Other district leaders recognize how much professional learning contributes to the district's learning goals for students, and so they align individual, team, school, and system learning plans. At each level, participants consider what outcomes they want for students, the knowledge and skills teachers need, and the professional learning that will help staff achieve the system goals.
To be results-driven means following Stephen Covey's advice (1989): "Begin with the end in mind." Once student outcomes are selected, professional development leaders identify the knowledge and skills adults need to help students achieve the district's standards of success. The knowledge and skills linked to the student learning goals become part of the comprehensive professional development curriculum
Anne Bubnic on 04 Sep 08Assessment validity refers to the accuracy of a score-based inference about a test taker's status. This definition sounds pretty highbrow, but it really isn't. Educators are interested in getting a fix on students' knowledge and skills so they can make sensible instructional decisions about those students. But teachers can't tell how much a particular student knows merely by looking at the student. That's because students' cognitive skills and knowledge are covert. Accordingly, we test students so we can use their overt responses to the test to make an inference about what's covert. Tests aren't valid or invalid; inferences are.
