What Makes for Effective Professional Development?

In this Teachers United report on teacher preparation, support, and retention, Sarah Margeson, Chris Eide, and Alison Fox list the criteria for effective professional development:

• It is designed to improve teacher effectiveness as measured by improved student outcomes.
• It is tied to schoolwide reform efforts, a clearly communicated vision for student learning, and student-achievement goals.
• It includes structured planning and practice so teachers can immediately implement new practices in their classrooms.
• It’s job-embedded – that is, designed around a specific context, staff composition, and instructional needs and gives time for teachers to collaborate with a coach or other teachers to plan for classroom implementation.
• It is differentiated based on teachers’ previous experiences, demonstrated areas for growth, student age-group, and content area.
• It involves teachers in planning content and methods and builds in opportunities to give feedback on the quality of PD.
• The leader/facilitator is knowledgeable, engaging, and responsive to feedback.
• It includes active participation by teachers and collaboration within teacher teams.

“Intentionality: Strategic Preparation and Development to Retain Our Most Effective Teachers” by Sarah Margeson, Chris Eide, and Alison Fox, Teachers United, Fall 2014,

http://bit.ly/1s64l0f

From the Marshall Memo #559