District 300 to launch in-house staff training

Community Unit District 300 is launching a new program next month aimed at providing staff training and boosting teacher retention, officials said.

District 300 University will provide professional development opportunities for employees, making it easier for them to move up the salary scale and gain accreditation/certification to further their careers.

Courses are being developed and the program will be rolled out Feb. 5, said Lindsay Abbeduto, District 300's new director of professional development and programs.

Classes will be free and taught by existing District 300 employees after school or on weekends. They can be for five, 10 or 15 hours of credits.

"The premise is that we wanted to make sure that we were tapping into our resources here," Abbeduto said. "We've got some really talented staff who are experts in a variety of things. We wanted to be able to harness the power that we had with our over 1,500 (teachers). We really wanted to create teacher leaders in order to instruct these courses."

The goal is to launch six courses next month that could be taught by teachers, administrators, division heads, peer educators and social workers.

"People have more opportunity for close, robust professional development," Abbeduto said. "Anybody can take advantage of this. It could be teachers, para-educators, certified nurses. It all just kind of depends on the facilitators and their comfort level and what they want to teach."

Among the ideas being considered are classes on classroom management, student behavior management, Twitter, and integrating technology apps into physical education classes.

The concept is not new. Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 and St. Charles Unit District 303 offer similar in-house professional development.

Abbeduto said offering training in-house is convenient for employees and will save the district money because it won't have to pay for teachers' taking classes and workshops elsewhere.

Professional development classes can cost between $200 and $500 per credit hour. The district typically would reimburse a portion of those costs depending on the class, where it is held, and its relevance to district curriculum.

"We are no longer paying to send people out to those classes," Abbeduto said. "We can make sure that the content relates back to what the best practices are in the classroom, as well as align it to our strategic plan."

Teachers can earn professional development credits toward recertification and also move up on the salary schedule. Professional development classes would take place outside of teachers' contractual workdays.

District 300 University will be offered year round with more course options for teachers.

"We can get more depth of knowledge instead of one and done," Abbeduto said.