Print Form ) MI~NESOTA CENTER for MINNESOTA EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-AGE, 1 professional development ~ ~ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN supporting eortv childhood ond school oqeo proc:tlllorteu Success in any career requires continued development of skills and knowledge. This is not an automatic process. Instead, it begins with a vision and a strategy requiring a commitment to lifelong learning, and involves continuing effort. Professional development should be an essential component of your career growth and plan. With changes and the evolution of the early childhood and school-age profession, keeping your skills and knowledge current will not only give you a competitive advantage in achieving your career goals but it will also be helpful to the children you serve. As with your other life goals, it is recommended that you develop a personalized plan designed to help you achieve your goals. While your vision will define where you want your development to take you, goals and action plan will aid you in achieving your development objectives that will bring the greatest rewards. A plan with explicit goals will provide structure for your future learning. This professional development plan is intended to be used with other Minnesota Professiona I Development System such as the Registry, the Individual Training Needs Assessment, Parent Aware, professional development opportunities and funding through the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Here are the steps you need to take: 1. Sign up on the Minnesota Registry. Signing up on the Registry will give you a place to input your professional development activities and place you on a step on the career lattice so you will know where you are on the learning continuum. The Registry will also provide you with a copy of a learning record to use in planning your future education. 2. Take a self-assessment. Self-assessment will help you identify your strengths and limitations, values and goals, skills and competencies. If you are between Foundational Awareness and career step 5, we recommend you take the Individual Training Needs Assessment (ITNA) to help you identify your educational plan. The ITNA, which was developed using the Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age core competencies, will help identify your gaps in core competencies, and key areas you need to develop to remain skilled in child care. 3. You are now ready to use this Professional Development Plan. This tool will help you evaluate your current and preferred career objectives, opportunities and challenges, and resources. After determining the key learning areas in which you want to focus, you will be able to develop specific and measurable goals in which to pursue. Use this template to facilitate your goal-setting process, to document your results, and to track your accomplishments. 1 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 555
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CAREER PLAN OF ACTION FORM Name: Registry ID#: Date: Address: Telephone: Email: Job Title: Program Name: MINNESOTA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM CAREER LATTICE STEP (MNCPD REGISTRY) MNCPD TRAINER TYPE: D Foundational Awareness D Step VII D Provisional Trainer I D Step I D Step VIII D Provisional Trainer II D Step II D Step IX Circle one: a b c D Trainer I D Step Ill D Step X Circle one: abc D Trainer II D Step V D Step XI Circle one: a b c D Master Trainer D Step VI D Step XII Circle one: a b c Note: Trainers must check the Career Lattice step and Trainer type CAREER GOALS Career goal setting is an excellent way to motivate yourself and to ensure you are actively moving your life in a direction of your choice. Career goals are goals that you set for your career path. They can be anything from deciding what continuing education or training to take to fulfill requirements of your current position to making your career choice to where you want to be in your career in a certain number of years. It's important to set both short-term and long-term career goals. Short term career goals would apply to your current position, but those goals would have your long term career goal in mind. For instance, if your long-term goal is to be a Parent Educator for your local Early Childhood and Family Education (ECFE) program, then your short-term career goal would be to enroll in a Parent and Family Education licensure program and start taking courses. See other examples of early childhood and school-age careers on the back of this professional development plan. My Short-Term Career Goal (in 12 months): My Long-Term Career Goal (in 5 years):--------------------------- 2 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 556
Based on my Career Goals, my educational goals are to: D Move up the career lattice (steps 1-5) D National Child Development Associate (CDA) D Associate Degree 0 Bachelor Degree 0 Masters Degree 0 Doctorate Degree D Other Credential (please specify):-------------------------- SMART PLANS As you develop your action plan, use the SMART model by ensuring all of your goals and action steps are ~pecific, Measurable,.Attainable, Realistic and within a specific!imeframe. Prepare a plan for developing the identified goals. The plan should: State objectives with a high degree of specificity. Specific, concrete goals will enable you to determining when you have achieved your objectives. Lay out small, reasonable steps. Expecting too much too soon will discourage progress. Divide development activities into small steps that lead to your end goal. Include on-the-job activities. Allow feedback and support from others (supervisors, co-workers, mentors, families served, etc.) Includes deadlines. Schedule target dates for completion and checkpoints for progress review. Be committed to your plan. Tell others about your goals and ask them to hold you accountable. Complete a plan for each of your goals. Increase knowledge Technology/computer use is technology savvy 3 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 557
TRAINING AND EDUCATION ACTION PLAN (For individuals whose career goals include taking non-credit training or college courses) Now that you planned your career goals, already know the gaps in your training and education, you can plan your non-credit and/or college courses here. This template will be helpful in planning your education and training related to the Minnesota Core Competencies content areas. Example: You are a trainer and have identified that you need adult education training; you would place your adult education training under the Professional Development and Leadership content area of the core competencies and then proceed with the type of professional development. You might choose to take an Adult Learning course from your local college or university or take a non-credit Adult Education course at your local training agency. After you have identified the type of development, then you can proceed identifying the timeframes the activities will be completed. Remember to regularly evaluate your progress to determine whether you are working toward your goals. 4 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 558
My Professional Development goals are to obtain non-credit training or college course in: EJ Status/Date Professional Development Core Professional Development Plan of Competency Area to be addressed Action (Type of PO- in-service training, college course, mentoring, etc.) Circle the level L Child Growth and Development Completed IIA: Creating the learning Environment and General Curriculum lib: Promoting Physical Development IIC: Promoting Language Development and Uteracy lid: Promoting Cognitive Development- Mathematics lid: Promoting Cognitive Development- Science lid: Promoting Cognitive Development- Social Studies lie: Promoting Personal and Social Development IIF: Promoting Creativity and the Arts Ill. Assessment and Planning for Individual Needs IV. Interactions with Children V. Families and Communities 5 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 559
VI. Health, Safety, and Nutrition VII. Program Planning and Evaluation VIII. Professional Development and Leadership PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN REVIEW One of the important steps in achieving your personal growth plan is commitment to your plan and the accountability that goes along with it. Tell others about your goals; ask for feedback and ask them to hold you accountable. This section of the professional development plan is for accountability. A reviewer can be a peer, supervisor, Parent Aware resource specialist, CCR&R grant administrator, MNCPD Trainer Approval administrator, or other reviewer. Date of Review: ------------------------ Review (check one): D Initial D Quarterly D Semi-Annual D Annual D 2 year D 3 year 0 Other (specify):-------- Reviewers Comments: -------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewer Signature: Signature Role Date 6 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 560
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND SCHOOL-AGE CARE CAREERS For more information about these careers, visit our website at www.mncpd.org Licensed Family Child Care Provider 0 Food Program Administration Infant Mental Health Specialist Child Care Center-based programs 0 Lead Teacher Infant/Toddler Network Specialist 0 Assistant Teacher Child Life Specialist 0 Aide 0 Center Director Home Visiting 0 Assistant Director Head Start (including Early Head Start and School Readiness Migrant Head Start) Adult Education 0 Lead Teacher 0 Parent Educator 0 Assistant Teacher 0 Trainer 0 Aide 0 Coach 0 Director 0 Mentor 0 Technical Assistance Public pre-kindergartens (ECFE) 0 Career Advisor/Workforce Center 0 District Director 0 Early Childhood Teacher Higher Education (College/University, 0 Parent Educator Lecturer/Instructor, Professor) 0 Community and Technical College Public and private school, and school-age 0 4 year institutions programs 0 Graduate schools 0 School-age care program 0 Paraprofessional Child Care Resource & Referral 0 Teacher or specialist 0 Executive Director 0 SAC Director 0 Professional Development Coordinator 0 Outreach Staff Administration and Admin. Support 0 Grants Administrator 0 Princi pai/di rector 0 Director of Training State Agency 0 Instructional Coordinator 0 Education Sp ecia I ist 0 Educational Research 0 Social Services Program Consultant 0 Program Evaluator 0 County Licensor 0 Curriculum Developer 0 Parent advisor 0 Instructional Media Designers 0 Membership Associations 7 Minnesota Early Childhood and School-age Professional Development Plan Feb 2009 561