Virginia Ed Strategies was awarded a FY2020 Education Innovation and Research (EIR) early-phase grant from the US Department of Education to develop the Professional Learning by Choice Community (CHOICE). This 5-year, $10.8M research and development project seeks to build the sustainable teacher effectiveness capacity of  over 1000 PreK-12 secondary science, mathematics, computer science, and career and technical (CTE) teachers across the Commonwealth of Virginia. CHOICE facilitates teacher-directed selection of professional learning experiences within a virtual professional learning community (PLC) comprised of multiple Communities of Practice (CoP).

As one of the first deliverables, the project team developed a self-assessment tool that allows teachers participating in the project to self-reflect on their own professional learning needs relative to their specific context and aligned with Virginia's Uniform Performance Standards for Teachers. After completing the self-assessment, teachers are equipped with a scoring guide that indicates areas of strength and areas of growth. This, in turn, provides agency for individual teachers to select training experiences that align with their personal and professional learning needs. During the pilot year, the project team developed and implemented a custom online professional learning dashboard,  known as the CHOICE Dashboard. Teachers access the CHOICE Dashboard via the CHOICE Portal. The Portal houses the overall CHOICE PLC as well as the individual CoPs, and includes the CHOICE Professional Learning (PL) Menu, a menu of high-quality training opportunities offered by both state and national providers. The CHOICE PL Menu enables participating teachers to self-select the professional learning experiences that meet their own individual needs within the local context of their schools and communities. The professional learning selected by teachers will be paid for by grant funds and can count toward relicensure. Teachers receive up to $2000 annually to use towards the PL they choose and this funding can be applied to all PL-related costs (e.g. meals, lodging, or mileage) in addition to registration fees. 

Throughout their participation in CHOICE teachers are able to collaborate with peers within their CoP as well as with peers in the larger professional learning community. They have the opportunity to connect via discussion boards and Padlets, through newsletters, and during virtual meetings. These connections may be organic or facilitated through the support of CoP Facilitators and Content Specialists.