The Ministry of Education (MoE) and AMIDEAST are jointly implementing the Leadership and Teacher Development (LTD) Program with generous support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The (LTD) Program effectively started in the fall of 2012 and will continue until the spring of 2016. (LTD) is a comprehensive education reform initiative focused on improving the quality of school education through an evidence-based approach to leadership and teacher development.  Underpinning this goal are four main objectives:

• Enhance policies, structures and systems within the MoE to support leadership and teacher development;
• Improve the capacity of school principals, supervisors and teachers to work together to improve classroom instruction;
• Establish a national cadre of teacher and leadership educators that meet MoE standards for instruction and supervision;
• Improve pre-service teacher education in Gaza.

The underlying LTD approach is to concentrate resources and professional development among a core group of supervisors from 16 districts, as well as teachers and principals from 300 public schools in the West Bank.  The aim is to develop a school-based community of educators who share a common understanding of good teaching practice gained from a range of in-service professional development experiences.  These communities of practice will work toward common goals of improved leadership, supervision and instruction.  Collectively, this group of educators within LTD schools will then be equipped to implement changes to improve student learning, particularly as they relate to the classroom environment.  LTD schools are intended to become magnet institutions for follow-on pre-service student practicum experiences, as well as other kinds of school-based management reforms that influence the education system.  This broad agenda is reflected in the activities and program components which will be implemented by relevant departments within the MoE. 

The National Institute for Education and Training (NIET) will expand its provision of in-service professional development to thousands of Palestinian educators.  In the context of LTD, this will include providing a Professional Leadership Diploma for up to 300 LTD school principals.  The Leadership Diploma Program will be delivered in conjunction with the Department of Field Follow-up, and will primarily focus on instructional leadership to ensure all school activities are oriented around improving student learning and academic growth.  The Leadership Development Program will consist of 320 hours in the following activities: practicum, action research project, face-to-face training, reflective learning circles, virtual learning, and a school leadership project. 

NIET will also take the lead in providing teacher certification through a year-long in-service teacher professional development program resulting in a Professional Diploma in Education.  The goal is to certify approximately 2,500 teachers from grades 5-10 in five disciplines:  Arabic, science, math, English and technology education.  A key dimension of LTD will be to build the capacity of NIET to undertake this task by establishing a national cadre of teacher educators.  These teacher educators will include university faculty and content-area experts, as well as MoE district and school-based staff. AMIDEAST's partner, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass), will provide professional development opportunities for teacher educators to focus on learner-centered pedagogies through reflective learning circles, action research and portfolio assessment.

The Professional Diploma in Education expects teachers to be active learners engaged in the concrete tasks of teaching, assessment, observation, and reflection.  The content and pedagogy of the diploma will be connected to actual classroom experiences and daily activities of teachers.  Delivery will primarily be school-based and will take place during the school day. The diploma will be comprised of  approximately 325 hours of monthly face-to-face instruction, bi-monthly learning circles, homework assignments, action research, and the development of teaching portfolios.  The program will involve both formative and summative assessment for completion. The resulting diploma will be issued by NIET and will certify teachers for continued employment. 

Leadership and teacher development will be complemented by improved supervision.  Consequently, the Department of Supervision and Qualifications will launch an in-service training program for existing supervisors in order to improve teacher supervision through an emphasis on improving instruction, increasing teacher satisfaction, use of authentic assessment, and the establishment of learning communities. Professional development for supervisors is intended to encourage greater involvement, cooperation and collective action between supervisors and teachers regarding classroom instruction.  

The supervision program will develop supervisors’ competencies in the following areas:

• Use of ICT in learning and teaching
• Development of student portfolios for assessing learning
• Provision of materials, resources, and assistance to support teaching and learning
• Formative teacher evaluation methods and approaches
• Leadership, coaching and mentoring strategies

An important MoE objective within LTD is to develop the leadership capacity among Palestinian schools and districts through the creation of a sustainable school improvement network. Successful models of school improvement are anchored in a collective approach to school-based management reform and distributive leadership that engage the community in shared problem solving and decision making.  LTD will depend upon a collaborative and supportive district structure to achieve these aims.  District Leadership Teams (DLTs) will work in tandem with School Improvement Teams (SITs) to further a systemic approach to school improvement.  The objectives of the DLTs include reviewing and supporting the school self-assessment and school improvement plans developed within the SITs. DLTs will coordinate all training related activities with the relevant MoE departments and will help reframe school priorities to emphasize improved classroom instruction and community partnerships. 

A further component of LTD involves a series of interventions in Gaza that measurably improve the quality of pre-service teacher training.  Support will be provided to university faculty development through research grants, portfolio assessment and action research targeting the improved delivery of pre-service teacher education. AMIDEAST plans to introduce a local scholarship program for undergraduate and graduate level education students interested in pursuing careers in teaching. 

Three important crosscutting dimensions of LTD require an active coalition of MoE departments: policy development, establishment of a teacher performance assessment framework, and the integration of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan for the LTD Program.

Policy development will take place within the MoE as an ongoing process linked to the implementation of various LTD program components.  New or revised policies will be recommended to the MoE through the LTD Steering Committee.  In this way, policy development will be commensurate with proposed changes in the roles and responsibilities of Palestinian educators, as well as the structures and protocols of MoE departments. 

Establishment of a teacher performance assessment framework will feature a new emphasis on teacher accountability. LTD will build upon existing MoE efforts, particularly the integration of teacher standards developed by the Commission for the Development of the Teaching Profession. The framework will also be based on well-defined competencies for classroom teachers. Existing summative assessments of teacher performance will be complemented with formative assessment tools which emphasize assessment for learning as an essential element of professional development. 

Finally, the monitoring and evaluation plan for all aspects of the LTD Program will be directed at measuring progress and outcomes. This will require conducting a baseline assessment of each major program component using both qualitative and quantitative methods.  Demonstrating change over time, such as in the area of teaching practice as it is linked to LTD interventions, will provide important data for establishing new procedures across MoE departments.  Data derived from the LTD monitoring and evaluation plan will allow evidence-based decision making to inform and improve implementation of education reform.