The responsibility for reform within the Union rests with the President, through the Board of Directors and the Membership.

Organization around standards

The parties are in the process of beginning a several year campaign to develop a curriculum, including standards and assessments. The first year, a district-wide curriculum committee will meet to build capacity around the issues of standards and assessment - with the members of the curriculum committee from each site to bring the understanding and the conversation to the sites. The second step will be curriculum mapping - determining what is currently happening curriculum-wise within the district. Based upon the curriculum, the plan is to build the standards - and the performance assessments that measure the standards. Currently, the state of Indiana has a set of Proficiencies and Essential Skills - now changed to academic standards - however they are global. The Hammond plan is to localize these state standards to the classroom.

Role of union:

The HTF appoints teachers to serve on the curriculum committee which is developing the district's standards.

Training/Staff Development

The entire program is a massive training attempt, coordinated by the districts training academy. Each step along the way, it is anticipated that the training, the information developed in the curriculum committee will be presented to the sites, and feedback will be obtained.

Professional Development

Program description & Operation:

Professional Development in Hammond is delivered through the "Hammond Leadership Academy, which serves as a conduit between the central administration and the sites. Professional development is looked at both from the district and the site level. Some of the staff development is dictated from the district but sites can also apply for a seminar day each year - moving toward five when money is available - and the teachers are paid $135 for attendance. A school site also has $1000 per year for professional development. These funds can be used for consultants, retreats, professional materials, etc. The leadership academy does training for "Site Planning Teams," which are a part of the site based decisionmaking process. Each site has different needs around site based planning, thus the academy is attempting to be flexible, and to design training to meet the specific needs of the staff. The major emphasis of the Academy is on site specific staff development. There are two teachers released full time to work on staff development. The academy is coordinating a district-wide standards development program that will involve several years.

In addition, the District is one of several that partners with Purdue University - Calumet, to sponsor "Professional Development Schools" within the districts. (Attachment 13 - Professional Development Schools)

Relationship to union:

The relationship is positive, though not formally part of a written agreement.

Relationship to colleges/universities:

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