Plan & Implement Staff Development Activities That Reflect the Characteristics of Effective Professional Development

Key Concepts

  1. Professional development should take place within the context of schools.

    Professional development should be seen as an extension of a district’s or school’s overall school improvement plan.  Activities should be assessment-driven and clearly linked to student learning targets rather than chosen at random.

  2. Professional development reform models characterized by on-the-job training, extensive follow-up, increased time and longer duration should be utilized.

    Research indicates traditional models of professional development such as brief, one-session workshops, training, and single conference sessions appear to have little impact on teacher behavior.  Therefore, professional development beyond quick, one-time presentations should be planned and implemented.

  3. Utilize group formats for teacher professional development.

    Professional development is best conducted with groups of teachers from the same school, grade, or department rather than by drawing together individuals from different schools.  Among benefits for teachers working collaboratively are increased opportunities to talk over learned knowledge, concepts and skills as well as collaboratively confronting problems that arise during implementation within their unique context.

  4. Select and use professional development models exposing teachers to content that helps them deepen their subject-area knowledge and specific pedagogical practices.

    Professional development appears to be most successful when it focuses on specific rather than generic or all-purpose content.  Research also points to the benefit of using professional development activities that incorporate active learning, including such activities as discussion about content, hands-on practice opportunities, and discussion of possible implementation issues.

  5. Develop professional development plans around a system and organizational structures that can support it.

    Strong, engaged, and supportive leadership personnel play an instrumental role in building a professional development program that embeds the characteristics of evidence-based, professional development practices.  It is through this type of professional learning that teacher effectiveness will increase and improved outcomes for all students will be achieved.

Professional Development Presentation

Click to play presentation.

Once you have identified your staff needs, this presentation will assist you with planning professional development activities that will have the greatest impact on instruction, and thereby student learning. Reform models of professional development focus on purposeful planning and continuity among staff. The importance of school leadership and in-classroom follow-up are discussed as key characteristics of effective professional development.

Apply the Concepts

Practice Activities

These practice activities are designed for group or individual study.
1. Audit of Professional Development Activities
View the presentation on Characteristics of Effective Professional Development. Then, using the attached worksheet, conduct an audit of professional development activities your district or school has conducted over the past year. What are the overall strengths and areas that could be improved in relation to your district and/or school’s professional development plan? Do a majority of your activities incorporate research-based principles of professional development? Do you need to examine ways to incorporate these principles?

Resources

These resources provide a more in-depth look at the topic.
1. Teaching Teachers: Professional Development to Improve Student Achievement Description of Resource
This informative reading is a summary of research on the links between teaching learning and student achievement and methods of professional development have the most impact on student learning. The information comes from Research Points, a publication by the American Educational Research Association.
2. Reviewing the Evidence on How Teacher Professional Development Affects Student Achievement
This research report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest. Of the more than 1,300 studies identified as potentially addressing the effect of teacher professional development on student achievement in three key content areas, nine meet What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards. This report finds that teachers who receive substantial professional development—an average of 49 hours in the nine studies— can boost their students’ achievement by about 21 percentile points.

Links

These links provide access to outside resources on this topic.
1. Learning Forward/National Staff Development Council
This is a link to Learning Forward, formerly known as the National Staff Development Council. Learning Forward is the largest, non-profit, professional association committed to ensuring success for all students through staff development and school improvement. The website provides information about standards for professional development, research around professional development, and resources for learning how to conduct effective professional development.
Learning Forward/National Staff Development Council