Utah Personnel Development Center

Our Purpose:

We respond to statewide personnel development needs as identified by the Utah Special Education Consortium for students with disabilities.

Who We Serve:

Special Educators, general educators, paraprofessionals, parents, administrators, related service providers and students with disabilities from all 41 school districts and charter schools in Utah, state operated programs, Utah Parent Center, and institutes of higher education.

How We Serve:

Services are provided through Universal, Targeted, and Intensive professional development. Our services are designed to facilitate positive outcomes for students with disabilities and build local capacity. A critical focus in providing professional development to LEAs is collaboration with other state and local partners.

Core Values:

• We serve districts and agencies in providing a comprehensive system of personnel development that facilitates positive outcomes for students with disabilities.
• We provide support and advocate for educators and other professionals to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
• We identify research-validated information about educational practices that we translate to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
• We are a learning organization that continually strives to evaluate and enhance our practice.
• We value collaboration with other agencies/organizations that supports positive outcomes for students with disabilities.
• We actively support each other and the UPDC through collaboration, teaming and mutual trust.

Our Roles:

• Servant Leader - The servant leader is servant first . . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.  Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead . . . The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant--first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served.  The best test . . . is: do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served become . . . wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? (Greenleaf, 1977, P.13-14)
• Change Agent - A change agent is someone who alters organizational systems to achieve a higher degree of performance in behalf of students. Beginning with the end in mind, the goal of a change agent is to make evidence-based changes that are sustainable.
• Coach - A coach helps alleviate some of the burden of change.They are individuals who encourage the use of,and demonstrate how to implement, evidence-based practices. Effective coaches possess pedagogical knowledge, content expertise, and excellent interpersonal skills. 
• Connector - A connector is one who knows many people and how to access their strengths to make things work for students, schools, and districts. 
• Professional Learner - A professional learner engages in focused, ongoing learning.  Professional learning is the key to successfully managing change and improving the achievement of all students, particularly those who are most at risk.
• Facilitator - A facilitator helps individuals or organizations work together to reach the best possible decisions.  The literal meaning of facilitator is one who makes things easy.