Professional Development

It is ideal to have the best classroom with great student retention but the reality of it all is,
one bee cannot take down a bear. In the efforts to promote professional development there needs
to be a strong foundation relevant to the task and end result. It is imperative that as an educator,
there are times that the voice of that leader is identified and speak up as an advocate for change.
The founding educators of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) believe in
the strong foundations of student success and they back every word with success stories from
perspectives of administrators, teachers and students who have been "AVIDized". AVID states
with no reserve:
Authentic commitment to promoting student success includes conscious
effort on the part of high-level administrators to invest resources in institutional
practices and policies that have the greatest impact on student success.
The Georgia Code of Ethics standard 10 indicates an educator should exhibit conduct that
follows professional standards and preserves the dignity and integrity of the teaching profession.
Dr. Maryellen Weimer, PhD, suggest that that speaking on the process of implementing change
and deciding what and how to change the norms is a reason to have professional development.
Educators come from all backgrounds and some come in timid to opening their mouths to
suggest in lieu of the pressures of being resented or turned down to fresh ideas. Professional
development can link everyone's purposes together to gain a new perspective in student
engagement and retention.
Lion Gardiner speaks to the lack ownership in response to educators not really knowing
how learning occurs in college students and the effects of the college experience. He further
states that educators traditionally just know one form of education and that is to lecture, lecture

and lecture. The conditions that we conform to in the classroom have expired, based on AVID
learning curve and the retention of information stored in the learning sessions. Instead of
introducing the "new" norms such as students asking questions, engaging fully, integrating new
information, opening the mind to diverse views and utilizing what you learned then students will
just be sitting there like a new car going through a test drive.
The campus wide goals that were articulated through AVID were student success with
reflections of retention and graduation. The goals are based on student-centered classroom
experiences that guarantee student success.
The background discussions for allowing the AVID curriculum setup was based on this overview
of student success through a campus initiative explained below:
Opportunity for self-study and monitoring of program implementation and student
progress
Recognition as a Certified AVID for Higher Education Institution
As a certified AHE institution, ability to use AVID name to secure grants and awards
and/or obtain external program funding and support.
Direct support from AVID for Higher Education staff to enhance implementations of
AHE Essentials
Access to comparative data that profiles the campus' AHE program
Annual recognition of Certified AVID for Higher Education programs
Access to comparative certification levels, Certified, highly Certified and eligibility for
Certified with Distinction and AHE National Demonstration Campus recognition
Assurance of AHE program integrity and fidelity to the AHE model

 Opportunity to accumulate documentation to support accomplishments and level of

implementation as a certified AHE institution
As a personal reflection as to why the continuation of professional development is
essential is for my future goals of Higher Education Administration. I feel that will different
learning initiatives and the facts that come along with the success stories of teacher and students,
it is only right for me to be a part of the writing to be able to tell my own story in education. This
platform will allow me to have a voice to introduce and collaborate with other learning
environments to help enhance the teaching components to types of learning skills and methods.
The AVID model staff is in the process of reviewing the statistical data for the past fall
and spring semester to report back to the leader of our college by the end of the summer
semester. In response to the scores, we will be able to see where the areas of improvement and
the areas that have out done themselves. From those same scores we can see the students
retention rates and see if this is true platform that our personal institution can continue to roll out.
The scores however do not promote student against student but it does show the transition and
application against those students not in a marked AVID cohort. Prior to gaining statistics there
were a lot of trainings for teacher trainers, lots of infrastructure layouts and curriculum reviews
as pilot courses. In the freshman stage, we could review and listen from those instructors the
possible challenges and the outcomes for adopting the AVID models for student success.
In identifying purposeful relations to why one should promote and continue professional
development is to say, "why not?" In the areas that I instruct, I see opportunity for change and
growth. I see the doors of success for the students and myself. The change that is put form
requires that you work hard to maintain and enhance it for the future. With maintaining comes
support and that takes another type of work effort, to ensure someone sees and keeps the vision

alive. Like it was mentioned before one bee cannot take down a bear! It is essential that the
educator keep getting educated to keep our students marketable in industry.
Three examples in which information was gained through professional development
applied to the instructional plan to improve student learning outcomes would be:
Skills Overview
introduction to subject
reasoning of the subject
safety of the material in the subject
Skills Management
What are you going to learn in class?
Student watching
Student learning
Skills Application
Student Hands on Approach
Student Engagement
Skills Assessment
Move forward with applications for review
To articulate how well subject matter was understood
In these skills set in professional development provided by AVID, the classroom setting really
reflects student take-over to result in student achievement that trickles down to ownership
reflective of retention and graduation.

References
Avid for higher education. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.avid.org/what-is-avid-for-highered.ashx
The code of ethics for educators. (2014, October 15). Retrieved from http://www.gapsc.com
Research and scholarship supporting avid for higher education essentials. (2015). In Husk,S
(Eds.),AVID Summer Institute Starts Here (p. 87). Dallas, Texas: AVID Proven
Achievement Lifelong Advantage.
Weimer, M. (2015). taking risk in your teaching. Retrieved from
http://www.facultyfocus.com/topic/articles/faculty-development/