Professional Development

Provide effective professional learning opportunities that promote collaboration and communication to strengthen best practices and bring awareness to innovative strategies that support the current learning needs of all.

• Professional learning is relevant and aligned to individual, campus, and district goals.
• Professional learning is on-going.
• Professional learning provides opportunities for collegial conversations and learning from one another.

The Professional Learning Ecosystem of Comal ISD encompasses all the professional learning that is offered in the district. This includes:

• Weekly campus Collaborative Team Cycles (CTCs)
• Continuous campus learning 
• Instructional coaches that are dedicated to one campus 
• New-to-Comal program
• District wide grade level content specific learning each semester (QuIP) 
• Mentor program
• Comal U summer conference
• Various leadership development opportunities (DILT, ILT, CTL, LD)

State Requirements - TEA requires that educators meet these minimum requirements to renew their certificate:

• 150 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Hours every 5 years
• content area knowledge and skills
• professional ethics and standards of conduct
• training regarding educating students with disabilities including information particular to educating students with dyslexia.

Local Requirements - To support teachers in meeting the minimum state requirements, Comal ISD recommends:

• 30 hours of CPE 
• Comal ISD requires 30 hours of Exchange Day Credit (built into the CISD calendar) outside of contract hours which also counts towards CPE Credit.
• Gifted and Talented Hours
• 30 - hour initial foundational GT training
• 6 - hour annual GT update

Comal ISD provides mentorships dependent on years of experience in Comal ISD. All first-year, second year, and new-to-district teachers in Comal ISD are partnered with a campus mentor to support them through their transition into Comal ISD. Whether a teacher is new to the field of education or coming to Comal ISD from a different district, we provide our teachers an opportunity to connect with teacher leaders who are eager to guide and support our educators. Our goal is to ensure every new teacher to Comal ISD feels welcomed, well supported, and has everything they need to thrive. First-year teachers will have an additional layer of support as they will be assigned a District Mentor. This mentor will provide specialized guidance specific to a first-year teacher. These mentors will help ensure every first-year teacher is not only well supported, but also encouraged as they navigate their path as a teacher.

 
New Teacher Academy

Professional learning opportunities designed for first-year teachers:

• New-to-Comal-Launch
• Simulation Days
• District Mentor
• Campus Mentor
• New-to-Comal Meetups
• Campus Events
• District Trainings for first year teachers

New-to-Comal Supports

Professional learning opportunities designed for new-to-district teachers:

• New-to-Comal Launch
• New-to-Comal Meetups
• Campus Events
• Campus Mentor

Instructional Coaching in Comal:Comal ISD Campus Instructional Coaches improve student learning through multiple layers of support such as just-in-time professional development, student-centered coaching, and Collaborative Team Cycles (CTCs).  Every campus has at least one Campus Instructional Coach that partners with teachers to improve student learning. 

Our coach-teacher partnerships propel student and teacher learning by:

• Providing support to teachers to allow teachers to meet campus expectations
• Engaging teachers in coaching cycles to focus on continuous improvement
• Prioritizing work that has the most potential to impact student learning
• Coaching teachers and teams to implement high-quality instruction
• Partnering with teachers in their classrooms to support the delivery of effective instruction