No More Bad Professional Development

In many school districts, professional development (PD) workshops and trainings are offered with the goal of improving student achievement (Whitehead, Jensen, & Boschee, 2013). Many teachers have participated in these PD workshops and training with the hopes of learning valuable information that they can take back and use within their classrooms.  Typically, during these workshops, teachers gather in a room for one to three hours and listen to a lecture about an isolated concept or topic. Oftentimes, they leave wondering if it was worth participating in as they have not gained any valuable knowledge or skills related to improving their practice.  

Professional development, in which teachers are not connected or leave feeling as if it was a waste of their time, is ineffective in improving instruction and student achievement.  According to Whitehead, Jensen, and Boschee (2013), professional development should be evaluated and measured to determine the effectiveness of teaching practices.  The evaluation of PD is the most valuable part of continuous improvement in supporting teachers and learners.  Teachers who participate in high- quality, well designed, and though-out professional development opportunities are more apt to implement the practices within their classrooms. Therefore, those in a leadership position must know how to conduct the evaluation of PD as well as the evaluation of instructional strategies (2013).

So, how do you recognize great PD opportunities?  First, they are relevant to teachers and focus on the learning theory instead of presenting abstract ideas about how to teach content to students.  They also provide the most recent research based teaching strategies and methods. Effective PD takes place in a collaborative setting where teachers share with one another.  Teachers need a collaborative culture in which engage in collective inquiry and the continuous improvement process. In addition, PD opportunities should be structured in a way that it presents strategies that changes teacher behaviors and routines.  It is hard to change a teacher’s content knowledge (Desimone & Garet, 2015). However, it is much easier to change behaviors and routines.  Furthermore, Professional development is much more effective when it is clear, powerful, and focused. This type of PD can lead to higher quality teaching which results in higher student achievement. Lastly, professional development opportunities should never be a one-time opportunity. It is an ongoing and continuous self-improvement opportunity for teachers.   The success of professional development can be measured by the teacher's ability to comprehend the school's mission and plan for improving teaching and learning (2013).  It is only by supporting teachers through PD opportunities that their practice can improve thus they can improve student achievement. 

The following is a short video about professional development possibilities. 

References

Desimone, L., & Garet, M. (2015). Best practices in teachers's professional development in the united states. Psychology, Society, & Education, 7(3).

Whitehead, B., Jensen, D., & Boschee, F. (2013). Planning for Technology: A Guide for School Administrators, Technology Coordinators, and Curriculum Leaders. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.