Professional Development Plan

Each student is expected to complete a professional development plan during practicum.  Students will be introduced to this assignment in practicum seminar and will work with the seminar leader, supervisor, and cooperating professional to complete it.

This assignment is intended to be integrally tied to the student’s experience in the practicum setting and to the clinical supervision process. The role of the university supervisor in this assignment is to guide the student through the process of completing and implementing the professional development plan.  The student is responsible for informing their cooperating professional about this assignment and enlisting assistance as needed.

The student is expected to implement and collect data on the professional development plan. The seminar leader will act as a resource and support the student throughout the process; the seminar leader also will document the completion of the assignment.

The student is expected to give a copy of the professional development plan to their advisors when it is written and after it is completed.  The completed professional development plan should include progress updates and dates of completion.

The purpose of the professional development plan is for the student to identify skill areas/competencies to develop or improve. These areas should reflect observable and measurable skills that can be practiced at the practicum site. These skill areas/competencies should be based on items found in the performance/contract checklist or the competency rating scale. The overall goal of this assignment is to give the student an opportunity to self-assess, plan, implement, and document growth in these areas.

Together with the university supervisor and cooperating professional, the student should highlight two broad goal areas that can be applied in the practicum site and/or in university courses (e.g., Improve communication skills with team members; Increase skills to facilitate interactions with children).

The student should develop at least four objectives for each goal. Each objective should be observable, measurable, positively stated, and achievable.  With the assistance of the university supervisor, the student will describe their current level of performance (i.e., how well they perform this skill now).  The student can ask the university supervisor or cooperating professional to collect baseline data.

The student should specify the strategies and activities that will be used to meet the objectives, the materials and resources needed, criteria for evaluating mastery, and data collection methods.  The student should regularly monitor and evaluate progress, with support from the university supervisor and cooperating professional.  The schedule for evaluating progress will vary based on the specific objective.

The seminar leader also is available to assist with the professional development plan. Due dates are outlined in the practicum seminar syllabus.  The student may turn in a draft of the document to the seminar leader for feedback prior to the due date. At the end of the semester, the seminar leader will schedule an individual conference with each student to review progress on the professional development plan.