CT SB00953

Requires all certified employees to participate in a minimum of 18 hours of annual professional development through local and regional boards of education, with most instruction conducted in small groups or individual settings.

Professional development must focus on improving teaching effectiveness, refining instructional methods, fostering collective responsibility for student performance, and maintaining a repository of best practices developed by school educators.

Streamlines in-service training requirements for teachers, administrators, and pupil personnel to focus on eight core topics: drugs and alcohol awareness, health and mental health risk reduction, school violence prevention and bullying, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mandated reporter obligations, and dyslexia detection and intervention.

Removes previous in-service training mandates on computer technology, reading readiness for primary grades, bilingual education, and teacher evaluation programs, shifting some flexibility to local boards.

Establishes that the State Board of Education shall make available optional professional development resources on topics including Holocaust education, cultural history, personal financial management, mental health first aid, and trauma-informed practices for local boards to incorporate as desired.