MOHS Professional Development Conference 2003:
The learner and the natural cycle of learning...
at the heart of Standards-Based Education.

A conference for those interested in fostering professional development that contributes to the scholarship of standards-based learning among colleagues in and beyond the school.

Professional Development at Moanalua High School, A Three Year Plan

In August, 2001 the faculty of Moanalua High School began a school-wide, three-year professional development program that would lead to the development of standards-based curriculum and instruction, utilizing components of the state's Standards Alliance process.

The program requires teachers to develop new standards-based teaching units and/or to re-visit and refine present curriculum to meet the state's published skill and content standards and to include in their curriculum culminating tasks that demonstrate student mastery of those skills and standards. A new or refined unit is required in each of the three years of the program.

The program also requires that teachers participate in conference presentations that showcase their successes and challenges at least twice within the three-year period. These presentations must include two of the following: 1) participating in break-out sessions highlighting their standards-based units; 2) participating in a technology-based project highlighting their units; and/or 3) producing reflective pieces on their units for publication in a school-wide journal.

A unique aspect of the program is that it anticipates professional development requirements that teachers are facing (such as maintaining a teacher portfolio of professional development activities, lessons, samples of student work, and reflective pieces on the instructional process). In addition, teachers will receive PD credits for work done over the 2001-2002 school year.

In this second year of the plan, the focus has been on the natural cycle of learning and differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all learners. To that extent, teachers have participated in workshops that have increased their understanding of how learning occurs and how to plan and implement strategies to optimize learning.

While the school conference provides an opportunity for teachers to share their efforts with their colleagues, it also provides interested administrators, teachers, DOE personnel, and community supporters with an opportunity to observe the initial results of a three-year, school-wide professional development plan.