A. The department shall develop a systemic framework for professional development that provides training to ensure quality teachers, school principals and instructional support providers and that improves and enhances student achievement. The department shall work with licensed school employees, the higher education department and institutions of higher education to establish the framework.

B. The framework shall include:

(1) the criteria for school districts to apply for professional development funds, including an evaluation component that will be used by the department in approving school district professional development plans;

(2) guidelines for developing extensive professional development activities for school districts that:

(a) improve teachers' knowledge of the subjects they teach and their ability to teach those subjects to all of their students;

(b) are an integral part of the public school and school district plans for improving student achievement;

(c) provide teachers, school administrators and instructional support providers with the strategies, support, knowledge and skills to help all students meet New Mexico academic standards;

(d) are high quality, sustained, intensive and focused on the classroom; and

(e) are developed and evaluated regularly with extensive participation of school employees, parents and organizations with specific subject-area expertise or professional development;

(3) guidelines for integrating career-technical education content into academic instructional practices, including training on best practices to understand state and regional workforce needs and transitions to post-secondary education and the workforce; and

(4) guidelines for funding rigorous professional development for career-technical teachers and educational assistants in the same manner as for teachers and educational assistants of other subjects for which the department has promulgated standards and benchmarks.

C. The department and school districts shall use all available funding sources, including federal Every Student Succeeds Act Title 2 funding, to provide professional development for career-technical teachers and educational assistants.

History: Laws 2004, ch. 27, § 25; 2019, ch. 2, § 1.

Cross references. — For references to the former commission on higher education, see 9-25-4.1 NMSA 1978.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, required professional development for career-technical teachers and educational assistants in the same manner as teachers of other subjects for which the Public Education Department has promulgated standards and benchmarks, and required the use of federal Every Student Succeeds Act Title II funding for career-technical professional development; in Subsection B, Subparagraph B(2)(e), after "parents", added "and organizations with specific subject-area expertise or professional development"; added Paragraphs B(3) and B(4); and added Subsection C.