{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-194v1","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-6-194v1","heading":"District professional development programs","body":"A. The district boards of education of this state shall\n\nestablish professional development programs for the certified\n\nteachers and administrators of the district. Programs shall be\n\nadopted by each board based upon recommendations of a professional\n\ndevelopment committee appointed by the board of education for the\n\ndistrict.\n\nB. Each professional development committee shall include\n\nclassroom teachers, administrators, school counselors or licensed\n\nmental health providers, and parents, guardians, or custodians of\n\nchildren in the school district and shall consult with a higher\n\neducation faculty. A majority of the members of the professional\n\ndevelopment committee shall be composed of classroom teachers. The\n\nteacher members shall be selected by a designated administrator of\n\nthe school district from a list of names submitted by the teachers\n\nin the school district. The members selected shall be subject to\n\nthe approval of a majority vote of the teachers in the district.\n\nC. In developing program recommendations, each professional\n\ndevelopment committee shall annually utilize a data-driven approach\n\nto analyze student data and determine district and school\n\nprofessional development needs. The professional development\n\nprograms adopted shall be directed toward development of\n\ncompetencies and instructional strategies in the core curriculum\n\nareas for the following goals:\n\n1. Increasing the academic performance data scores for the\n\ndistrict and each school site;\n\n2. Closing achievement gaps among student subgroups;\n\n3. Increasing student achievement as demonstrated on state-\n\nmandated tests and the ACT;\n\n4. Increasing high school graduation rates; and\n\n5. Decreasing college remediation rates.\n\nEach program may also include components on classroom management\n\nand student discipline strategies, outreach to parents, guardians,\n\nor custodians of students, special education, and racial and ethnic\n\neducation, which all personnel defined as teachers in Section 1-116\n\nof this title shall be required to complete at a frequency as\n\ndetermined by the board of education. The State Board of Education\n\nshall provide guidelines to assist school districts in developing\n\nand implementing racial and ethnic education components into\n\nprofessional development programs.\n\nD. A program which includes the following information shall be\n\ncompleted the first year a certified teacher is employed by a school\n\ndistrict, and then once every fifth academic year:\n\n1. Training on recognition of child abuse and neglect;\n\n2. Recognition of child sexual abuse;\n\n3. Proper reporting of suspected abuse including the reporting\n\nrequirements of Section 1-2-101 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma\n\nStatutes and Section 1210.163 of this title and associated penalties\n\nfor failure to report; and\n\n4. Available resources.\n\nE. One time per year, beginning in the 2009-2010 school year,\n\ntraining in the area of autism shall be offered and all resident\n\nteachers of students in early childhood programs through grade three\n\nshall be required to complete the autism training during the\n\nresident year and at least one time every three (3) years\n\nthereafter. All other teachers and education support professionals\n\nof students in early childhood programs through grade three shall be\n\nrequired to complete the autism training at least one time every\n\nthree (3) years. The autism training shall include a minimum\n\nawareness of the characteristics of autistic children, resources\n\navailable and an introduction to positive behavior supports to\n\nchallenging behavior. Each adopted program shall allow school\n\ncounselors to receive at least one-third (1/3) of the hours or\n\ncredit required each year through programs or courses specifically\n\ndesigned for school counselors.\n\nDistricts are authorized to utilize any means for professional\n\ndevelopment that is not prohibited by law including, but not limited\n\ning behavior. Each adopted program shall allow school\n\ncounselors to receive at least one-third (1/3) of the hours or\n\ncredit required each year through programs or courses specifically\n\ndesigned for school counselors.\n\nDistricts are authorized to utilize any means for professional\n\ndevelopment that is not prohibited by law including, but not limited\n\nto, professional development provided by the district, any state\n\nagency, institution of higher education, or any private entity.\n\nF. One time per year, beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, a\n\ndyslexia awareness program shall be offered. Beginning in the 2023-\n\n2024 school year, the program shall include information and training\n\nin dysgraphia. At a minimum, the program shall include:\n\n1. Training in awareness of dyslexia characteristics in\n\nstudents;\n\n2. Training in effective classroom instruction to meet the\n\nneeds of students with dyslexia; and\n\n3. Available dyslexia resources for teachers, students and\n\nparents.\n\nG. Except as otherwise provided for in this subsection, each\n\ncertified teacher in this state shall be required by the district\n\nboard of education to meet the professional development requirements\n\nestablished by the board, or established through the negotiation\n\nprocess. Except as otherwise provided for in this subsection, the\n\nprofessional development requirements established by each board of\n\neducation shall require every teacher to annually complete a minimum\n\nnumber of the total number of points required to maintain\n\nemployment; provided, no more than a total of one hundred fifty\n\n(150) hours of local, state, or federal professional development or\n\ntraining shall be required for classroom teachers during any five-\n\nyear period. Failure of any teacher to meet district board of\n\neducation professional development requirements may be grounds for\n\nnonrenewal of such teacher’s contract by the board. Such failure\n\nmay also be grounds for nonconsideration of salary increments\n\naffecting the teacher. Teachers shall maintain written\n\ndocumentation of all their completed professional development.\n\nH. Each district shall annually submit a report to the State\n\nDepartment of Education on the district level professional\n\ndevelopment needs, activities completed, expenditures, and results\n\nachieved for each school year by each goal as provided in subsection\n\nC of this section. If a school district elects not to adopt and\n\noffer a professional development program as provided for in\n\nsubsection A of this section, the district shall not be required to\n\nsubmit an annual report as required pursuant to this subsection but\n\nshall report to the State Department of Education its election not\n\nto offer a program and all professional development activities\n\ncompleted by teachers and administrators of the school district.\n\nI. Subject to the availability of funds, the Department shall\n\ndevelop an online system for reporting as required in subsection H\n\nof this section. The Department shall also make such information\n\navailable on its website.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"5eb3afe6b763de1d0232cf90896446ccb482630f55613374f5fabb6bde4669f8","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-194a","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-194v2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}