Topical Teaching

I am so tired of going to long and diabolically boring PD’s that do nothing to advance my skills and leave me deeply frustrated.  I just read a brilliant article about the ineffectiveness of some professional development and how it misses an important opportunity.

The way we provide professional learning experiences and support our nation’s teachers is a running source of debate and, unfortunately, disappointment. Policymakers grumble at the costs. Teachers complain they don’t get what they need while parents and the public wait for our schools to get it right for our students.

…  Another federally funded report found that even after two years of targeting more than 100 7th grade math teachers in 12 districts with professional development, there was no measurable impact on teacher knowledge or student achievement. Even the researchers sounded a bit surprised, noting that the programs did everything the existing research says is effective.

Though I’m not familiar with the specifics of these professional development approaches, I’m not too surprised that they didn’t lead to improved student achievement. It is far too easy for professional development to miss the mark – even if it follows the research.

As the former director of professional development in New York City schools and someone who has devoted most of my professional life to leading teacher professional development, I can tell you that what teachers need to improve their craft is rarely what they receive from professional development.

This is not a slam on professional development per se, though teachers typically do not have enough input in determining what professional development they need, who delivers it and when they get it. And the stakes are about to get higher as states phase in higher common core standards that will ask more of teachers and students.

Much of the professional development teachers are required to attend is attached to textbook adoptions, mandates, or scripted programs that promise results that are rarely delivered.

To read the full article, please follow this link.

Tags: Career, Development, Education, PD's, Professional Development, Teacher, Training

This entry was posted on July 2, 2011 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Teacher Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.