Blog
On July 15 the Center for American Progress put out its report on High Quality Professional Development for Teachers. It is a 24-page report that summarizes the research base for what works for professional learning and how professional learning is integral to teacher evaluation and learning to teach the Common Core State Standards.
The report states that professional learning is the “link between the design and implementation of education reforms and the ultimate success of reform efforts in schools.”
Five characteristics of high quality professional-learning opportunities for teachers are listed and include:
Aligns with school goals, state and district standards and assessments and other professional learning activities.
Focuses on core content and modeling of teaching strategies for the content
Includes opportunities for active learning of new teaching strategies
Provides the chance for teachers to collaborate
Includes follow-up and continuous feedback
It is great for us to review this information and find that Insights for Learning’s Professional Learning Series meet the author’s recommendations for professional learning to include sustained and regular activities, be job-embedded, include teacher collaboration about improving teaching, coaching and using technology wisely.
Click here to read the full report online.
or
Click here to Download a PDF of the report.
