Professional Development Opportunities

The Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit # 22 is highly committed to ensuring the growth of ALL learners by collaborating with both our districts and community and by providing opportunities for professional educators to engage in ongoing conversations about teaching and learning.  The Bucks County Intermediate Unit incorporates the National Staff Development Council's Standards for Professional Development in all its endeavors and works in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to fulfill the requirements of Act 48, PDE's professional development law.

The Intermediate Unit provides hundreds of workshops, programs, and regional conferences to our districts, nonpublic schools, and the larger region annually.  These professional development opportunities are created in collaboration with our schools by assessing interests, determining needs, and providing meaningful and sustained learning to enhance professional practice resulting in teachers who are better equipped to apply knowledge and skills within the professional school setting.

Annually, the Intermediate Unit provides nearly 650 professional development opportunities, many of which include multiple sessions as part of a conference.  During the 200-2008 school year, nearly 14,000 educators and administrators participated in these professional learning opportunities.

In addition to these experiences, the Intermediate Unit also provides another means for professional learning through Continuing Professional Education Courses.  These courses consist of, at minimum, fourteen in-class hours and an additional sixteen hours of related assignments.  Annually, approximately 20 of these courses occur at the Intermediate Unit.

Finally, the Intermediate Unit provides numerous videoconferences.  In 2007-2008 alone, over 50 videoconferences were scheduled addressing professional development needs across the county, quite often focusing on the Pennsylvania Department of Education's initiatives.

Through the professional learning described above, the Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit is empowering thousands of teachers and administrators to enhance their professional practice.  And, with continued collaboration among districts, schools, administrators, teachers, parent, and community members, we will continue to provide high quality professional learning.