West Virginia Code Chapter 18. Education § 18-2I-1. Professional development coordination and delivery; system goals

(1) The instructional leadership skills of principals are developed to ensure that each school is led by a principal who is knowledgeable of continuous improvement processes and capable of leading effective improvement efforts. The principal also must understand the value of fair and accurate personnel performance evaluations as an effective, continuous improvement effort to drive professional learning at the school level;

(2) Professional development is among the array of supports and processes necessary under a performance-based accreditation system to build the capacity of schools to impact student performance and well-being by increasing staff individual and collective skills, competencies, and abilities. It should be based on a thorough analysis of accountability data and strategic planning for continuous improvement that addresses those areas that must be a priority for individual school support, including an analysis of personnel evaluation data in order to target individualized professional learning at the school level;

(3) The school is the unit of change. Local and state resources, policies, and procedures must focus on assisting the improvement of each West Virginia school and on differentiating supports according to need and level of performance, including the implementation of school-based professional development programs that address the unique needs of staff and students; and

(4) Professional development should be delivered using techniques, school schedules or time in a manner that does not diminish student learning by the absence of their classroom teacher.