Why are there professional development days for teachers?
Before school starts, teachers need time to develop their instructional plan for the year, and to work with grade level or content peers. During the school year, occasional staff development days are needed to assess how students are doing with the instructional plan, and to make adjustments where needed. Also, teachers need time to absorb new instructional techniques, and immediately apply the knowledge learned back in their classrooms. In the 2008-2009 calendar, teachers had five professional development and two workdays prior to the start of school. There are two professional development days scheduled during the school year, and one workday following the last day of school.
