Web Feature Releases

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Official: Federal Professional Development Funds can support Take One!

July 6, 2010

At a recent Education Sector panel discussion, U.S. Department of Education official Brad Jupp described programs like Take One! as “good examples of professional development” that can be funded using Title II or other federal monies. 

“The fact of the matter is you can spend your Title II money now with no change in the law on the kinds of things that were just listed as good examples of professional development. There is no rule that says Take One! can’t be paid for using federal money.” said Jupp. “Take One! is the way that you can develop a portion of the portfolio for your National Board certificate through a partial National Board experience that is overseen by the National Board’s expert teachers. There’s nothing that rules that out.”

The Education Sector panel focused on emerging strategies to link teacher evaluation and professional development and the implications of Race to the Top funding and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act on the long-term improvement of these core elements. The event took place on June 30, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

Jupp, senior program adviser for teacher quality initiatives with the U.S. Department of Education, was among the panelists for this briefing. His comments came in response to a blogger’s question about how the kinds of professional development opportunities, in particular, those that focus on a teacher’s own practice, “such as National Board Certification,” fit in the administration’s plans.  

Jupp added, “Those are the kinds of professional development opportunities that we are supporting. The fact of the matter is, it’s not so much a question of where it comes from but where it goes and we need to pay attention to two things in answering the question, ‘where does it go?’ (The first question is) ‘Do teachers use it?’ and, ‘Does it make a difference for kids?’
 

I think the real thing we need to focus on is making sure that ‘where you’re going’ is clear in federal policy because, from somebody who has worked in a school system for 25 years, 20 of which as a school teacher, five as a district leader, I can say that even when I was a district leader, there was not a lot of evidence of where we were going with our Title II money.”    

###

Brad Jupp
Senior Program adviser for Teacher Quality Initiatives
U.S. Department of Education
Panel Discussion sponsored by Education Sector
June 30, 2010

Note:  The question regarding professional development opportunities that Jupp responded to was submitted by Tom White, who has taught third grade in suburban Seattle for 26 years. A National Board Certified Teacher, he blogs at Stories from School, which is sponsored by The Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession.