Safe Schools Training
Madison Public Schools has recently chosen Safe Schools as the district’s platform to provide and track mandatory state trainings and provide essential district trainings. As district administrators have provided in-person staff trainings for key legislation and researched teaching techniques, the importance of these topics prompted the district to research online trainings as well. Important aspects of the online training tool was the amount of expert training modules; self-paced web-based access; and the ability to quiz participants on content. An additional bonus of adding specific district training modules also allowed new teachers to access prior professional development.
In addition to reviewing the product, the Professional Development Educator Committee (PDEC) reviewed CT State legislation and created a district guide that defines:
- the legislation
- it’s substance/content
- the people in district required to participate in the training
- the length of the training
- mandatory and additional resources that apply to the legislation
- recommended timelines for completion
- person’s responsible for the oversight of each training.
A Safe-Schools account has been set up for each staff member. Upon first logging into the site, staff will see their individual training plan. The training plan will have specific due dates. The trainings can be paused and done in manageable segments. Each course comes with a quiz at the end and participants are required to score 80% or better. As staff view and complete the courses assigned to them, they will receive a completion certificate. SafeSchools generates monthly emails to users, reminding them of the courses they have not yet completed and their due dates. Building and district administrators can quickly assign courses to groups of people if a need is identified at any time.
SafeSchools provides an affordable approach to training staff on critically important safety topics and teaching techniques on an ongoing basis. It is most often used to enhance the ongoing professional development in the district.