Interested in becoming a PD instructor? We will train you this summer
Posted: April 2, 2025
The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association has been working hard to create new professional development (PD) credit options since we successfully negotiated with the employer to create Class VIII, and many members have been looking for ways to obtain credits to reclassify and increase their pay.
HSTA has made partnerships to offer low-cost master’s degree programs and will train more educators this summer to become PD instructors and get their courses approved by the employer so members have more options to improve their practice and move up the salary scale.
HIDOE changes its PD platform, course approval process
Several years ago, the HIDOE realized that the system it had been using, PDE3 by Powerschool, no longer met the needs for managing professional development course listing, registration and documentation. The department sought an alternative with more flexibility, reducing the need to be updated and rebuilt each time changes happened.
HIDOE contracted with Learnsoft, which is a learning and talent platform. The new platform can be customized to the current needs and any needs in the future. The platform launched around August 2024 with continual updates and new resources being added through the next year.
With the new platform, HIDOE changed its process for approving instructors. In the past, instructors could submit courses for review at any time during the year, as long as the sponsor of the course approved the new section. As part of the new system, sponsors were removed from the process. This meant that HIDOE’s Advanced Professional Learning (APL) program under the Office of Curriculum and Design would now work with the instructors and be accountable for the courses’ quality. The goal of the APL education specialists is to help teachers grow to meet the needs of their students through professional development.
The timeline and approval process has lengthened to make sure the instructors are qualified to teach each course and that the course was designed in a way to facilitate learning, practice, and reflection. The principles being used are based on the Learning Forward Standards for professional development. The first few HSTA-supported courses reviewed under the new process all required some type of revision to make sure they reached the highest quality for teachers.
How HSTA has worked to support members through these changes
HSTA’s Instruction and Professional Development Department and IPD specialist Diane Gibson have consistently collaborated with multiple HIDOE offices supporting the Learnsoft platform and the PD options.
HSTA has worked closely with HIDOE’s APL program since 2020, helping instructors meet new requirements brought about by the platform change. Through this work, HSTA has a cadre of experienced instructors who have run courses multiple times a year for the last five years. It has taken some time for instructors to work through the process for the new platform, but we are now seeing our regular courses being approved and offered on the HSTA PD site.
Knowing that the PD courses would not be enough to meet the demands of teachers seeking professional development, HSTA IPD worked with outside organizations for other credit bearing alternatives.
We have secured the following programs and options for our members:
Graduate credit options:
- Spalding Master’s Program: The second cohort of teachers started their journey in the Master’s for Learning-Centered Practices in May 2024. They will complete their degree in December 2025. Applications for the third cohort are expected to open later this year, so be on the lookout for details.
- Mentor certificate through Spalding: Participants in this program of five graduate courses will earn a mentoring certificate and can apply the five courses to the master’s program.
- Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s economics for Hawaiʻi teachers: This program is funded through grants and the Hawaiʻi Economic Council. It was developed through collaboration with Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Hawaiʻi Economic Council, and HSTA IPD. This class is offered online, so it’s a great opportunity for neighbor island educators.
Our IPD department works continuously with local and national universities to seek cost-effective programs to support our teachers’ needs for long-term learning.
Book study pilot to start summer of 2025
In collaboration with North Dakota United, the Hawaʻii Foundation for Educators (a non-profit organization supporting Hawaiʻi Educators) will run a pilot for book study graduate credits. For $100, a Hawaiʻi teacher will be able to join the book study. Once the work is completed, they can pay $50 dollars for graduate credits earned. Each 15-hour study session is worth one graduate credit. The HSTA will release more information on this pilot program when it becomes available.
More PD instructors needed, HSTA will train you this summer!
We also need more instructors. If you have thought about teaching a PD course, currently teach a PD course to your school or complex area, or have expertise in an area that can support the needs of our teachers, we want to talk with you.
This summer, the HSTA IPD department will hold multiple virtual sessions to help teachers who want to go through the course development process. These sessions will focus on adult learning theory, presentation best practices, how to work through each step of the process with the HIDOE for course approval, and support for any needed revisions.
Please fill out this form to receive PD instructor session information updates.
Instructors are paid as independent contractors for the course they teach.
To support these new options, the HSTA PD website will be updated to house all the information for our teachers in one place. These updates are scheduled to start at the beginning of April.