Connecticut § 10-148a - Professional development for certified employees.

§ 10-148a. Professional development for certified employees.

Sec. 10-148a. Professional development for certified employees. (a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, each certified employee shall participate in a program of professional development. Each local and regional board of education shall make available, annually, at no cost to its certified employees, a program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or individual instructional setting. Such program of professional development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teacher and administrator effectiveness in increasing student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and improving various effective teaching methods that are shared between and among educators, including, on and after July 1, 2024, play-based learning, as defined in section 10-24f, for teachers in a preschool program or grades kindergarten to five, inclusive, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved student performance, (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, (B) is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on an individual basis or among groups of teachers in a job-embedded process of continuous improvement, (D) includes a repository of best practices for teaching methods developed by educators within each school that is continuously available to such educators for comment and updating, and (E) for principals and vice principals, includes training on the management of school personnel and methods for engaging school personnel with the goals of the school, and (5) include training in culturally responsive pedagogy and practice. Each program of professional development shall include professional development activities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. The principles and practices of social-emotional learning and restorative practices shall be integrated throughout the components of such program of professional development described in subdivisions (1) to (5), inclusive, of this subsection.

(b) Local and regional boards of education shall offer professional development activities to certified employees as part of the plan developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-220a or for any individual certified employee. Such professional development activities may be made available by a board of education directly, through a regional educational service center or cooperative arrangement with another board of education or through arrangements with any professional development provider approved by the Commissioner of Education and shall be consistent with any goals identified by the certified employees and the local or regional board of education.

(P.A. 12-116, S. 39; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2, S. 138; P.A. 13-31, S. 10; 13-245, S. 5; P.A. 17-37, S. 1; P.A. 19-100, S. 1; P.A. 21-46, S. 11; 21-95, S. 9; P.A. 23-159, S. 5.)

History: P.A. 12-116 effective July 1, 2012; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2 amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv. (5) re training in implementation of student individualized education programs and communication of individualized education program procedures, effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 13-31 made technical changes in Subsec. (d), effective May 28, 2013; P.A. 13-245 amended Subsec. (b) by adding “adopted” and deleting “subdivision (2) of” re Sec. 10-151b(b), effective July 2, 2013; P.A. 17-37 amended Subsec. (b) by adding provision re professional development activities to be consistent with goals identified by certified employees and boards of education, deleting Subdivs. (1) to (5) re professional development activities requirements, deleting provision re requirements for superintendents and administrators, and deleting provision re time and location of activities, deleted Subsec. (c) re attestation of professional development activities, and deleted Subsec. (d) re audits of professional development programs, effective July 1, 2017; P.A. 19-100 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “2013” with “2019”, adding Subdiv. (5) re training in culturally responsive pedagogy and practice and making a conforming change, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 21-46 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “July 1, 2021” for “July 1, 2019” and adding provision re integration of principles and practices of social-emotional learning in program of professional development, effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 21-95 made identical changes as P.A. 21-46 in Subsec. (a) and additionally added “and restorative practices” re components, effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 23-159 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re play-based learning in Subdiv. (2) and adding Subpara. (E) re training for principals and vice principals on management of and methods for engaging school personnel in Subdiv. (4), effective July 1, 2023.