(3) The Kentucky Department of Education shall provide or facilitate optional, professional development programs for certified personnel throughout the Commonwealth that are based on the statewide needs of teachers, administrators, and other education personnel. Programs may include classified staff and parents when appropriate. Programs offered or facilitated by the department shall be at locations and times convenient to local school personnel and shall be made accessible through the use of technology when appropriate. They shall include programs that: address the goals for Kentucky schools as stated in KRS 158.6451, including reducing the achievement gaps as determined by an equity analysis of the disaggregated student performance data from the state assessment program developed under KRS 158.6453; engage educators in effective learning processes and foster collegiality and collaboration; and provide support for staff to incorporate newly acquired skills into their work through practicing the skills, gathering information about the results, and reflecting on their efforts. Professional development programs shall be made available to teachers based on their needs which shall include but not be limited to the following areas:

• (a) Strategies to reduce the achievement gaps among various groups of students and to provide continuous progress;
• (b) Curriculum content and methods of instruction for each content area, including differentiated instruction;
• (c) School-based decision making;
• (d) Assessment literacy;
• (e) Integration of performance-based student assessment into daily classroom instruction;
• (f) Nongraded primary programs;
• (g) Research-based instructional practices;
• (h) Instructional uses of technology;
• (i) Curriculum design to serve the needs of students with diverse learning styles and skills and of students of diverse cultures;
• (j) Instruction in reading, including phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary;
• (k) Educational leadership; and
• (l) Strategies to incorporate character education throughout the curriculum.