Great Journal Article analyzing PD

Best Practices in Teachers’ Professional Development in the United States (2015)

• 5 features of effective PD: content focus, active learning, coherence, sustained duration, collective participation
• Insights to improve implementation of PD based on the above features:
• Small, simple changes are easier than large, complicated changes
• PD should be calibrated to individual teacher needs
• PD is more successful when it is explicitly linked to classroom lessons
• Teachers are more likely to use ideas and strategies from PD when they are aligned with leadership priorities
• Challenges
• Coherence of PD over time
• Connecting PD to the classroom
• Measuring effectiveness of PD
• Conclusions
• establishing periodic monitoring and feedback loops is essential (creates a cycle of continuous improvement
• Evaluate PD rigorously to increase understanding of why some PD activities are effective and others aren’t