The following are requirements for each focus area of the Professional Learning Grant program.

Foundational Literacy/Science of Reading

Professional development services must include one or more of the following areas:

• Foundational skills instruction and support
• Access to foundational skills for all learners (SWD, EL, etc.)
• High-quality intervention practices aligned to core instruction
• Using assessment data (e.g., screener) to drive instruction
• Building leadership capacity to support implementation of HQIM

Professional development services must, at a minimum:

• Align to the science of reading and support Arkansas’s vision for literacy
• Be grounded in one or more HQIM from Arkansas’s approved list
• Include classroom observation and data collection
• Include continuous, job-embedded, on-site support

Strengthening Instructional Quality

Professional development services must include one or more of the following areas:

• PLCs focused on collaborative planning (unit and lesson preparation practices & student work analysis)
• High-quality intervention practices aligned to core instruction
• Building leadership capacity to support implementation of HQIM
• Increasing acceleration opportunities and student outcomes
• Access to core HQIM for all learners (SWD, EL, etc.)
• Specialized support for quality access (communication, assistive technology, functional skills, executive functions, self-regulation, etc.)

Professional development services must, at a minimum:

• Include classroom observation and data collection using the state’s observation tool
• Include job-embedded, on-site support
• Be aligned to the science of reading (literacy proposals)
• Include a focus on all three aspects of rigor in the curriculum (conceptual, procedural skill & fluency, and application) (math proposals)
• Ensure educators are equipped to deliver instruction that increases access to the full rigor of the grade-level learning within HQIM
• Build educator capacity to leverage information from student specific learning plans (i.e. IEPs, 504 plans, LEP plans, etc.) to strategically plan for and deliver accommodations and supports that increase access to grade-level learning

Strengthening Career Pathways

Professional development services must include one or more of the following areas:

• Establishing high-wage high-growth pathways in a district
• Training for school counselors and staff regarding career pathways and acceleration
• Analysis of district pathways
• Facilitating building coalition between employers, higher education, and workforce in local communities

Professional development services must, at a minimum:

• Align with career readiness standards and Arkansas’s vision for career pathways
• Be grounded in evidence-based practices

Multi-tiered Systems of Support for Behavioral and Mental Health Services

Professional development services must include one or more of the following areas:

• Training for school staff of MTSS
• Training for school staff on behavioral systems and interventions
• Training for school staff on mental health supports
• Development of support systems for students
• Youth Mental Health Assessment training
• Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams

Professional development services must, at a minimum:

• Be based in evidenced-based practices for behavioral and mental health
• Include strategies for effective interventions and support