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Home > Teachers & Administrators > Professional Learning

Professional Learning

High-quality professional learning is an integral part of a comprehensive talent management system that develops, supports, and grows educators throughout their careers.

In Rhode Island, we believe that high-quality professional learning (HQPL) consists of coherent learning experiences that are relevant, purposeful, systematic, and structured over a sustained period of time with the goal of improving and building upon educators' practices and student outcomes. HQPL enables educators to impact student learning and well-being through the acquisition and application of knowledge, skills, and abilities that address the whole child. HQPL conforms to best practices in research and relates directly to the educator's professional context through which the learning is applied.

This summer, RIDE completed an internal analysis of the 2017-18 SurveyWorks responses with a focus on questions pertaining to professional learning. Please see our newly published infographic with key findings from this analysis. We hope to continue to use this structure in the years ahead to better understand the professional learning landscape across Rhode Island schools.

2017-18 SurveyWorks Professional Learning Analysis Infographic

RIPLS
Tools & Resources
Educator Course Network (ECN)

RI Professional Learning Standards (RIPLS)

NEW RIPLS Document Published with Council Endorsement

RIDE is committed to helping our schools and districts strengthen their professional learning systems and practices. As such, we are excited to share the Rhode Island Professional Learning Standards (RIPLS) document that was endorsed by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education in October 2018. As you begin to unpack and implement the RIPLS with your local teams, we encourage you to review our supporting resources and to reach out to the RIDE team directly with questions at PL@ride.ri.gov.

RIPLS Tools & Resources

Implementation of the RIPLS is the first and necessary step in achieving the type of foundation needed to impact educator and student outcomes. To this end, the development of high-quality professional learning systems and learning experiences requires a variety of tools and resources to support LEAs throughout the process. The RIDE team, in partnership with stakeholders across RI and national organizations, have developed the following tools to complement the RIPLS document as LEAs continue to develop and refine local professional learning systems.

RIPLS Audit Tool

This Audit Tool is a strategically-designed companion document for the RIPLS. Its purpose is to support teams of educators and district leaders in conducting an audit of local professional learning and the systems that contribute to this work. Auditing is one strategy to improve the effectiveness of local professional learning systems and practices. We hope this tool becomes a resource in making professional learning relevant and valuable for all educators so they can more effectively support our students in achieving outstanding outcomes.

RIPLS Audit Tool

RIPLS Audit Tool Use-Case

An important part of developing tools for districts is to understand how they are used. These documented experiences can help other LEAs generate ways to use these tool in different contexts, while providing the RIDE team with opportunities to refine the overall tool. We are grateful for the partnership with Bristol Warren Public School District to develop our first documented use of the Audit Tool. The following use-case provides one example for how a district used the RIPLS Audit Tool to analyze a current professional learning initiative and to inform future refinements for this on-going initiative. This specific case is meant to engage readers in dialogue and to generate ideas for using the Audit Tool in a range of settings.

Audit Tool Use Case: Bristol-Warren Public School District

Professional Learning Initiatives & RIPLS Crosswalks

The RIPLS are grounded in existing research and are aligned with key concepts found in strong examples of professional learning. We have developed crosswalks that map Rhode Island-specific professional learning initiatives to the RIPLS. It is our hope that these crosswalks will help users to understand what the RIPLS could look like in practice.

Induction coaching is a professional learning initiative where an effective educator with the right disposition and skill-set “coaches” a beginning teacher through observation, feedback, and goal-setting. The coach’s purpose is to accelerate beginning teacher effectiveness to increase student achievement by providing high-quality, data-driven, and instruction-focused supports.

Induction Coaching Crosswalk

For general questions related to professional learning, please email PL@ride.ri.gov.

Educator Course Network (ECN)

Educators deserve access to high-quality learning experiences that are relevant, differentiated, purposeful, and sustained in order to improve and build upon their practice throughout their careers. The ECN is the lever to create such access.

The Educator Course Network is one component of RIDE's strategic effort to support the improvement of professional learning experiences in Rhode Island schools and districts. RIDE believes that locally designed and facilitated professional learning should be the first option for meeting the needs of educators. Though we recognize that there are times when expertise and additional capacity from third-party vendors is appropriate to augment local initiatives. So, it is through this new online platform that we hope RI schools and districts will become informed consumers of professional learning to look for new ways to engage educators in the learning opportunities that most closely meet collective and individual needs.

For general questions related to professional learning, please email PL@ride.ri.gov.

From Commissioner Wagner's April 24, 2019 Press Release:

The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) today launched the Educator Course Network (ECN), an online platform that allows users to easily explore and learn more about professional learning opportunities available statewide. RIDE built the platform in-house, and put out an open call for districts, non-profits, higher education partners, and other local and national providers to join the ECN.

More than 40 providers are currently listed or will be listed in the coming days, and RIDE will work to expand offerings with another round of applications before the close of 2019.

“I am so excited to see this idea come to life. We have heard consistently from teachers in the field that, while they value professional learning and are always looking for ways to improve their practice, the opportunities available are not always high-quality or do not align with their needs and interests,” said Ken Wagner, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. “Just like our students are different, so too are our educators. We need to create an ecosystem of providers and opportunities so that every educator has the support they need to grow and improve, and that’s exactly what the ECN aims to do.”

In 2018, when asked how valuable the professional development is at their school, only 33 percent of teachers and staff responded favorably on SurveyWorks, the state’s school culture and climate survey. The ECN, which is inspired by the Advanced Course Network (ACN) for Rhode Island students, is one component of RIDE’s strategic effort to improve these learning opportunities for Rhode Island educators.

The lack of challenging, relevant, and sustained professional learning was part of the impetus for the state’s comprehensive update to teacher certification regulations. Approved by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education in December 2018, the updated regulations established ongoing professional learning requirements for all teachers. Opportunities found in the ECN can help educators meet these requirements.

“The Council approved updated regulations because we understand the importance of having teachers who are not only ready on day one in the classroom, but also have the opportunity to continue to improve throughout their careers,” said Barbara S. Cottam, Chair of the Rhode Island Board of Education. “The Educator Course Network will support that continuous improvement, making it easier than ever for educators to find opportunities that excite them, build on their strengths, enhance instruction, and address challenges they face each day with their students.”

“Over the past four years, we’ve focused a great deal on career pathways for our students. The updated regulations and the Educator Course Network are examples of how we can strengthen career pathways for our educators, as well, and invest in our talent pipeline. I can’t wait to see this platform grow and evolve to meet the needs of our teachers, schools, and districts,” said Daniel P. McConaghy, Chair of the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.

The ECN providers cover a range of academic content areas, as well as leadership development, coaching, dyslexia training, and support for English learners, to name a few. With a single click, users of the platform can learn how opportunities are typically offered, to what curriculum they are aligned, whether they are evidence-based, and other evidence of impact provided as part of the application process. The platform can also connect users directly with the provider if they have questions, significantly cutting down the time that users spend searching for and vetting opportunities.

"Educators want to spend the greatest majority of their time focusing on the instructional and learning needs of their students. The ECN provides educators with an efficient and effective resource, which enables them to seek out and match their needs with an array of approved professional development providers and opportunities," said Tom DiPaola, executive director of the Rhode Island School Superintendents Association (RISSA). "That the platform is accessible online further enhances educator access and enables colleagues to work together in seeking out high quality and focused professional development. RISSA is committed to the development of all educators to better serve and meet the needs of RI students."

In order to be included, providers were required to meet all criteria for entry through the application and review process. Providers were asked to demonstrate alignment with specific Rhode Island Professional Learning Standards, describe the focus, types, and frequency of professional learning offerings, include artifacts, and to provide references and evidence of past impact. These criteria helped to create a deeper understanding of each provider to ensure each met the requirements set by RIDE.

Applications were then reviewed by the RIDE team and the Educator Course Network Advisory Committee, a group of teachers and administrators who volunteered their time to support the launch of the ECN.

The ECN Advisory Committee is made up of:

Dawn August (Teacher, Barrington)
Don Cowart (Curriculum Director, Coventry)
Stephanie Primiani (Central Office Administrator, Blackstone Valley Prep)
Awilda Reinoso (Brown Urban Education Program candidate)
Amanda Williams (Assistant Principal, RI School for the Deaf)
Suzette Wordell (Principal, Tiverton)

"It was an honor to be a part of the Educator Course Network Advisory Team. We had a diverse group of educators from across many different aspects and levels of education. The RIDE leadership team led us through a rigorous review process that included an analysis of applications, calibration of scoring and a hardy discussion. I suspect that what we have helped create will be the start of something new and innovative for Rhode Island, which will help educators get the professional development they need and stay current with trends and best practices,” said Cowart.

While districts will continue to offer professional learning opportunities directly to their staff, the ECN is another resource that districts can use to identify additional offerings to meet educator needs and promote specialization.

“The needs of our educators are varied, from the first-year elementary school teacher to the veteran high school biology teacher, and so are the experiences with which they enter the classroom,” Wagner added. “We need to recognize and celebrate those differences, and I look forward to seeing how the ECN can grow and evolve to meet the needs of all Rhode Island educators.”

The application window for the 2019 listing has closed. There will be information forthcoming about the next application window in the fall of 2019.

Please email PL@ride.ri.gov with any questions related to the Educator Course Network.

Content Specific Professional Learning Offerings

All content-specific professional learning offerings can be found on the Instruction, Assessment and Curriculum landing page under the content title located on the menu to the right of the page.