6A-5.069. School District Professional Learning Systems

(1) The purpose of this rule is to set forth the requirements for school district professional learning systems, pursuant to Section 1012.98, Florida Statutes (F.S.), by establishing standards for high-quality professional learning; outlining the required content for school district professional learning systems; providing a common system template for school district use; establishing a submission process; and setting forth system approval criteria.

(2) Professional Learning Standards. Professional learning means learning that is designed for educators and is aligned to the state standards for effective professional learning, educator practices and leadership; incorporates active learning; is collaborative; provides models; and is sustained and continuous. The professional learning standards define Florida’s expectations for high-quality professional learning systems and opportunities, and form the foundation for school district professional learning systems and catalogs. There are seven (7) standards grouped into five (5) domains (i.e., Foundation, Needs Assessment and Planning, Learning, Implementing, and Evaluating) representative of stages in an improvement cycle. Each standard includes a title, description, and multiple indicators of what the standard may look like in practice.

(a) Domain 0: Foundation. Standard 1: Leadership. Professional learning requires leaders who develop capacity, create support systems, and advocate for professional learning to continually improve educator practice and student outcomes. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Setting high standards for educator and student performance;

2. Developing expertise in self and others regarding effective professional learning and leadership;

3. Communicating the importance of high-quality professional learning and its connection to student outcomes;

4. Promoting a culture of professional learning by ensuring policies, structures, resources, calendars, and daily schedules support educators to continuously improve their knowledge and practice; and

5. Creating a coherent program of learning and leadership development opportunities for growth of all employees.

(b) Domain 1: Needs Assessment and Planning. Standard 1: Professional Learning Needs. Professional learning includes the use of student, educator, and system data to analyze, prioritize, and plan for continuous improvement of educator practice and student outcomes. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Continuously analyzing and interpreting multiple types and sources of data (e.g., student performance, discipline, classroom observations, climate surveys) to determine student and educator learning needs and related educator problems of practice;

2. Prioritizing professional learning based on identified student and educator learning needs; and

3. Developing individual, school, and district learning plans that align professional learning goals to student learning needs.

(c) Domain 1: Needs Assessment and Planning. Standard 2: Professional Learning Resources. Professional learning requires schools and systems to maximize and monitor the use of resources to continually improve educator practice and student outcomes. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Determining appropriate curricular resources to support professional learning needs;

2. Prioritizing and aligning fiscal, human, material, technology, and time resources for investment in professional learning;

3. Integrating multiple sources of funding in order to fully support identified professional learning needs; and

4. Analyzing data collected on resource utilization and impact on desired outcomes to make decisions regarding future allocations.

(d) Domain 2: Learning. Standard 1: Learning Outcomes. Professional learning includes outcomes that ensure intended changes in educator knowledge, skills, dispositions, and practice align with student learning needs. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Using identified student learning needs to make decisions about professional learning content and outcomes;

2. Defining clear expectations and learning outcomes that specify what educators need to know and do in relation to educator performance standards; and

3. Creating coherence by ensuring outcomes build on previous professional learning or knowledge.

(e) Domain 2: Learning. Standard 2: Learning Designs. Professional learning includes use of research- and evidence-based learning designs to continually improve educator practice and student outcomes. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Considering the desired outcomes and educator and student learning needs, interests, and experiences in the selection of learning designs;

2. Utilizing face-to-face, online, and blended learning design models that focus on sustained individual, team, and school learning;

3. Enabling educators to construct new, relevant, and personalized learning through processes such as active engagement, modeling, application, assessment, reflection, feedback, and ongoing support;

4. Supporting collaboration among educators to deepen professional practice and foster a sense of collective responsibility for improving student outcomes; and

5. Engaging in a shared cycle of inquiry, action, research, data analysis, planning, implementation, reflection, and evaluation that drives continuous improvement (e.g., learning communities, Lesson Study, online networks, coaching, mentoring).

(f) Domain 3: Implementing. Standard 1: Implementation of Learning. Professional learning includes multiple opportunities to implement new learning with ongoing support and actionable feedback to continually improve educator practice and student outcomes. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Setting clear goals and maintaining high expectations for implementation of learning with fidelity;

2. Sustaining implementation of new learning by providing multiple opportunities for practice in authentic settings with ongoing and varied support (e.g., coaching, modeling, peer groups, co-teaching, co-planning, study groups);

3. Providing opportunities for frequent feedback and reflection to analyze and adjust practice in relation to established expectations; and

4. Monitoring and assessing the degree of implementation to identify and resolve challenges related to integration of professional learning.

(g) Domain 4: Evaluating. Standard 1: Evaluation of Professional Learning. Professional learning includes formative and summative evaluation of the effectiveness of professional learning in increasing educator knowledge, changing educator dispositions and practice, and improving student outcomes to inform decisions about future professional learning. Examples of this standard in practice include:

1. Developing and conducting a comprehensive plan to evaluate the effectiveness of individual, school, and district plans for professional learning;

2. Monitoring formative educator practice and student learning data to assess professional learning and make adjustments as needed; and

3. Conducting a summative evaluation at the end of a program to assess the overall impact and make decisions regarding future professional learning.

(3) Professional Learning System Requirements. To receive approval of its professional learning system, the school district must provide the following:

(a) An overview of the system;

(b) A list of the collaborative partnerships established and a description of how a diverse group of stakeholders was consulted during development of the system;

(c) A description of the organizational structure of professional learning in the school district;

(d) A list of the district- and school-based positions with the primary responsibility for planning, providing, implementing, and supporting, or evaluating professional learning, and a brief description of their roles related to professional learning;

(e) A description of the school district’s systems of professional learning programs and supports that enable instructional personnel and school administrators to continually develop throughout their career, and provide opportunities for meaningful teacher leadership and the identification and preparation of aspiring school leaders;

(f) A description of how the school district implements each of the professional learning standards outlined in subsection (2) of this rule;

(g) A list of the technology platforms and programs the school district uses to manage, provide, or support professional learning, and a brief description of how they are utilized;

(h) A list of the funding sources and amounts allocated for the school district’s professional learning resources, and the percentage of the school district’s total operating expenses that is allocated for professional learning for each of the last three school years; and

(i) Confirmation that the system meets the requirements of Section 1012.98, F.S., as outlined in the Professional Learning System Template, Form PLST-2024.

(4) Submission Process.

(a) School districts must submit professional learning systems to the Department for review and approval under the following circumstances:

1. The school district is establishing an initial professional learning system;

2. The school district is making substantial revisions (i.e., revisions to the professional learning standards set forth in subsection (3) of this rule or the professional learning catalog) to a previously approved professional learning system; or

3. The approval period for the school district’s professional learning system is due to expire.

(b) The timelines for submission and approval of professional learning systems will be posted to the Department’s website at least thirty (30) days before the submission due date.

(c) Professional learning systems must be submitted using the Professional Learning System Template, Form PLST-2024.

(d) School districts must submit the Template and any supporting documentation electronically to [e-mail].

(5) Approval Criteria and Period.

(a) A professional learning system shall be approved by the Department when the system:

1. Is submitted to [e-mail];

2. Is submitted on the form required by paragraph (4)(c) of this rule;

3. Fulfills the requirements of subsection (3) of this rule and Section 1012.98, F.S.; and

4. Is found by the Department to create the conditions necessary to increase student achievement; enhance classroom instructional strategies that promote rigor and relevance throughout the curriculum; and prepare students for college, career, and life.

(b) A professional learning system maintains its approval designation for a period of five (5) years, if the system is not substantially revised and continues to comply with the requirements listed in Section 1012.98, F.S., and this rule.

(c) Annually, the Department will post at https://www.fldoe.org/teaching/professional-dev/ the calendar for review of professional learning systems for the following school year.

(6) Monitoring of Professional Learning Systems.

(a) The implementation of  professional learning systems will be monitored by the Department through off-site and on-site reviews. Districts will be provided no less than thirty (30) days notice of off-site monitoring and no less than sixty (60) days notice of on-site monitoring.

(b) Following an off-site or on-site review, the Department will provide districts a monitoring report that includes areas of noncompliance as well identification of strengths and weakness of the district’s professional learning system.

(c) School district must complete an action plan designed to address areas of noncomplaince and any weaknesses identified by the Department. Districts must submit their action plan within sixty (60) days of receipt of the Department’s monitoring report and submit documentation of the correction of identified deficiencies within sixty (60) days of submission of the action plan. Action plans and documentation of correction must be submitted to the following address: [e-mail].

(d) Within sixty (60) days of receipt of documentation of correction, the Department will notify the district of any additional monitoring the Department will conduct to support the district’s implementation of its professional learning system, including its action plan and any corrections of noncompliance.

(7) Prohibitions. 

(a) Initial or substantially revised systems must not be implemented by the school district prior to Department approval.

(b) A school district must not process certification forms for educators under Section 1012.56, F.S., unless it has an approved professional learning system and that system has not undergone substantial revision since approval by the Department.

(8) Forms. The following form is hereby incorporated by reference: Professional Learning System Template, Form PLST-2024 (February 2024) (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-16351). Copies may be obtained from the Florida Department of Education, 325 West Gaines Street, Room 124, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400.

Rulemaking Authority 1001.02(1),(2)(n), 1012.56(14), 1012.98(9) FS. Law Implemented 1012.56, 1012.575, 1012.98 FS. History–New 5-3-22, Amended 11-22-22, 2-20-24.