Teachers have said their teaching has gotten better, their students learn more, and that teaching is fun.

They credit the District’s Professional Growth program where teachers develop a plan for their growth and attend workshops to meet those goals and boost their teaching skills.

The topics of those workshops and the focus for the District are determined by a Professional Growth Committee, comprised of teachers, department chairs and administrators. Members research topics, attend national staff development and curriculum meetings and survey faculty. District 99 strives to create a balance with the tried and true methods and new strategies to boost learning.

Some recent workshops include:

• Project CRISS
  The District is a national demonstration site for Project CRISS (Creating Independence Through Student-owned Strategies), which offers teachers strategies to help students read and think critically, problem-solve and organizing and retaining information.
• Learning Styles
  Presentations on brain studies and the differing ways students learn.
• Robert Marzano’s Studies
  Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.
• Assessment for Learning
  Strategies to help devise meaningful assessment tools to demonstrate student understanding.