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The School Readiness Committee recognizes that ongoing professional development is a critical component of professional development and student achievement. Professional Development will be based on the Child Outcomes Report and CLASS observations.

Research indicates the most successful professional development is obtained through a varied approach. CCHS staff attend cluster meetings,
regional meetings, educational workshops, early childhood education conferences and routine consults with T/TA for guidance and assistance to ensure Head Start requirements are met.

The Education Manager will provide leadership and guidance to the staff by planning quality staff development, modeling lessons in the classroom and ensuring collaboration among teachers and staff.  In addition to routine staff meetings, in-service training, and professional development, all new
teachers have “New Teacher Orientation” to help familiarize them with the component areas of the CCHS program and policies. Teachers complete “Buddy Visits” with veteran teachers to observe as they model lessons in their own classroom or in the classroom with the teacher that needs support.

New teachers will also use the NCQTL (National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning) in service suites and head start tips. Teaching teams have planning time each day to prepare for upcoming lessons and activities. Teachers will utilize teacher planning sessions to work collaboratively on lesson
planning for individual students, small groups and whole group activities.

The Education Manager, the Assistant Director and the Early Childhood Consultant have attended Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) training and are certified Pre-K CLASS Observers. CCHS will use CLASS, an observation instrument developed to assess classroom quality in the preschool setting. This data will provide teachers and staff with additional information to promote high quality interactions between the child and teacher. CCHS uses the tool both as an observation and monitoring tool to guide program decision making. At the program level, the data gathered is used for program planning and informed decision making. At the classroom level, observations are conducted to measure the quality of teacher-child interactions and drive plans for individual
improvement and professional development. Each classroom demonstrating a need based on CLASS scores is given support by the Education Manager modeling/coaching on practices to help improve the quality of their instruction and interactions with children in the areas of need identified by CLASS data.
After fall and spring CLASS scores are collected, the Education Manager will aggregate and analyze data to share with staff. Results will be used to guide program improvement and professional development.