This paper discusses best practices in teachers’ professional development (PD) in the United States (U.S.). We begin by presenting a conceptual framework for effective professional development, which ...suggests five key features that make professional development effective—content focus, active learning, coherence, sustained duration, and collective participation. We then describe the findings from recent U.S. research that has tested the five features, with an emphasis on the results of rigorous randomized control trials. We discuss several insights gained from this work and that have helped refine the framework. They are that (a) changing procedural classroom behavior is easier than improving content knowledge or inquiry-oriented instruction techniques; (b) teachers vary in response to the same PD; (c) PD is more successful when it is explicitly linked to classroom lessons; (d) PD research and implementation must allow for urban contexts (e.g., student and teacher mobility); and (e) leadership plays a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers to implement in the classroom the ideas and strategies they learned in the PD. We then examine three major trends in how professional development for teachers is evolving in the U.S.—a move away from short workshops, linking teacher PD to evaluations, and the use of video technology to improve and monitor the effects of PD. Finally, we discuss the challenges faced by districts and schools in implementing effective professional development.
Teachers face multifaceted challenges regarding access to quality professional development. Although technology is increasingly utilized to address this concern, access alone does not ensure ...effective OTPD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the design and implementation of a job-embedded OTPD experience. Supported by adult learning theory and social constructivism, this qualitative multi-case study utilized within-case and cross-case analysis to examine results. These findings, presented through teachers’ voices, included explicit and empirical evidence of six OTPD design and implementation features that address multiple gaps in the extant literature and contribute to an OTPD framework.
•Teachers face challenges regarding access to quality professional development.•This study examined secondary teachers' perceptions of an OTPD experience.•OTPD is supported by adult learning theory and social constructivism.•This qualitative multi-case study utilized within-case and cross-case analysis.•Results included empirical evidence of six OTPD design and implementation features.
Teachers’ professional development (PD) is crucial to improving student outcomes. Because PD involves a multidimensional structure and changes across a teacher’s professional life, defining PD is ...complicated, and existing studies fail to meaningfully define it. To offer a working framework for optimal PD, we reviewed existing articles on the subject in four key journals in teacher education. We found that effective PD is attentive to assessment, research scale, duration, comprehensiveness, dissemination, context, support and control, and collaboration. We situate this conceptual framework as a new take on pre-existing definitions of PD that advises how to more effectively apply PD.
•Reviewed literature on teacher’s PD to uncover best practices.•Found that teachers’ PD extends from teacher’s college to retirement.•PD is affected by teachers’ traits, materials, and pedagogies.•Effective PD is attentive to reforms, context, curriculum, and collaboration.•The components of the PD process are interrelated and interdependent.
This open access book presents a comparative study on how large-scale professional development programs for teachers are designed and implemented. Around the world, governments and educators are ...recognizing the need to educate students in a broad range of higher order cognitive skills and socio-emotional competencies, and providing effective opportunities for teachers to develop the expertise needed to teach these skills is a crucial aspect of effective implementation of curricula which include those goals. This study examines how large-scale efforts to empower teachers for deeper instruction have been designed, how they have been implemented, and their outcomes. To do so, it investigates six programs from England, Colombia, Mexico, India, and the United States. Though all six are intended to broaden and deepen students’ curricular aspirations, each takes this expansion of curricular goals in a different direction. The ambitious education reforms studied here explicitly focus on building teachers’ capacity to teach on a broader set of goals. Through a discerning analysis of program documents, evaluations, and interviews with senior leaders and participants in the programs, the book identifies the various theories of action used in these programs, examines how they were implemented, and discusses what they achieved. As such, it offers an indispensable resource for education leaders interested in designing and implementing professional development programs for teachers that are aligned with ambitious instructional goals.
This open access book presents a comparative study on how large-scale professional development programs for teachers are designed and implemented. Around the world, governments and educators are ...recognizing the need to educate students in a broad range of higher order cognitive skills and socio-emotional competencies, and providing effective opportunities for teachers to develop the expertise needed to teach these skills is a crucial aspect of effective implementation of curricula which include those goals. This study examines how large-scale efforts to empower teachers for deeper instruction have been designed, how they have been implemented, and their outcomes. To do so, it investigates six programs from England, Colombia, Mexico, India, and the United States. Though all six are intended to broaden and deepen students’ curricular aspirations, each takes this expansion of curricular goals in a different direction. The ambitious education reforms studied here explicitly focus on building teachers’ capacity to teach on a broader set of goals. Through a discerning analysis of program documents, evaluations, and interviews with senior leaders and participants in the programs, the book identifies the various theories of action used in these programs, examines how they were implemented, and discusses what they achieved. As such, it offers an indispensable resource for education leaders interested in designing and implementing professional development programs for teachers that are aligned with ambitious instructional goals.
Professional Development The COVID19 pandemic introduced a business environment that was unstable, reactive, and filled with crisis management. Employees were suddenly thrust into isolation, cut off ...from their managers, colleagues, family, and other established support systems. Managers struggled to stay in touch with their teams, trying to manage remotely, redefine processes, and ensure business continuity in the face of unprecedented challenges. As we enter the endemic phase of COVID19, we see increasing business and social stability and have begun rebuilding relationships, refreshing strategies, establishing new goals, developing new ways of working, and defining a new normal. Managers should reposition as well, moving from reactive management to intentional management, taking purposeful, deliberate actions to meet newly structured business goals and to enhance employee experience in a flexible working model. These actions may include: * Redefining job roles and modifying expectations for on-site presence * Transferring power to employees and increasing autonomy * Learning new communication styles and developing reflective listening skills that translate effectively in a virtual exchange * Building connectivity among team members who may have never met their manager or colleagues in person * Engaging in creative approaches to employee development outside of the tradition corporate setting Managers should strive to be Facilitative, Aware, Innovative, Receptive (FAIR). * Facilitative-Enable employee autonomy and professional development, help to identify and remove barriers to success, encourage and support learning new skills to address evolving business needs * Aware-Be sensitive to personal biases, stressors, and emotions that may impact interactions with others, be approachable and available, withhold judgement and listen carefully, be authentic and transparent * Innovative-Create opportunities and encourage creativity in others, seek imaginative solutions for emerging challenges * Receptive-Maintain an open mind to the ideas of others, receive feedback with gratitude and embrace opportunities for change, be approachable, have a virtual open door Managers should lead with intention and mindfulness in a differently structured business environment, using the FAIR management model to reframe the employee experience and equip employees to independently and successfully achieve professional goals.
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