomes of
the action research used
as part of the IPDP
process
What is Action Research?
Action research is a model of professional
development that promotes collaborative
inquiry, reflection, and dialogue. “Within the
action research process, educators study
student learning related to their own
teaching. It is a process that allows
educators to learn about their own
instructional practices and to continue to
monitor improved student learning”
(Rawlinson & Little, 2004 Emphasis Added).
Your IPDP is your tool for Action Research
FLORIDA STATUTE 1012.98(5)
5. Require each school principal to establish and
maintain an individual professional development
plan for each instructional employee assigned to
the school as a seamless component to the
school improvement plans developed pursuant to
s. 1001.42(18). The individual professional
development plan must:
a. Be related to specific performance data for the
students to whom the teacher is assigned.
 b. Define the inservice objectives and specific
measurable improvements expected in student
performance as a result of the inservice activity.
 c. Include an evaluation component that determines
the effectiveness of the professional development
plan.

TEACHER
PERFORMANCE
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
What are my areas to manage?
 Review your previous year(s) class data. Ask yourself
these important questions:




Where have I noticed that my students have struggled
academically most in the past? What are skills, concepts
or strands associated with that performance that my
students have not seemed to master? What data do I
have to support that?
What have always been my greatest struggles with
students in terms of classroom management? What does
my data show?
What single thing, that if I did it exceptionally well,
would make the greatest impact on my students? Why
do I think so? Do I have data that supports that?
Are there patterns of poor student performance for the
past several years?





As we know, student achievement is directly correlated
with teacher effectiveness. If there is a section of FCAT or
even a chapter test on which a teacher’s students seem to
score poorly, then this is an area where the teacher can do
a pretest on current students.
Trust yourself, but look at the data. If the data (FCAT,
teacher tests, report card data, etc. or other measure)
shows that your students have historically not done as well
on fractions – you have identified the problem.
You may also use data from your previous Instructional
Performance Assessments (evaluations).
New Teachers can use data from their student’s past
performance on standardized tests, report cards,
attendance, etc.
Identify and focus on one area for improvement in student
performance.
 You
have identified the problem, and now
you need a way to measure the student
outcomes that result from the changes in
instruction that you implement. You must
ask yourself the question: What type of
diagnostic or screening tool can I use to
determine baseline data now and growth
data later?


Administer the tool/instrument to your current
students to determine your baseline.
Summarize the data for your students
Teachers will need to access the EMPLOYEE PORTAL in order to
create their IPDP online. The location of the EMPLOYEE PORTAL
is: http://employees.osceola.k12.fl.us
The opening page of the Employee Portal looks like this:
On the left hand side of the Employee Portal opening page
you will see IPDP listed.
After you click on IPDP you will see the following display:
Move your cursor over Your
IPDP and click once.
This is the next screen you will see:
You will click here to begin
filling in your IPDP information.
In the block above you will enter the problem statement
and the data used to determine the baseline. (For
example, 38% of the students were able to recognize the
basic parts of speech as measured by XYZ Publisher’s
Grade 6 pre-test for Language Arts)
In this block enter the improvement goal – it must be
specific and indicate measurable improvements expected
in student performance as a result of inservice activity
and the timeline for their completion. For example – 90%
of the students will be able to recognize the basic parts of
speech by February 2009 as measured by the XYZ
Language Arts Post Test
Relationship to school
improvement plan
Your improvement goal must relate directly to one or
more of the School Improvement goals. In this block
you must tell how your individual goal relates to the
school-wide plan.
In this block enter the Professional Development Activities.
The Professional Development in your plan should focus on one of the
following:
Sunshine State Standards
Subject Content
Use of Technology
Teaching Methods/Instructional Strategies
Assessment and Data Analysis
Classroom Management
School Safety
Parent/Community Involvement
“Professional Development is a journey not a destination.”
In the next block enter the Classroom Strategies/Activities.
Enter the classroom strategies that you are using to achieve
your goals.
The teacher and Administrator will meet to review
the plan as required by statute and at that point
agree on the implementation of the plan.
The next step in the process is to begin
implementation – attend training,
implement the new strategies you have
learned through the training and
research and to monitor the progress.
Progress monitoring is essential to
reaching our goals. For instance, if
you were driving from Florida to
California and you had never done
that before, your goal would be to
drive to California and arrive safely.
Along the route, you would check the
signs and the map to make certain you
were on track to reach your goal of
California. It doesn’t make any
difference if you are able to drive 100
mph if you are heading in the wrong
direction. You are making great time,
but will never reach California. The
same is true in the classroom. You
have to check your progress along the
way.
Teams may decide to meet over the course of the plan to
discuss progress. Reflect on the strategies that you are
using to achieve your goals and the results. It’s best to list
these as you implement. This makes it easier for you in
the end and makes the IPDP a living document for you.
The teacher and Administrator will meet at the close of the
plan to review the plan and the results. Like an Olympic
athlete, reaching the finish line does not mean the end of
running – just the end of that race.