5.2 The Four Levels of PD

Continuing Education Option
Identifying Appropriate PD
The Four Levels of PD, Lesson 5. Section 2


The goal of CEO PD is to help candidates identify areas in which they are assessed at the awareness level and to support their progress through application and management toward refinement.

 704 KAR 3:035 defines “high-quality professional development” as those experiences that systematically, over a sustained period of time, enable educators to facilitate the learning of students by acquiring and applying knowledge, understanding, skills, and abilities that address the instructional improvement goals of the school district, the individual school, or the individual professional growth needs of the educator. . .

Section 4(2) states that, “High-quality professional development experiences shall be related to teacher’s instructional assignments and administrators’ professional responsibilities. Experiences shall support the local school’s instructional improvement goals and be aligned with the school or district improvement plan or individual professional growth plans of teachers.” 

Click to view the Kentucky Department of Education's definition of PD.

The CEO process uses a hierarchy to define the levels of PD. The graphic organizer, Understanding the Levels of PD, provides you with a hierarchical chart of each of these levels.

The Refinement Level is the target of all CEO PD. This level is the point at which teachers can share new skills and knowledge with other educators to have a positive impact on the teaching profession through the exchange of new expertise with colleagues.

To print the chart and use it as a reference, click this Understanding the Levels of PD link. 

Last modified: Monday, June 4, 2018, 10:59 AM