You've wrapped up your summer PD sessions, teachers are back in buildings, and the school year is officially underway. Now's the time to translate all that planning and professional learning into real, visible impact.
If you're responsible for professional development in your district, you're entering a critical window. The coming weeks will determine whether your summer investments translate into lasting classroom changes or fade into distant memory by October. Here are five tactical questions to guide your evaluation and follow-through strategy.
Don't think in abstract terms about "improved instruction." Get concrete. If you trained teachers on formative assessment, you should see exit tickets, quick polls, or thumbs up/thumbs down checks happening regularly. If the focus was differentiated instruction, look for flexible grouping or choice boards. Write down 3-5 observable behaviors that would indicate your PD is taking root, then build your classroom observation schedule around them.
Your summer PD might have been strong, but its success depends on consistent reinforcement at the school level. Make sure principals, coaches, and mentors have what they need: talking points, models, PD agendas, or co-planning time. Every building has teachers who immediately implement new strategies—help your site leaders identify and leverage these champions within the first two weeks.
Teachers will start hitting roadblocks immediately: "I don't have time," "My students can't handle this," or "I need more materials." Don't wait for formal feedback surveys. Listen for these concerns in hallway conversations and quick check-ins. Each barrier you identify early is one you can address before it becomes a reason to abandon the new practice entirely.
Whether it's survey feedback, walkthrough data, or PLC notes, find a way to track what's working and where additional support is needed. Even a quick heat map by school or topic can help your team prioritize time and energy. Student achievement data won't be available for months, but you need earlier indicators of PD effectiveness.
Summer PD without follow-up is just an expensive August event. Think beyond events and set a cadence now for cycles of learning, reflection, and improvement—whether through coaching cycles, PLCs, or follow-up workshops. Teachers are more likely to sustain new practices when they know support will continue.
Start here: choose one of these questions to act on this week.
Want help gathering feedback, tracking implementation, or designing ongoing support cycles? KickUp can help—reach out if you’d like to chat.
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