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For immediate release
June 9, 2016
Online Professional Development Builds Teacher Leaders Virtually
Thanks
to new online courses offered through the Department of Public Instruction’s
Home Base professional development system, thousands of educators statewide receive
professional development, free of charge.
Courses
are available any time, anywhere. Facilitated courses also are available and allow
access to coaching and virtual feedback. Teachers may choose from offerings
that best fit their professional learning needs. Principals also may recommend
courses to teachers based upon growth needs. In addition, over 90 online
modules may be used to renew teaching licenses in a timely, cost-effective
manner.
“As the demands on teachers’ professional and personal
schedules increase, we must find ways to keep pace and provide tools teachers
may readily access to meet their professional learning needs. Online courses
provide a wonderful option to meet the demanding schedules of teachers,” NCDPI Director of Educator
Effectiveness Lynne Johnson said.
Johnson
said online courses not only help teachers take classes that work with their
schedules but also saves them money as all of the courses are free of charge to
North Carolina teachers through Home Base. “Online professional development
classes have saved the state an estimated $56 million…financial savings we know
they can use elsewhere.”
Between
April 15 and June 30 each year, teachers whose licenses are expiring that year
must submit renewal credits to renew their license. Teachers with a North
Carolina Standard Professional license must renew every five years. This helps
ensure that teachers continually update their professional knowledge and
technical competency.
Impacting
teacher license renewals beginning this year is a new literacy requirement. K-8 licenses now require three literacy credits, up from
one previously. The change is seen through a reduction of general credits from
5.5 to 2, with the extra credits moved to content and literacy.
The Home Base professional development system has added
modules to assist teachers with meeting the new literacy requirements. NCDPI
staff along with NC teachers conducting action research developed three
literary modules to enable teachers
to meet the new literacy licensure renewal requirements while allowing them to
develop new skills and knowledge to improve their teaching practice. Specific
information regarding individual action research projects may be accessed
through the NC Teacher Action Research Portal.
To view the entire Home Base professional development course
catalog, please visit the Online Professional Development website.
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