Amazed and renewed: a great professional development opportunity can be more than just a learning experience. It can also be a time of renewal.

The new school year begins on a note of excitement and anticipation. Teachers are energized and ready to take on the challenges of a new group of students. Pencils are sharpened, and notebooks and computers have space ready to be filled. As the year progresses, however, teachers may find that the pencils are not the only things that have become dull.

In the hope of regaining their edge and their energy, educators often look to professional development opportunities. Classroom teachers can sometimes feel isolated working in the cocoons of their own individual classrooms. Through networking, teachers gain a connection to others in their profession and are able to share lessons and ideas. Administrators are not isolated in classrooms, but face the "it's lonely at the top" scenario. Professional development for them can mean connecting with others in leadership at the district, state and national levels. The idea of lifelong learning is a model that career and technical educators--from classroom teachers to administrators--demonstrate for their students, because being a career and technical educator means to never stop learning. But not all professional development opportunities are created equal.

So what elements go into a great professional development experience? According to N. L. McCaslin, who is the director of the Professional Development Academy for the National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education, professional development should align with the efforts of individuals as well as districts and/or agencies, and it should result in new knowledge and skills for the participants. It should also value those participants as contributors.

McCaslin notes that a great professional development opportunity will create learning communities, establish accountability for outcomes and will include indications that everyone is responsible for quality teaching and learning. Organizers of a professional development event should also ensure that there is enough time provided to accomplish the intended objectives.

Success Begins with Planning

To plan a successful inservice program, McCaslin advises, "Avoid one-hour inservices with little or no follow up, and focus inservices on student learning, job-embedded knowledge and skills, and continuous improvement."

The first step in designing a program should be to identify the proposed participants, says McCaslin. Then you should "assemble a planning team involving all those concerned." He suggests, for example, including teachers, administrators, counselors, support staff, parents, students, business and industry.

As a reference source, McCaslin recommends the 2001 revised edition of Standards for Staff Development by the National Staff Development Council (www.nsdc.org).

According to McCaslin, activities of the planning team should include the following:

* determining the individual, student and school/district/agency needs

* developing a vision and mission statement

* specifying goals and objectives

* determining the content, format and delivery approach

* selecting program evaluation strategies

* developing promotional and recruitment strategies

* identifying resources to support the program

Delivering a Good Product

For participants to take home something of value that they can use in their schools and individual classrooms, the program delivery should include the elements cited by McCaslin as being necessary for a great professional development experience. It should stress the importance of developing learning communities, it should engage the participants in the program, and there should be time provided for individuals and groups to reflect.

It is also important, notes McCaslin, to "show relevance of content to individual and district or agency needs and to indicate the importance of continuous instructional improvement."

He also advises that the event should, "stress the need for participants to provide evidence to support positions and should encourage collaboration and networking among participants."

It doesn't end with delivery of the program, however; there should be follow-up procedures established, because program evaluation is also important.

For evaluating a professional development program, McCaslin suggests assessing the program planning processes, reviewing the program delivery methods and procedures, and documenting individual and system outcomes--both short and long term.

And since even the most carefully planned events may have some surprises or unexpected results, McCaslin has this final piece of advice: "Consider unintended outcomes."

New Priorities

As a career and technical educator, you may be wondering what the new trends are in professional development and whether priorities have shifted. So have others in the field, and the result is a new survey that was conducted by the Association for Professional Development in Career and Technical Education (APDCTE).

According to APDCTE President Chester Wichowski, the idea for the national survey originated during the APDCTE executive breakfast meeting that was held during the 2003 ACTE Annual Convention, and the goal was "to establish longitudinal baseline information and, over time, identify trend patterns."

The APDCTE hopes that "the results of this survey will contribute to professional dialog and serve to influence policy, professional development and research in priority areas identified."

According to the report issued by APDCTE, "It may be speculated that the top priorities identified for professional development may have been influenced as a result of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation" and a continuing focus on the integration of academics as a result of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1990.

The number-one priority, according to the survey, is "Dual Enrollment Advanced Standing Programs for Secondary CTE Students" followed by "Integration of Academics and CTE" and "Reading Programs in CTE."

Other high-scoring items reflect the influence of the highly qualified teacher requirements of NCLB, among them "CTE Teacher Technical Skill Updating" and "CTE Teacher Certification."

The survey also found recognition for what it describes as "the need for better career decision-making, and perhaps the eventual reduction of reverse enrollments at postsecondary programs" in the high ranking of "Career Awareness of CTE Students/Parents" and "Development of Career Clusters."

"Seamless Curriculum Development" and "Use of Distance Learning Technologies," says the APDCTE report, "illustrate priorities associated with the delivery of well articulated program content and the growth of available programs beyond the limitations of institutional walls."

"Implementing Entrepreneurship Programs" also made the top 10, which the report notes may reflect "the needs of the individual and ability to add to the potential growth of the economy."

According to Wichowski, "Although developed as a national survey, the use of the instrument has seen application at the state and local levels to assist in the identification of professional development needs for the CTE community."

For example, the Pennsylvania Association of Vocational Administrators adapted the instrument to conduct a statewide needs assessment of its membership to identify an agenda for professional development. Wichowski says that several local CTE centers have also administered it to their faculty, counselors and administrators to identify top areas of need, start a professional dialog, establish goals, and develop action plans for professional development and/or whole school reform.

For more information about the APDCTE report and the survey instrument, contact Chet Wichowski at [e-mail].

A New Outlook

The summer months often find career tech educators back in the classroom, but this time they may be there as learners rather than teachers. Instructor workshops, seminars and other more in-depth activities help sharpen skills and stimulate new ideas, and the summer months are ideal for professional development experiences that require days or weeks for optimal benefits.

Other professional development opportunities, such as the ACTE Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo, occur during the school year and can provide a much-needed time for renewal of energies. Many CTE professionals find that, with its December date, ACTE's Convention comes at a time in the year when a little re-energizing may be required. After attending the Convention, these educators return to their schools with new ideas, inspiration and excitement that will carry them through the rest of the school year.

As career and technical educators face the continued challenges of keeping their skills current so that they can train their students most effectively for the 21st century workplace as well as the new challenges of the federal legislative requirements, they may find themselves under increasing stress and pressure. A great professional development opportunity can give them new perspective and new ideas. It can connect them with others in business, industry and education. And it just might take them from stressed and exhausted to amazed and renewed.

RELATED ARTICLE: Online professional development.

Online professional development is the next best thing to being there, and ACTE offers such services on its Web site at www.acteonline.org. By visiting the professional development area of the site, members can find information of assistance to new professionals, as well as access to a distance learning portal. The portal, with its library of courses and training products, is the result of a partnership between the Association and Thomson Learning that gives ACTE members a discount on training resources that can help them update their skills.

ACTE has also partnered with educational content developer Ingrain, Inc. on the Web site www.careerteched.com to give career tech educators a resource for professional development that addresses the challenges they face daily in their classrooms. The courses are offered for college credit through Southwestern Oregon Community College, an accredited institution.

The Fundamentals of Teaching Series includes courses on teaching methods, curriculum development, educational psychology, and assessment and testing. Special needs courses include "The Classroom Teacher and the ELL Student" and "Attention Disorders in the Classroom."

Ingrain also offers the opportunity for readers of Techniques to earn professional development credit by reading a designated article in the magazine each month and then taking an examination on the article at the careerteched.com Web site.

Another great online professional development opportunity for career tech educators is provided by the National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education through its Webcasts. These are designed to create an interactive learning environment and to enrich the professional development experiences of secondary and postsecondary career and technical educators and are available at the National Center's Web site.

The free presentations center on critical issues and topics in CTE and are available live and as archived Webcasts. According to N. L. McCaslin, director of the National Center's Professional Development Academy, "All completed Webcasts are submitted to the Office of Vocational and Adult Education for their review and approval prior to archiving them on the National Center's Web site."

McCaslin says that the Webcasts enable CTE educators to engage in professional development in a convenient, cost-effective manner through the use of current technology and provide professional development at no cost to the individual or institution.

The Webcasts are approximately one-and-a-half hours in length, with the first hour usually being the presentation and the last half-hour for dialogue with the presenters. In addition, a series of discussion questions and activities based on the presentations are often available on the Web site, which McCaslin notes can be used by organizations and groups in enriching and extending professional development sessions.

To find out more about future Webcasts scheduled through the National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education or to view archived Webcasts, visit www.nccte.org.