professional learning in the learning profession...linda darling-hammond, ruth chung wei, alethea...

Professional Learning inthe Learning Profession:A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad

NATIONAL

STAFF

DEVELOPMENT

COUNCIL

LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, RUTH CHUNG WEI,

ALETHEA ANDREE, NIKOLE RICHARDSON,

AND STELIOS ORPHANOS

School Redesign Network at Stanford University

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING IN THE LEARNING PROFESSION:A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad

Linda Darling-Hammond, Ruth Chung Wei, Alethea Andree, Nikole Richardson, and Stelios Orphanos; The School Redesign Network at Stanford University

Published by the National Staff Development Council and The School Redesign Network atStanford University as part of their multi-year study, The Status of Professional

Development in the United States

© February 2009 National Staff Development Council. All rights reserved.

No part of this may be reproduced in any form — except for brief quotation (not to exceed1,000 words) in a review or professional work — without prior written permission from

NSDC or the authors.

TABLE OF CONTENTSFOREWORD: Standards-Based Reform 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

By Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr., former four-term governor of North Carolina; founder, NationalBoard for Professional Teaching Standards; and 10-year chairman, National Commission onTeaching and America’s Future

PREFACE: Creating Effective Professional Learning Systems to Bolster Teaching Quality and Student Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3By Stephanie Hirsh, executive director, National Staff Development Council

Key Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

CHAPTER 1: Effective Teacher Development: What Does the Research Show? . . . .9

CHAPTER 2: Professional Development Abroad: Trends and Strategies . . . . . . . . .15

CHAPTER 3: The Status of Professional Development in the United States . . . . . .19

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Sponsor, Funders and Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

1Professional Learning in the Learning Profession

FOREWORDStandards-Based Reform 2.0BY GOV. JAMES B. HUNT, JR.

Decades of standards-based school reform have helped identify whatstudents need to know and be able to do. In the words of former IBM CEOLouis V. Gerstner, Jr., these efforts were meant to “drive standards [andaccountability] through the schoolhouse door.” But educators and policymakers arerecognizing that it is time for Standards-Based Reform 2.0. We need to place agreater priority on strengthening the capacity of educators and building learningcommunities to deliver higher standards for every child.

2 National Staff Development Council

Enabling educational systems to achieve on a widescale the kind of teaching that has a substantialimpact on student learning requires much moreintensive and effective professional learning thanhas traditionally been available. If we want allyoung people to possess the higher-order thinkingskills they need to succeed in the 21st century, weneed educators who possess higher-order teachingskills and deep content knowledge.

There are many ways to improve the quality andperformance of the nation’s education workforce,and many are being tested. States and districts haverestructured the staffs at thousands of failingschools. They are seeking to lure better talent intoclassrooms by recruiting career changers andliberal-arts graduates with rich content knowledgeand a willingness to teach. They are revamping theirpersonnel departments, launching new teacheracademies, and working to exert greater controlover who will teach and in which schools. But theseefforts, essential as they are, influence only a smallportion of educators. And no matter what states anddistricts do to bolster the education workforce, theywill need to do more and better with the talent theyhave. This will require a more effective andsystematic approach to supporting, developing, andmobilizing the more than three million educatorswho will teach in and lead our schools.

Other fields, from medicine and management tothe military, do a far better job of providingongoing learning opportunities and support fortheir professionals. But as this report shows, ineducation, professional learning in its currentstate is poorly conceived and deeply flawed.Teachers lack time and opportunities to vieweach other’s classrooms, learn from mentors,and work collaboratively. The support andtraining they receive is episodic, myopic, andoften meaningless. Meanwhile, states anddistricts are spending millions of dollars onacademic courses disconnected from the

realities of classrooms, but little on helpingeducators find solutions to the day-to-daychallenges they face. It is time for our educationworkforce to engage in learning the way otherprofessionals do—continually, collaboratively,and on the job—to address common problemsand crucial challenges where they work.

The United States is squandering a significant opportunity to leverage improvements in teacherknowledge to improve school and student perform-ance. Other nations, our competitors, have madesupport for teachers and teacher learning a top priority with significant results. In these countries,students learn and achieve more. Teachers stay inthe field longer and are more satisfied with theirwork. Educators take on even more responsibilityfor improving what happens in their buildings.

This report identifies what research says worksand what states and other nations have done todevelop that skilled workforce. It tells us whatshould happen and can lead us to real-worldbenchmarks against which we will measureprogress. Not least, this study is a major first steptoward developing a comprehensive set ofpolicies and practices that help better organizethe learning of adults in schools to make thehard work of educators more productive.

As studies have shown, the steps we take toimprove teacher skills and knowledge will payoff in better results for students. But I believethat developing more systematic approaches toprofessional learning will have added benefits. I know of no better way to transform theoutmoded factory model of school organizationand the egg-crate isolation of teachers than togive teachers the tools and support they needand greater responsibility over what happens intheir buildings to ensure that all studentsachieve. This is an effort that will require—andis worthy of—another decade of school reform.

No matter what statesand districts do to bolsterthe education workforce,they will need to do moreand better with the talent

they have.

PREFACECreating Effective Professional Learning Systems to Bolster Teaching Quality and Student AchievementBY STEPHANIE HIRSH

For many years Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act hasrequired low-performing schools to set aside ten percent of their allocations forschoolwide professional development. Title II funding has resulted in the allocationof more than three billion dollars to professional development. More than 40 stateshave adopted standards calling for effective professional development for alleducators accountable for results in student learning. And several national studieson what distinguishes high-performing, high-poverty schools from their lower-performing counterparts consistently identify effective schoolwide collaborativeprofessional learning as critical to the school’s success. And yet as a nation we havefailed to leverage this support and these examples to ensure that every educatorand every student benefits from highly effective professional learning.

Improving professional learning for educators is acrucial step in transforming schools and improvingacademic achievement. To meet federalrequirements and public expectations for schooland student performance, the nation needs tobolster teacher skills and knowledge to ensure thatevery teacher is able to teach increasingly diverselearners, knowledgeable about student learning,competent in complex core academic content,and skillful at the craft of teaching.

To accomplish this, schools—with the support ofschool systems and state departments ofeducation—need to make sure that professionallearning is planned and organized to engage allteachers regularly and to benefit all students.This requires high-quality, sustained professionallearning throughout the school year, at everygrade level and in every subject.

In an effective professional learning system,school leaders learn from experts, mentors, andtheir peers about how to become trueinstructional leaders. They work with staffmembers to create the culture, structures, anddispositions for continuous professionallearning and create pressure and support tohelp teachers continuously improve by betterunderstanding students’ learning needs, makingdata-driven decisions regarding content andpedagogy, and assessing students’ learningwithin a framework of high expectations.

Teachers meet on a regular schedule in learningteams organized by grade-level or content-areaassignments and share responsibility for their

students’ success. Learning teams follow a cycle ofcontinuous improvement that begins withexamining student data to determine the areas ofgreatest student need, pinpointing areas whereadditional educator learning is necessary,identifying and creating learning experiences toaddress these adult needs, developing powerfullessons and assessments, applying new strategiesin the classroom, refining new learning into morepowerful lessons and assessments, reflecting onthe impact on student learning, and repeatingthe cycle with new goals.

The system at the school level is supported by stateand federal policies that encourage regularteacher collaboration and professional learningclosely tied with school improvement prioritiesand provides needed resources to give teacherstime and opportunity to make this happen. Manystates, including Kansas, Ohio, and Oregon mostrecently, have adopted standards to demonstrateexpectations that all teachers engage in effectiveprofessional development. These states are amongthe 40 that have adopted or adapted NSDC’sStandards for Staff Development written inconjunction with 17 other professionalassociations. Some states, such as Florida, Georgia,and Kansas have implemented statewideassessment processes to determine the degree towhich teachers experience effective professionaldevelopment and student learning is impacted.Other states, notably Arkansas, Pennsylvania, andNew Jersey, invest in capacity-building strategiesproviding training and resources for principalsand teacher leaders. Ohio enacted sweeping



reforms of its professional development policy.Stand-out high-poverty school systems like LongBeach (Calif.), Hamilton County (Tenn.), andCarmen-Ainsworth (Mich.)have madecollaborative learning a priority to ensure thatevery educator and every student learns every day.

As this report shows, such an approach toprofessional learning has become the norm inmany countries that are our competitors, but isthe exception here. The report reveals thatmuch of the professional development availabletoday focuses on educators’ academic contentknowledge, and pays growing attention tomentoring support, particularly for newteachers. But, overall, the kind of high-intensity,job-embedded collaborative learning that ismost effective is not a common feature ofprofessional development across most states,districts, and schools in the United States.

The purpose of this report is to providepolicymakers, researchers, and school leaderswith a teacher-development research base thatcan lead to powerful professional learning,instructional improvement, and studentlearning. By examining information about thenature of professional developmentopportunities currently available to teachersacross the United States and in a variety ofcontexts, education leaders and policymakerscan begin both to evaluate the needs of thesystems in which teachers learn and do theirwork and to consider how teachers’ learningopportunities can be further supported.

This volume—prepared by Linda Darling-Hammond, Ruth Chung Wei, Alethea Andree,Nikole Richardson, and Stelios Orphanos ofStanford University—summarizes a more in-depthresearch report, the complete version of which canbe found at www.nsdc.org/stateproflearning.cfmand at http://www.srnleads.org. The report is partof a larger study, The Status of ProfessionalDevelopment in the United States, a multi-year researchinitiative. Data and findings drawn from this studywill be used to establish benchmarks for assessingprogress in professional development over time.

Future reports will:

� Address the degree to which educatorsexperience professional development linkedto improved professional practice and studentlearning, along with state-by-state comparisondata, and

� Examine policies and contexts that supportimplementation of more effective professionallearning tied to student learning in states andschool systems.

Taken as a whole, this work will provide the mostcomprehensive picture and far-reaching analysisof professional learning that has ever beenconducted in the United States. The overallresearch effort has been supported by the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation, MetLifeFoundation, NSDC, and the Wallace Foundation.

We would like to thank Vicki Phillips, SandraLicon, and Lynn Olson from the Bill and MelindaGates Foundation; Sybil Jacobson and A. Richard-son Love, Jr., from the MetLife Foundation; andRichard Laine, Jessica Schwartz, and FrederickBrown from the Wallace Foundation for their gen-erous support. We also wish to acknowledgeJoellen Killion, NSDC deputy executive director,for managing the research effort; our advisors—Richard Elmore, Michael Garet, Thomas Guskey,and Kwang Suk Yoon for reviewing and comment-ing on the research report; Shep Ranbom andRafael Heller for their editorial guidance on thisdocument; and the staff at CommunicationWorks,LLC, for leading the communications effort. Wethank the Board of Trustees of the National StaffDevelopment Council for its vision and advocacyfor this study; NSDC’s National Advisors for theirguidance and encouragement through the build-ing stages; and NSDC consultants Hayes Mizelland M. René Islas for their perspectives and sup-port. NSDC has sponsored this initial report tosynthesize what we know as a baseline to measurestate and district performance. We hope that eachreport in the series will answer key questionsabout professional learning that will contribute toimproved outcomes in teaching and learning inthe United States.

Overall, the kind of high-intensity, job-embeddedcollaborative learningthat is most effective is

not a common feature ofprofessional development

across most states,districts, and schools in

the United States.

KEY FINDINGS

This report examines what research has revealed about professional learningthat improves teachers’ practice and student learning. It describes therelative availability of such opportunities in the United States as well as in high-achieving nations around the world, which have been making substantial andsustained investments in professional learning for teachers over the last twodecades. Among the findings:

� Sustained and intensive professionaldevelopment for teachers is related to studentachievement gains. While this insight is hopeful,it derives from a limited pool of rigorous studieson specific kinds of professional development.

� Collaborative approaches to professionallearning can promote school change thatextends beyond individual classrooms. Whenall teachers in a school learn together, allstudents in the school benefit.

� Effective professional development is intensive,ongoing, and connected to practice; focuses onthe teaching and learning of specific academiccontent; is connected to other school initiatives;and builds strong working relationships amongteachers. However, most teachers in the UnitedStates do not have access to professional devel-opment that uniformly meets all these criteria.

� Public schools in the United States have begunto recognize and respond to the need to providesupport for new teachers. Nationally, in 2003-04, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of publicschool teachers with fewer than five years ofexperience reported participating in a teacherinduction program during the first year ofteaching, and 71 percent reported beingassigned some kind of mentor teacher. This is anoticeable increase from a decade earlier, whenonly 56 percent of teachers had experiencedteacher induction in their first year of teaching.

� More than 9 out of 10 U.S. teachers haveparticipated in professional learning consistingprimarily of short-term conferences orworkshops. Fewer teachers participated in otherforms of traditional professional development,including university courses related to teaching(36 percent) and observational visits to otherschools (22 percent). The percentage ofteachers who visited classrooms in other schoolsdropped from 34 percent to 22 percent from2000 to 2004, the most recent year for whichnational data are available.

� While teachers typically need substantialprofessional development in a given area (close to 50 hours) to improve their skills andtheir students’ learning, most professionaldevelopment opportunities in the U.S. aremuch shorter. On the 2003-04 nationalSchools and Staffing Survey (SASS), amajority of teachers (57 percent) said theyhad received no more than 16 hours (two daysor less) of professional development duringthe previous 12 months on the content of thesubject(s) they taught. This was the mostfrequent area in which teachers identifiedhaving had professional developmentopportunities. Fewer than one-quarter ofteachers (23 percent) reported that they hadreceived at least 33 hours (more than 4 days)of professional development on the content ofthe subject(s) they taught.

� Significant variation in both support andopportunity for professional learning existsamong schools and states. A lower percentageof secondary school teachers reportedparticipating in district-planned professionaldevelopment than did elementary schoolteachers. Among states, Arkansas, Connecticut,New Hampshire, and Vermont had significantlyhigher proportions of teachers participating inprofessional learning than the national average.

� U.S. teachers report little professionalcollaboration in designing curriculum andsharing practices, and the collaboration thatoccurs tends to be weak and not focused onstrengthening teaching and learning.

� American teachers say that much of theprofessional development available to them isnot useful. Teachers give relatively high marks tocontent-related learning opportunities, with 6 of10 teachers (59 percent) saying this training wasuseful or very useful. But fewer than half foundthe professional development they received inother areas to be of much value.



� Teachers say that their top priorities for furtherprofessional development are learning moreabout the content they teach (23 percent),classroom management (18 percent), teachingstudents with special needs (15 percent), andusing technology in the classroom (14 percent).

� Teachers are not getting adequate training inteaching special education or limited Englishproficiency students. More than two-thirds ofteachers nationally had not had even one dayof training in supporting the learning ofspecial education or LEP students during theprevious three years, and only one-third agreedthat they had been given the support theyneeded to teach students with special needs.

� U.S. teachers, unlike many of their colleaguesaround the world, bear much of the cost of theirprofessional development. While most teacherswere given some time off during the work day topursue professional learning opportunities,fewer than half received reimbursement fortravel, workshop fees, or college expenses.

� U.S. teachers participate in workshops andshort-term professional development events atsimilar levels as teachers in other nations. Butthe United States is far behind in providingpublic school teachers with opportunities toparticipate in extended learning opportunitiesand productive collaborative communities.Those are the opportunities that allow teachersto work together on issues of instructionalplanning, learn from one another throughmentoring or peer coaching, conduct researchon the outcomes of classroom practices, andcollectively guide curriculum, assessment, andprofessional learning decisions.

� Other nations that outperform the UnitedStates on international assessments investheavily in professional learning and build timefor ongoing, sustained teacher developmentand collaboration into teachers’ work hours.

� American teachers spend much more timeteaching students and have significantly less timeto plan and learn together, and to develop highquality curriculum and instruction than teachersin other nations. U.S. teachers spend about 80percent of their total working time engaged inclassroom instruction, as compared to about 60percent for these other nations’ teachers.

� U.S. teachers have limited influence in crucialareas of school decision-making. In manyhigh-achieving nations where teachercollaboration is the norm, teachers havesubstantial influence on school-baseddecisions, especially in the development ofcurriculum and assessment, and in the designof their own professional learning. In theUnited States, however, fewer than one-fourthof teachers feel they have great influence over school decisions and policies in sevendifferent areas noted in the SASS surveys.While a scant majority of teachers across thenation feel that they have some influence over curriculum and setting performancestandards for students, fewer than halfperceived that they had some influence overthe content of their in-service professionaldevelopment. And very few felt they hadinfluence over school policies and decisionsaffecting either teacher hiring and evaluationor the allocation of the school budget.

INTRODUCTION

Every year, virtually all of the nation’s three million teachers participate insome form of professional learning: These activities can include workshops,study groups, mentoring experiences, opportunities to view other teachers’classrooms, and numerous other formal and informal learning experiences.

Professional learning can have a powerful effecton teacher skills and knowledge and on studentlearning if it is sustained over time, focused onimportant content, and embedded in the work ofprofessional learning communities that supportongoing improvements in teachers’ practice.When well-designed, these opportunities helpteachers master content, hone teaching skills,evaluate their own and their students’performance, and address changes needed inteaching and learning in their schools.

Educators and policymakers increasinglyrecognize the importance of providing high-quality learning opportunities to help transformteaching. As students are expected to learn morecomplex analytical skills in preparation forfurther education and work in the 21st century,teachers must learn to teach in ways that develophigher-order thinking and performance.Ensuring student success requires a new kind ofteaching, conducted by teachers who understandlearning and pedagogy, who can respond to theneeds of their students and the demands of theirdisciplines, and who can develop strongconnections between students’ experiences andthe goals of the curriculum. Efforts to improvestudent achievement can succeed only bybuilding the capacity of teachers to improve theirinstructional practice and the capacity of schoolsystems to promote teacher learning.

The following pages provide a comprehensivesurvey of the existing research on effectiveprofessional learning, followed by snapshots ofthe various ways in which professional learningis being redesigned in the rest of theindustrialized world, strategies that we mightconsider adopting or expanding in this country.

Using nationally representative data from theNational Center for Education Statistics’ 2003-04Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS)—the mostrecent available—the report also examines the

status of opportunities and supports forprofessional development available to teachersnationally and across states. We sought todetermine whether current policies and practicesare aligned with what research shows to beeffective professional development practices. Wealso explored differences in opportunities andsupports for professional development acrossschool contexts (e.g., grade level, location, andstudent subgroup). In addition, we examineddifferences in teachers’ access to professionaldevelopment opportunities and supports indifferent types of school communities.

The SASS data set is a nationally representativesample of more than 130,000 public and privateschool teachers across all 50 states and theDistrict of Columbia. The data allowedresearchers to evaluate the content of andsupport for professional development,conditions fostering teacher collaboration andlearning, and induction practices nationwide. Wealso examined the NSDC Standards AssessmentInventory (SAI)(2007-08), which measuresteachers’ perceptions regarding theirprofessional development as compared withNSDC’s standards for effective professionaldevelopment. It has been administered to morethan 150,000 teachers in more than 5,400schools across 11 states and one Canadianprovince. For the purpose of this study,researchers closely examined data from the fourstates (Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, and Missouri)that had administered the survey statewide. Thereport also includes data from other surveys,such as the MetLife Survey of the American Teacherand the National Education Association’s Surveyof America’s Teachers and Support Professionalson Technology, which allowed researchers tocompare findings with the SASS data set. For acomplete copy of the report, please seewww.nsdc.org/stateproflearning.cfm


When well-designed,professional learninghelps teachers mastercontent, hone teachingskills, evaluate their ownand their students’performance, andaddress changes neededin teaching andlearning in their schools.

EFFECTIVE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT:WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SHOW?

Rigorous research suggests that sustained and intensive professional learning for teachers is related to student-achievement gains. An analysis of well-designed experimental studies found that a set of programs which offeredsubstantial contact hours of professional development (ranging from 30 to 100hours in total) spread over six to 12 months showed a positive and significanteffect on student achievement gains. According to the research, these intensiveprofessional development efforts that offered an average of 49 hours in a yearboosted student achievement by approximately 21 percentile points. Other effortsthat involved a limited amount of professional development (ranging from 5 to 14hours in total) showed no statistically significant effect on student learning.1

While these findings are striking, they comefrom a limited pool of rigorous quantitativestudies. For example, the studies describedabove came from a meta-analysis of 1,300research studies and evaluation reports, fromwhich researchers identified just nineexperimental or quasi-experimental studiesusing control groups with pre- and post-testdesigns that could evaluate impacts ofprofessional development on studentachievement.2 Other reviews of research onprofessional development in literacy3 andmathematics4 also found few studies designed tosupport causal inferences.

Nonetheless, the methodologically strongstudies that we do have suggest that well-designed professional development caninfluence teacher practice and studentperformance. The research base also illustratesthe shortcomings of the occasional, one-shotworkshops that many school systems tend toprovide, which generations of teachers havederided.5 More importantly, this researchsuggests some general guidelines for the designof effective professional development programs.

While we stress that causal relationships are notfully established, the literature does point tosome basic principles for designing professionallearning that school and district leaders andpolicymakers would be well advised to consider:

1. Professional development should be intensive, ongoing, and connectedto practice.

Today, as in previous decades, most professionaldevelopment for teachers comes in the form ofoccasional workshops, typically lasting less than a

day, each one focusing on discrete topics (suchas classroom management, computer-basedinstruction, student motivation, assessment, theteaching of phonics, and so on), with theirconnection to the classroom left to teachers’imaginations.

However, such episodic workshops disconnectedfrom practice do not allow teachers the time forserious, cumulative study of the given subjectmatter or for trying out ideas in the classroomand reflecting on the results. Research that findschanges in teacher practice and, in some cases,student learning, supports the conclusion that:

Intensive professional development, especially when it includes applications of knowledge to teachers’planning and instruction, has a greater chance ofinfluencing teaching practices and, in turn, leading to gains in student learning.6

Indeed, the duration of professionaldevelopment appears to be associated withstronger impact on teachers and studentlearning—in part, perhaps, because suchsustained efforts typically include applications topractice, often supported by study groupsand/or coaching. As noted earlier, the nineexisting experimental research studies of in-service programs found that programs of greaterintensity and duration were positively associatedwith student learning. In addition, two separateevaluations of a year-long program designed topromote inquiry-based science instructionfound that teachers who received 80 or morehours of professional development weresignificantly more likely to put the giventeaching strategies into practice than wereteachers who had received many fewer hours.Further, the more intense, long-term


1C H A P T E R

Rigorous researchillustrates theshortcomings of theoccasional, one-shotworkshops that manyschool systems tend toprovide, whichgenerations of teachershave derided.

professional development teachers have, thegreater the achievement gains posted by theirstudents during the following year.7

These findings match up well with teachers’ self-reported beliefs about the value of intensive andongoing professional development. Accordingto results from a national survey, teachers viewin-service activities as most effective when theyare sustained over time.8

2. Professional development shouldfocus on student learning andaddress the teaching of specificcurriculum content.

Research suggests that professional developmentis most effective when it addresses the concrete,everyday challenges involved in teaching andlearning specific academic subject matter, ratherthan focusing on abstract educational principlesor teaching methods taken out of context.

For example, researchers have found thatteachers are more likely to try classroompractices that have been modeled for them inprofessional development settings.9 Likewise,teachers themselves judge professionaldevelopment to be most valuable when itprovides opportunities to do “hands-on” workthat builds their knowledge of academiccontent and how to teach it to their students,and when it takes into account the localcontext (including the specifics of local schoolresources, curriculum guidelines,accountability systems, and so on).10

Equally important, professional developmentthat leads teachers to define precisely whichconcepts and skills they want students to learn,and to identify the content that is most likely togive students trouble, has been found toimprove teacher practice and studentoutcomes.11 To this end, it is often useful forteachers to be put in the position of studying thevery material that they intend to teach to theirown students. For example, one well-knownstudy focused on elementary science teacherswho participated in a 100-hour summerinstitute, during which they actively engaged in astandard “learning cycle” that involvedexploring a phenomenon, coming up with atheory that explained what had occurred, andapplying it to new contexts. After going throughthis process, teachers went on to develop theirown units and teach them to one another beforereturning to their classrooms. Later, theresearchers tested the reasoning ability ofrandomly selected students in those classroomsand found they scored 44 percent higher on

average than did a control group of studentstaught by teachers who had not participated inthe summer institute.12

It can be useful also for groups of teachers toanalyze and discuss student-performance dataand samples of students’ course work (scienceprojects, essays, math tests, and so on), in orderto identify students’ most common errors andmisunderstandings, reach common understand-ing of what it means for students to master agiven concept or skill, and find out which in-structional strategies are or are not working,and for whom.13 Notably, one study of threehigh-achieving schools found that high levels ofstudent performance seemed to be associatedin part with teachers’ regular practice of consulting multiple sources of data on studentperformance and using those data to informdiscussions about ways to improve instruction.14

3. Professional development shouldalign with school improvementpriorities and goals.

Research suggests that professional developmenttends to be more effective when it is an integralpart of a larger school reform effort, rather thanwhen activities are isolated, having little to dowith other initiatives or changes underway at theschool.15 If teachers sense a disconnect betweenwhat they are urged to do in a professionaldevelopment activity and what they are requiredto do according to local curriculum guidelines,texts, assessment practices, and so on—that is, ifthey cannot easily implement the strategies theylearn, and the new practices are not supportedor reinforced—then the professionaldevelopment tends to have little impact.

One prominent model of carefully integratedprofessional development is the NationalScience Foundation’s Discovery programimplemented in Ohio beginning in 1992, whichoffered sustained support for teachers as part ofa larger statewide effort to improve studentachievement in science. Following intensive six-week institutes focusing on science content andinstruction that matched those outlined in thestate standards, teachers were given release timeto attend a series of six seminars coveringcurriculum and assessment. In addition, theywere provided on-demand support and site visitsfrom regional staff developers, and contact withpeers through newsletters and annualconferences. According to an independentevaluation, this combination of support led to asignificant increase in and continued use ofinquiry-based instructional practices.16


Professionaldevelopment is most

effective when itaddresses the concrete,

everyday challengesinvolved in teachingand learning specific

academic subject matter.

4. Professional development shouldbuild strong working relationshipsamong teachers.

As researchers have shown many times over thepast three decades,17 the nation’s teachersexhibit a strongly individualistic ethos, owinglargely to the built-in privacy and isolation oftheir daily work as it has been organized in mostU.S. schools. Given the prevalence of an “egg-crate model” of instruction—whereby eachteacher spends most of the day in a single room,separated from other adults—the Americanteaching profession has not yet developed astrong tradition of professional collaboration.Historically, schools have been structured so thatteachers work alone, rarely given time togetherto plan lessons, share instructional practices,assess students, design curriculum, or help makeadministrative or managerial decisions.

Such cultural norms are not easily changed,particularly if school structures and workingconditions continue to favor privacy andisolation. However, research shows that whenschools are strategic in creating time andproductive working relationships withinacademic departments or grade levels, acrossthem, or among teachers schoolwide, thebenefits can include greater consistency ininstruction, more willingness to share practicesand try new ways of teaching, and more successin solving problems of practice.18

For example, a comprehensive five-year study of1,500 schools undergoing major reforms foundthat in schools where teachers formed activeprofessional learning communities, studentabsenteeism and dropout rates were reducedand achievement increased significantly in math,science, history, and reading. Further, particularaspects of teachers’ professional communities—a shared sense of intellectual purpose and asense of collective responsibility for studentlearning—were associated with a narrowing ofachievement gaps in math and science amonglow- and middle-income students.19 A number oflarge-scale studies have identified specific waysin which professional community-building candeepen teachers’ knowledge, build their skills,and improve instruction.20

Perhaps the simplest way to break downprofessional isolation—but one which rarelyoccurs in most schools—is for teachers to observeeach other’s teaching and to provide constructivefeedback. In an evaluation of 12 schoolsimplementing Critical Friends Groups—a peer-observation system developed by the National

School Reform Faculty employing a set ofprotocols that teachers use to guide theirobservations and responses—researchers foundthat teachers’ instruction became more student-centered, with a focus on ensuring that studentsgained mastery of the subject as opposed tomerely covering the material. In survey responses,teachers in these schools also reported havingmore opportunities to learn and a greater desireto continuously develop more effective practicesthan teachers who did not participate.21

Teachers can also use videotapes of teachingto make aspects of their practice public andopen to peer critique, learn new practices andpedagogical strategies, and analyze aspects ofteaching practice that may be difficult tocapture otherwise. Recent research onteachers undertaking certification by theNational Board for Professional TeachingStandards—which involves them in producingand analyzing their own classroom videotapesin relation to professional standards, andoften discussing them with colleagues—hasfound that the experience can lead teachers to change how they teach, increase theirknowledge of various approaches, and enablethem to engage in more effective teachingpractices in the classroom.22

While efforts to strengthen teachers’ professionalrelationships can take many forms, a number ofresearchers have identified specific conditionsnecessary for their success. For example, in astudy of 900 teachers in 24 elementary andsecondary schools across the country, researchersfound that teachers formed more stable andproductive professional communities in smallerschools, schools with little staffing complexity(i.e., where more staff members are classroomteachers and fewer are assigned to specialist andadministrative jobs), schools where teachers wererelatively more involved in educational decision-making, and, especially, schools that scheduledregular blocks of time for teachers to meet andplan courses and assignments together.23

ADDITIONAL PROMISING STRATEGIESIn recent years, many schools and districtsacross the country have invested in school-basedcoaching programs, one of the fastest growingforms of professional development today.Typically in such models, administrators identifywell-regarded veteran educators and assignthem to provide ongoing guidance, advice, andmentoring to a group or groups of teachers tohelp them improve their instruction.


When schools arestrategic in creatingtime and productiveworking relationshipswithin academicdepartments or gradelevels, across them, oramong teachersschoolwide, the benefitscan include betterinstruction and moresuccess in solvingproblems of practice.


Closely related to school-based coaching is theincreasingly common practice of providingmentoring and other forms of formal inductionto beginning teachers. Often serving as theprimary source of professional development forteachers in the first few years of their careers,various forms of new teacher induction are nowrequired in more than 30 states.

While both of these strategies can be justified oncommon-sense grounds, their results are not yetconfirmed by a solid body of evidence, and thejury remains out as to their effectiveness or theconditions under which they are most likely to beeffective. Thus, policymakers would be well-advised to keep in mind the following two points.

School-based coaching may enhanceprofessional learning.Several comparison-group studies have found thatteachers who receive coaching are more likely toenact the desired teaching practices and applythem more appropriately than are teachers receiv-ing more traditional professional development.24

However, a study conducted in the Netherlandsfound that while teachers who had beencoached felt more confident in their teaching,they were not rated as more effective thanteachers who had not been coached.25 Anothersmall-scale study found that teachers who hadreceived coaching on particular strategies didnot necessarily know when it was appropriate toselect one instructional strategy over another.26

These studies suggest that coaching may need tobe embedded in broader efforts to buildprofessional knowledge if it is to be most useful.

Several evaluations have suggested that coachingmodels of professional development havecontributed to positive reforms in literacyinstruction. For example, one study cites theimpressive achievement gains of students whoseschool participated in the Alabama ReadingInitiative, which utilized a school-based coachingmodel (following an intensive two-week summerinstitute) to provide ongoing support to teachersimplementing the new literacy approach.27

Another recent evaluation found that as a result ofa differentiated literacy program and otherinterventions that utilized a coaching model, thepercentage of students meeting benchmarkstandards in an Illinois district increasedmarkedly.28 In a study by the Foundation forCalifornia Early Literacy Learning, teachersreported that the coaching they received had apositive effect on student achievement.29 Likewise,some researchers have linked achievement gains inreading and writing to literacy coaching.30

None of these studies, however, employedcomparison-group methods with sufficientcontrols and on a large enough scale to establish astrong association or causal link between coachingand student achievement, and more rigorousresearch is required to confirm these relationships.

Further, a major literature review conducted aspart of an Institute for Education Sciencesevaluation of the Reading First program reportedmixed findings on the impact of coaching oninstructional practice. As the authors explained,those findings should be read as neither anendorsement nor a criticism of the professionaldevelopment model, since they may reflectvariability in the expertise and practices of thoseassigned as coaches. In other words, the findingsmay have as much to do with the content or theuneven implementation of the specific coachingreceived as with the coaching model itself.31

As in any professional development enterprise, itis also critically important that the instructionalpractices promoted through coaching arethemselves more effective for the goals andcircumstances in which they are being used thanthe practices teachers are otherwise using. The content of professional learning matters asmuch as the process by which it is transmitted.

Mentoring and Induction programs for new teachers may support teachereffectiveness.In one large-scale literature review, researchersfound that induction programs tend to beeffective in reducing attrition among beginningteachers. The strongest retention rates wereassociated with the assignment of a teachermentor working in the same subject area and/orgrade level, common planning time withteachers in the same subject, regularlyscheduled collaboration with other teachers,and participation in a network of teachers.32

One analysis found that when beginningteachers received a combination of suchinduction supports, attrition declined by half.33

Some studies suggest also that when teachermentors receive formal training, along withrelease time to provide one-to-one mentoring,the retention and classroom performance ofbeginning teachers improves.34 Further, a recentliterature review noted that a number of case-based research studies give strong support toinduction programs that are “collegial” and “job-embedded” (as when mentors observebeginning teachers in the classroom), whilefinding that workshops for new teachers tend tobe ineffective.35 However, these same reviewers

While coaching,mentoring, and

induction can bejustified on common-

sense grounds, the juryremains out as to their

effectiveness or theconditions under which

they are most likely tobe effective.

also note that the research to date has tended torely on teachers’ self-reported gains in theirknowledge and skills. Few studies of mentoringand induction have documented observablechanges in instructional practice or reportedmeasurable impacts on student achievement.

An ongoing large-scale research project iscurrently underway that aims to measure suchimpacts (including effects on classroompractices, student achievement, and teachermobility) by using a randomized control-groupmodel to study a teacher-induction program.The program offers mentoring, teacherobservations, formative assessments, andworkshops across 17 districts, with the districts’regular induction programs providing a basis forcomparison. The first-year report, released in

October 2008, reported no statisticallysignificant differences in teacher practices,student test scores, or teacher retention betweenthe two groups of teachers.36 However, it isdifficult to generalize about induction fromthese results, since the level and intensity ofteachers’ participation varied so much that theycannot be accurately described as havingreceived the same “treatment,” or even as havingreceived a distinctively different treatment fromthe comparison group.

The initial results of this study highlight theneed for more rigorous research into the impactof induction supports on instruction, teacherretention, and student achievement. As yet, suchinterventions remain promising but not proven.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ABROAD:TRENDS AND STRATEGIES

Effective professional learning is commonly available in many other industrializednations, including those that have been recognized as high achieving on importantinternational measures such as the Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

In comparison to the United States, industrialnations that are members of the Organisationfor Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) provide teachers significantly moreprofessional learning. While the results ofsurveys using somewhat different methods andquestions do not allow for direct comparisons,the evidence is clear that teachers in othernations are significantly more likely to visitclassrooms of teachers in other schools,collaborate frequently on issues of instruction,and participate in collaborative research.

The practices described in this section areamong the many factors contributing to thedifferences across countries, and it would beimpossible to prove that these practices deservesingular credit for high levels of studentachievement in these nations. However, givenhow closely they resemble the professionaldevelopment that research shows to be effectivein this country, it would be reasonable to assumethat they have made a significant contribution.

Specifically, our review of the research literatureand data on professional development in highachieving countries reveals that teachers in thosenations tend to enjoy at least four advantagesover their counterparts in the United States:

1. Ample time for professional learningis structured into teachers’ work lives.

One of the key structural supports for teachersengaging in professional learning is theallocation of time in the work day and week toparticipate in such activities. In most Europeanand Asian countries, instruction takes up lessthan half of a teacher’s working time.37 Therest—generally about 15 to 20 hours per week—is spent on tasks related to teaching, such aspreparing lessons, marking papers, meeting withstudents and parents, and working withcolleagues. Most planning is done in collegialsettings (such as large faculty rooms whereteachers’ desks are located to facilitate collectivework)38 and during meetings of subject-matterdepartments and grade-level teams.

Schools in European nations—includingDenmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, andSwitzerland—dedicate time for regularcollaboration among teachers on issues ofinstruction.39 For example, teachers in Finnishschools meet one afternoon each week to jointlyplan and develop curriculum; and schools withinthe same municipality are encouraged to worktogether and share materials. A majority ofschools in high-achieving nations provide timefor teachers’ professional development bybuilding it into teachers’ work day and/or byproviding class coverage by other teachers.Among OECD nations, more than 85 percent ofschools in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary,Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerlandprovide time for professional development aspart of teachers’ average work day or week.40

When time for professional development is builtinto teachers’ schedules, their learning activitiescan be ongoing and sustained and can focus on aparticular issue or problem over time.

Similar practices are common in Japan,Singapore, and other Asian nations, as well. InSouth Korea, for example, only about 35 percentof teachers’ working time is spent on classroominstruction. There and in other nearbycountries, teachers devote non-classroom timeto collaborative planning, lesson study, peerobservations, and action research.

By contrast, U.S. teachers generally have from 3 to5 hours a week for lesson planning, usuallyscheduled independently rather than jointly withcolleagues.41 U.S. teachers also average far morenet teaching time in direct contact with students(1,080 hours per year) than any other OECDnation. By comparison, the OECD average is only803 hours per year for primary schools and 664hours per year for upper secondary schools.42 U.S.teachers spend about 80 percent of their totalworking time engaged in classroom instruction, ascompared to about 60 percent for these othernations’ teachers, who thus have much more timeto plan and learn together, and to develop high-quality curriculum and instruction.


2C H A P T E RIn most countries, about15 to 20 hours per weekis spent on tasks relatedto teaching, such aspreparing lessons,marking papers, meetingwith students andparents, and workingwith colleagues. Bycontrast, U.S. teachersgenerally have from 3 to5 hours a week for lessonplanning, which is doneindependently.


2. Beginning teachers receive extensivementoring and induction supports.

Induction programs are mandatory in manycountries and they tend to emphasize thebuilding of strong professional relationshipsamong beginning and veteran teachers, as well asthe development of teaching practice. In China,for example, both new and experienced teachersparticipate in extensive peer observation, lessonpreparation, and teaching research groups. InFrance, beginning teachers participate in teacherinstitutes at the local university and are inductedinto a community of same-subject teachers. InSwitzerland, beginning teachers work in practicegroups of about six teachers from acrossdifferent schools and together they participate inpeer observation, observation of moreexperienced colleagues, and self/peer evaluationwithin the practice group.46

In a model like that found in a number of Asiannations, the New Zealand Ministry of Educationfunds 20 percent release time for new teachers and10 percent release time for second-year teachers,and requires schools to have a locally developedprogram to develop new teachers’ abilities.47 Mostof the release time is used to give veterans time forcoaching and to give new teachers time to meetwith the mentors who observe them and to engagein professional development; it also supports extratime to develop lesson plans.48

Mentor teachers and coaches play a key part inlaunching new teachers into the profession, andsome countries (including England, France,Israel, Norway, and Switzerland) require formaltraining for mentor teachers.49 In Singapore,master teachers are appointed to lead the

coaching and development of the teachers ineach school.50 Norwegian principals assign anexperienced, highly qualified mentor to each newteacher and the teacher-education institutionthen trains the mentor and takes part in in-schoolguidance.51 In some Swiss states, the new teachersin each district meet in reflective practice groupstwice a month with an experienced teacher who istrained to facilitate their discussions of commonproblems for new teachers.52

3. Teachers are widely encouraged toparticipate in school decision-making.

In most of the countries studied, teachers areactively involved in curriculum and assessmentdevelopment, often in response to national orstate standards, and they guide much of theprofessional development they experience. InWestern Europe, nations such as Finland,Sweden, and Switzerland have decentralizedmost classroom decision-making to professionallywell-informed schools and teachers. Highlydetailed curriculum documents and externaltests were replaced in the 1970s and ‘80s bymuch leaner standards outlining broad goalstatements designed to guide teachers’development of curriculum and instruction.Teachers in these and many other nations areresponsible for developing syllabi, selectingtextbooks, developing curriculum andassessments, deciding on course offerings andbudget issues, planning and schedulingprofessional development, and more.53 Theytypically design key school-based assessments toevaluate student learning as part of the overallassessment system. In place of professionaldevelopment dictated by national boards of

In Japan, kenkyuu jugyou (research lessons) are a key part of thelearning culture. Every teacher periodically prepares a best possiblelesson that demonstrates strategies to achieve a specific goal (e.g.,students becoming active problem-solvers or learning more from eachother) in collaboration with colleagues. A group of teachers observewhile the lesson is taught and usually record the lesson in a number ofways, including videotapes, audiotapes, and narrative and/or checklistobservations that focus on areas of interest to the instructing teacher(e.g., how many students volunteered their own ideas). Afterwards, thegroup of teachers, and sometimes outside educators, discuss thelesson’s strengths and weaknesses, ask questions, and makesuggestions to improve the lesson. In some cases, the revised lesson isgiven by another teacher only a few days later and observed anddiscussed again.43

Teachers themselves decide the theme and frequency of researchlessons. Large study groups often break up into subgroups of 4 to 6

teachers. The subgroups plan their own lessons but work toward thesame goal, and teachers from all subgroups share and comment onlessons and try to attend the lesson and follow-up discussion. For atypical lesson study, the 10-15 hours of group meetings are spread over3-4 weeks. While schools let out between 2:40 and 3:45 pm, teachers’work days don’t end until 5:00 pm, which provides additional time forcollegial work and planning. Most lesson study meetings occur during thehours after school lets out. The research lessons allow teachers to refineindividual lessons, consult with other teachers and receive feedbackbased on colleagues’ observations of their classroom practice, reflect ontheir own practice, learn new content and approaches, and build a culturethat emphasizes continuous improvement and collaboration.44

Some teachers also provide public research lessons, which expedites thespread of best practices across schools; allows principals, districtpersonnel, and policymakers to see how teachers are grappling with newsubject matter and goals; and gives recognition to excellent teachers.45

JAPAN’S LESSON STUDY APPROACH TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In most of the countriesstudied, teachers areactively involved in

curriculum andassessment development,

often in response tonational or state

standards, and theyguide much of the

professional developmentthey experience.

education, the content of professional learning isdetermined according to local needs and is oftenembedded in the work of “teacher teams” or“teacher units” at particular schools, which areempowered to make decisions aroundcurriculum and evaluation.54

In Sweden, the decentralization of curriculumplanning and in-service training led to a shift inthe focus of the development work at eachschool—from prescribed teacher-trainingmodels defined by the central educationministry, to teacher-designed projects focusedon solving problems in teachers’ ownclassrooms.55 Teachers are now required toparticipate in teacher teams, which meet duringregular working hours to discuss and makedecisions on common matters in their work,including the planning of lessons, the welfare ofpupils, and curriculum development andevaluation.56 Such action research to solvepedagogical problems and guide curriculumdecisions is also encouraged in Australia, HongKong, New Zealand, and Singapore.

4. Governments provide significantlevels of support for additionalprofessional development.

Beyond the structure of the work day that accommodates daily professional collaboration,many high-achieving nations dedicate significant resources to professional development, often drawing on expertise beyond the school. Somecountries have established national requirementsfor professional development. For example, the

Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden require atleast 100 hours of professional development per year, in addition to regularly scheduled timefor common planning and other teacher collaborations.60 This emphasis on professional development opportunities requires significant investment on the part of ministries of education.In Sweden, for instance, 104 hours or 15 days ayear (approximately 6 percent of teachers’ totalworking time) are allocated for teachers’ in-servicetraining.61 And in 2007, the national governmentappropriated a large grant to establish a teachers’in-service training program called “lifting theteachers,” which pays the tuition for one universitycourse for all compulsory school and preschoolteachers. Further, the grant supports 80 percent ofteachers’ salaries if they agree to work a 20 percentschedule in their schools while enrolled full timein a post-graduate program.62

After their fourth year of teaching, South Koreanteachers must take 90 hours of professionaldevelopment courses every 3 years. Also, after 3years on the job, teachers are eligible to enroll ina government-approved 5-week (180-hour)professional development program to obtain anadvanced certificate, which provides an increasein salary and eligibility for promotion.63

In Singapore, the government pays for 100hours of professional development each year forall teachers. That is in addition to the 20 hours aweek they have to work with other teachers andvisit each others’ classrooms to study teaching.Further, and with government funding, teacherscan take courses at the National Institute of


Among its many investments in teacher professional learning is theTeacher’s Network, established in 1998 by the Singapore Ministry ofEducation as part of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s new vision, “ThinkingSchools, Learning Nation.” This vision aims to produce life-long learners bymaking schools a learning environment for everyone from teachers topolicymakers and having knowledge spiral up and down the system. Thenetwork’s mission serves as a catalyst and support for teacher-initiateddevelopment through sharing, collaboration, and reflection. It has six maininterrelated components: (1) learning circles, (2) teacher-led workshops, (3)conferences, (4) well-being program, (5) a Web site, and (6) publications.57

In a Teacher’s Network learning circle, 4 to 10 teachers and a facilitatorcollaboratively identify and solve common problems chosen by theparticipating teachers using discussions and action research. Thelearning circles generally meet for eight two-hour sessions over a periodof 4 to 12 months. Supported by the national university, Teacher’sNetwork professional development officers run an initial whole-schooltraining program on the key processes of reflection, dialogue, andaction research—and a more extended program to train teachers aslearning circle facilitators and mentor facilitators in the field. A major

part of the facilitator’s role is to encourage the teachers to act as co-learners and critical friends so that they feel safe to take the risks ofsharing their assumptions and personal theories, experimenting withnew ideas and practices, and sharing their successes and problems.Discussing problems and possible solutions in learning circles fosters asense of collegiality among teachers and encourages them to bereflective practitioners. Learning circles allow teachers to feel that theyare producing knowledge, not just disseminating received knowledge.58

Teacher-led workshops provide teachers an opportunity to present theirideas and work with their colleagues in a collegial atmosphere whereeveryone, including the presenter, is a co-learner and critical friend. Eachworkshop is jointly planned with a Teacher’s Network professionaldevelopment officer to ensure collaboration. The presenters first preparean outline of their workshop, then the professional development officerhelps the presenters articulate their tacit knowledge and assumptionsand trains them in facilitation. They do not present as experts with allthe answers, but share and discuss the challenges they face in theclassroom. The process is time consuming, but almost all teacherpresenters find that it leads to professional growth.59

SINGAPORE’S INVESTMENT IN TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

The Netherlands,Singapore, and Swedenrequire at least 100hours of professionaldevelopment per year, inaddition to regularlyscheduled time forcommon planning and other forms ofteacher collaboration.


Education toward a master’s degree aimed atadvancement to curriculum specialist, mentorfor other teachers, or school principal.

Some countries have established national trainingprograms. In England, for example, governmen-tal offices devoted to literacy and numeracy spon-sor a countrywide teacher-to-teacher trainingeffort, focusing on proven instructional practicesin those subjects. Many observers credit that workwith a subsequent rise in the percentage of stu-dents meeting national literacy standards from 63percent to 75 percent in just three years.64 Thetraining program is one of England’s national lit-eracy and numeracy initiatives. It provides re-sources—such as high-quality teaching materials,resource documents, and videos depicting goodpractice—to support implementation of the na-tional curriculum frameworks. The national ini-tiatives train and mobilize school heads,coordinators, lead math teachers, and expert lit-eracy teachers to, in turn, train teachers to learnand use productive practices.65 Over time, expert-ise is increasingly located at the local level, withconsultants and leading mathematics and literacyteachers in support roles.66

And, since 2000, the Australian government hassponsored the Quality Teacher Programme, a

large-scale initiative that provides funding to up-date and improve teachers’ skills and knowledgein priority areas and to enhance the status ofteaching in both government and non-govern-ment schools. The program develops nationalteaching standards, conducts research and com-municates research findings, and funds profes-sional learning activities for teachers and schoolleaders under agreements with state and terri-tory education authorities. National efforts ad-dress national needs, identify and promote bestpractice, support the development and dissemi-nation of professional learning resources in pri-ority areas, and develop professional networksfor teachers and school leaders. State and terri-tory initiatives are tailored to address local needsand include school-based action research andlearning, conferences, workshops, on-line or dig-ital media, and the training of trainers as well asschool project and team leaders.67

These experiences underscore the importanceof on-the-job learning with colleagues as well assustained learning from experts in content andpedagogy. The diversity of approaches indicatesthat schools can shape professional learning tobest fit their circumstances and teacher andstudent learning needs.

In England, as a resultof two national literacyinitiatives, expertise isincreasingly located at

the local level, withconsultants and leading

mathematics andliteracy teachers in

support roles.

THE STATUS OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNINGIN THE UNITED STATES

To what extent do America’s public school teachers receive the kinds of professionallearning that the research recommends or that other nations embrace? In order to assess the current status of professionallearning in U.S. schools, as well as trends over time,we examined teacher- and school-questionnairedata from the federal Schools and Staffing Surveysof 1999-2000 and 2003-04 (National Center for Education Statistics).68 We analyzed the data interms of opportunities for professional learning reported by teachers at the national and state levelsand by school types (e.g., grade level, type of com-munity, and student population served).

On the positive side, we found signs that some ed-ucation systems are developing more sophisticatedunderstandings of what constitutes high-qualityprofessional learning, and we found evidence thatincreasing numbers of schools and districts areproviding high-quality supports for their teachers.

Unfortunately, we also found that such well-designed professional development is still relativelyrare, and few of the nation’s teachers have accessto regular opportunities for intensive learning.69

Specifically, the survey data reveal that:

1. Most U.S. teachers participate insome form of professionaldevelopment every year.

In 2003-04, almost all U.S. teachers (92 percent)reported participating in workshops, conferences,

or other training sessions over the previous 12months, a slight decline from the levels of partici-pation in 1999-2000 (95 percent). Fewer teachersparticipated in other forms of traditional profes-sional development, including university coursesrelated to teaching (36 percent) and observa-tional visits to other schools (22 percent). Twenty-five percent of teachers had served as a presenterat a workshop, conference, or training session.Among these types of professional development,there was a sharp drop from 2000 to 2004 in theproportion of teachers who had the opportunityto observe classes in other schools—from 34 per-cent to 22 percent—while other forms of learn-ing remained relatively stable.

There appears to be wide variation in the types ofprofessional learning that teachers experienceacross states. Aside from workshops and confer-ences, in which nearly all teachers participate, thepercentage of teachers who took university coursesrelated to teaching ranged from 15 percent inTexas to 79 percent in Idaho. The percentage ofteachers who were presenters at workshops ortraining sessions ranged from 18 percent in Iowato 37 percent in the District of Columbia. And thepercentage of teachers who participated in obser-vational visits to other schools ranged from 14 percent in West Virginia to 39 percent in Utah.


3C H A P T E R

TABLE 1 - Participation in Traditional Professional Development

(Percentage of teachers reporting participation in traditional professional development during the previous 12 months, 1999-2000 and 2003-04)

Types of traditional professional development Percentage of teachers 1999-2000 Percentage of teachers 2003-04

1) University courses for recertification or 31.6 advanced certification a

University courses in the main assignment field a 23.4

University courses related to teaching b 35.5

2) Observational visits to other schools 34.4 22.4

3) Workshops, conferences, or training sessions 94.8 91.5(not a presenter)

4) Presenter at workshops, conferences, or 22.3 25.1training sessions

a These questions were asked in the 1999-2000 SASS Teacher Questionnaire but not in the 2003-04 version.

b This question was asked in the 2003-04 SASS Teacher Questionnaire but not in the 1999-2000 version.

We found that well-designed professionaldevelopment is stillrelatively rare, and fewof the nation’s teachershave access to regularopportunities forintensive learning.


2. Much professional developmentfocuses on academic subject matter,but not with much depth.

Nationally, about 83 percent of teachers engagedin learning opportunities focused on the academiccontent that they taught, ranging from 75 percentin Wisconsin to 94 percent in New Hampshire.

However, this learning was not intensive. Mostteachers (57 percent) received fewer than twodays (16 hours) of professional development onthe content of the subject(s) they taught duringthe previous 12 months. Only 23 percent ofteachers reported that they had received 33 hoursor more (more than 4 days) of professionaldevelopment on the content of the subject(s)they taught, a slight increase from 18 percentfour years earlier. For example, one analysis ofnational survey results found that mathematicsteachers averaged 8 hours of professionaldevelopment on how to teach mathematics and 5hours on the “in-depth study” of topics in thesubject area during 2003-04. Fewer than 10percent experienced more than 24 hours ofprofessional development on mathematicscontent or pedagogy during the year.

The federally supported Eisenhower professionaldevelopment grants for mathematics and scienceteachers offered more intensive professionaldevelopment, but that generally lasted less than aweek and included, on average, only 25 contacthours.70 Most activities did not feature a majoremphasis on collegial work among teachers,which has been found to be related both tocoherence and active learning opportunities,which are in turn related to improvements inteacher knowledge and skill and to changes inteachers’ instructional practice.71

The amount of time spent on professional learn-ing was even smaller for other important topics.For example, while 60 percent of teachers re-ceived some professional development on read-ing instruction, and slightly more (64 percent)on using computers for instruction, the vast ma-jority of the teachers (80 percent) worked onthese issues for two days or less. The percentageof teachers participating in professional develop-ment on the use of computers in instructionranged from 40 percent in Hawaii to 93 percentin Arizona. However, even in Arizona, only 18percent of teachers had as much as two days ofprofessional development in this area.

Teachers were also asked to report whether theyhad participated in at least 8 hours of trainingduring the last 3 years on teaching specialeducation students and limited Englishproficiency (LEP) students. While 8 hoursrepresents a modest level of attention to theseissues, more than two-thirds of teachers nationallyhad not had even a day of such training.

The intensity and duration of professionaldevelopment offered to U.S. teachers is not at thelevel that research suggests is necessary to havenoticeable impacts on instruction and studentlearning. While many teachers get a day or two ofprofessional development on various topics eachyear, very few have the chance to study any aspectof teaching for more than two days. Most of theirprofessional learning does not meet the thresholdneeded to produce strong effects on practice orstudent learning. As this report notes earlier,research suggests that professional development of14 hours or less has no effect on student learning,while longer-duration programs show positive andsignificant effects on student achievement.

TABLE 2 - Participation in Traditional Professional Development on Four Topics

(Percentage of teachers reporting participation in professional development during the past 12 months)

Percentage of teachers Percentage with Percentage who rated Topic of Professional Development 2003-04 >16 hours on topic training on this topic

2003-04 “useful” or “very useful”

1) The content of the subject(s) they teach 83.4 43.3 59.3

2) Uses of computers for instruction 64.9 13.4 42.7

3) Reading instruction 60.0 19 42.5

4) Student discipline and management in the classroom

43.5 5 27.4

The intensity andduration of professional

development offered toU.S. teachers is not atthe level that research

suggests is necessary tohave noticeable impacts

on instruction andstudent learning.

3. Nearly half of all U.S. teachers aredissatisfied with their opportunitiesfor professional development.

Perhaps because of its brevity, its lack of fit totheir needs, or its low quality, most teachers werenot enthusiastic about the usefulness of theprofessional development they had received.Only 59 percent found content-related learningopportunities useful or very useful, and fewerthan half found the professional developmentthey received in other areas useful, includingareas where they would like more opportunitiesto learn.72 These ratings of usefulness variedlittle across states and school contexts.

Teachers in elementary schools rated their content-focused professional development significantlymore highly than teachers in secondary schools,and tended to rate professional development expe-riences on other topics more highly as well. Simi-larly, teachers in schools with the highestenrollment of limited English proficient (LEP) stu-dents gave significantly higher ratings to their con-tent-focused professional development thanteachers in schools with lower LEP enrollment. Rat-ings of professional development on reading in-struction were highest for teachers in elementaryschools and in schools with the highest enrollmentsof minority, low-income, and/or LEP students.

4. U.S. teachers tend to receive littlefunding or other support that mightallow them to participate inadditional professional development.

The 2003-04 SASS Teacher Questionnaire askedteachers whether they were provided with severalschool or district supports for participating inprofessional development. The supports couldhave been release time, scheduled time in the

contract year, a stipend when engaging inprofessional development outside of work hours,full or partial reimbursement of tuition forcollege courses, reimbursement for conferenceor workshop fees, and reimbursement for traveland/or daily expenses.

More than three-quarters of the respondents re-ported having scheduled time in the contract yearfor professional development. However, the dura-tion or frequency of that scheduled time is unclear.As this report notes, very few teachers report hav-ing had the opportunity to engage in more thantwo days of professional development on any singleaspect of their teaching, and few report more thantwo different kinds of professional development ina year. Thus, it does not appear that scheduledtime in the contract year for professional develop-ment is of long duration.

A little over half of teachers across statesreported having release time to participate inprofessional development, and about 40 percentwere reimbursed for workshop or conferencefees. Less commonly reported supports werestipends, reimbursement of college tuition, andreimbursement for travel or other expensesrelated to professional development.

In comparing the results for 2003-04 with theprior SASS dataset (1999-2000), we found very slight changes in school supports forprofessional development reported by teachers.There was a slight increase in the percentage ofteachers who reported scheduled time in thecontract year for professional development andslight decreases in the percentage of teachersreporting reimbursement for conference orworkshop fees and for travel or expenses relatedto participation in professional development.


TABLE 3 - School Supports for Professional Development

(Percentage of public school teachers reporting that they had received various types of support forprofessional development over the past 12 months)

Type of School Support 1999-2000 Percentage 2003-04 Percentage

1) Release time from teaching (i.e., your regular teaching 54.3 54.0responsibilities were temporarily assigned to someone else)

2) Scheduled time in the contract year for professional development 73.6 77.9

3) Stipend for professional development activities that took place outside regular work hours 41.6 38.3

4) Full or partial reimbursement of college tuition 14.4 14.4

5) Reimbursement for conference or workshop fees 48.5 40.5

6) Reimbursement for travel and/or daily expenses 34.1 28.3

U.S. teachers inelementary schools ratedtheir content-focusedprofessional developmentsignificantly more highlythan teachers insecondary schools, andtended to rate professionaldevelopment experienceson other topics morehighly as well.


States varied widely in the types of schoolsupport provided to teachers. Some states weremore likely to provide release time than others(e.g., 70 percent in Indiana and Wyoming) orscheduled time in the contract year (e.g., 93percent in Connecticut, 91 percent in Arkansas).Other states focused on providing stipends forprofessional development outside of regularwork hours (64 percent in Kentucky, 62 percentin North Carolina), while others focused onproviding reimbursements for college tuition(63 percent in Utah, 47 percent in Louisiana),for conference or workshop fees (77 percent inUtah, 68 percent in Nevada), or for travel/dailyexpenses (62 percent in Wyoming, 58 percent inArkansas). Some states had higher than averagepercentages of teachers reporting at least four ofthe six supports, including Arkansas, Indiana,Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, NorthDakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Some states stand out in providing opportunitiesfor formal, more traditional forms ofprofessional development. Because no stateswere consistently outstanding across alltraditional professional development items, welooked at the levels of participation inworkshops, conferences, or other trainingsessions (the most common types of traditionalprofessional development across states), and thereported levels of support provided by schools toparticipate in professional development (e.g.,scheduled time in the contract year, releasetime, and reimbursement for expenses).

Among the states that excelled in these areaswere Arkansas, Connecticut, New Hampshire,Vermont, and Wyoming, where significantlyhigher proportions of teachers than the national average participated in professionaldevelopment and reported various supports fortheir participation. In Arkansas, 96 percent ofteachers reported participating in workshops,conferences, or other trainings, with an averageof 6.6 sessions per teacher (as compared to 2.3nationally), and 91 percent reported havingscheduled time in the contract year forprofessional development. Sixty-three percentreported having release time for professionaldevelopment as well. Similarly, 95 percent ofConnecticut teachers participated in traditionalprofessional development activities such asworkshops, conferences, and trainings, with anaverage of 5.6 sessions per teacher during thelast 12 months, and 93 percent also reportedhaving scheduled time in the contract year forprofessional development.

5. Support for and participation inprofessional development varieswidely among schools.

A lower percentage of secondary school teachersreported participating in more traditionalprofessional development than did elementaryschool teachers. Also, a smaller percentage ofsecondary school teachers reported that they hadschool supports for participating in traditionalprofessional development such as release time,scheduled time in the contract year, and a stipendwhen the professional development took placeoutside regular work hours. However asignificantly higher percentage of secondaryschool teachers reported receiving reimbursementfor conference or workshop fees and for travel ordaily expenses than did elementary schoolteachers. These results suggest that it was morecommon for elementary teachers to participate inprofessional development that was job-embeddedand a regular part of their work responsibilitiesthan secondary teachers, who were more likely togo off site for their professional learning.

Interestingly, teachers in many of the highest-needschools received the most professional develop-ment in most areas, except the use of computersfor instruction. Teachers in schools with the great-est proportions of minority, low-income, and lim-ited English proficient students had significantlyhigher rates of participation in traditional profes-sional development (such as university courses re-lated to teaching, observational visits to otherschools, workshops, conferences, or other trainingsessions). This was true in many areas, includingthe content of the subject(s) they taught, readinginstruction, student discipline and classroom man-agement, and teaching LEP students, though asmaller percentage received professional develop-ment on the use of computers for instruction thandid teachers in suburban schools.

While teachers in urban schools seem to have hadhigher overall participation rates in formalprofessional development, a smaller percentagereported receiving school supports for thisdevelopment, such as release time orreimbursements for tuition, conference fees, andtravel. Still, teachers in schools with the highestlevels of minority enrollment were most likely toreport school supports for professionaldevelopment, such as release time or stipends,when the professional development took placeoutside regular school time. However, the highestpercentage of teachers reporting scheduled timein the contract year for professionaldevelopment—81 percent—was found in schoolswith the lowest minority enrollments.

A lower percentage ofsecondary school teachersreported participating in

more traditionalprofessional development

than did elementaryschool teachers.

These findings are somewhat surprising, given thatschools in urban areas, with the highest levels ofethnic and linguistic minorities, as well as the high-est levels of poverty, typically have fewer resourcesfor professional development than schools inwealthier suburbs with less diverse student popula-tions. However, in 2003, the first year of No ChildLeft Behind implementation, the amount of fed-eral funding available for professional develop-ment in high-need schools was increased, so statesand districts made greater investments in schoolswith lower achievement to boost scores.

6. Relatively few U.S. teachers engage inintensive professional collaborationaround curriculum planning.

While fine-grained national data on teacher collab-oration are not available, the SASS Teacher Ques-tionnaires asked teachers whether in the last 12months they had engaged in individual or collabo-rative research on a topic of professional interest,participated in regularly scheduled collaborationwith other teachers on issues of instruction (ex-cluding administrative meetings), participated inpeer observations, or participated in a mentor/coaching program either as a mentor/coach or asa recipient of mentoring/coaching.

In 2003-04, about 70 percent of teachers reportedparticipating in “regularly scheduled collabora-tion with other teachers on issues of instruction,”a slight decline from 74 percent in 1999-2000.Unfortunately, the survey does not specify what“regularly scheduled” means in terms of fre-quency or duration, so it is unclear whetherteachers were meeting for a couple of hours amonth or as much as 10 hours a week. Other re-sponses suggest a low intensity of teacher collabo-ration in most schools. Nationally, only 17percent of teachers reported a great deal of coop-erative effort among staff members, and only 14percent agreed that they had made conscious ef-forts to coordinate the content of courses. Evi-dently, whatever the collaboration amongteachers, it is not spent in common curriculum

planning or in building the kinds of strong pro-fessional relationships described earlier.

The SASS data also show a drop in theproportion of teachers engaged in individual orcollaborative research, from 47 percent in 2000to about 40 percent in 2004. More, however,were involved in mentoring and coaching (46percent) or peer observations (63 percent).

A few states appear to have particularly highlevels of teacher collaboration and coaching. InCalifornia, for example, 79 percent of teachersreported participating in regularly scheduledcollaboration; 74 percent, participating in peerobservation; and 51 percent, participating in amentoring program; the figures from Kentuckyand Washington were similar. However, even inthose states, teachers reported that the intensityof that professional collaboration and coursecoordination was as low as the national average.

Fifty-nine percent reported having at leastmoderate influence over curriculum decisions,and a small majority (55 percent) said the sameabout setting performance standards forstudents, while only 48 percent felt they had evenmoderate influence on determining the contentof professional development. Even smallerpercentages of teachers felt they had influenceon policies or decisions regarding teacher hiring(23 percent), the school budge

professional learning in the learning profession...linda darling-hammond, ruth chung wei, alethea...

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