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What Makes Professional Development Effective?
Abstract:
The author collected and analyzed 13 recent lists of characteristics of "effective" professional development and came to three conclusions. First, little agreement is apparent among researchers or practitioners on criteria for effectiveness. He urges going beyond evidence based on teacher self-reports to focus instead on the end goal of student achievement. Second, statements about effective development programs generally include "yes, but" qualifiers, frustrating policymakers and practitioners seeking simple answers. Yet, he agrees, the complexity of real-world context makes one-size-fits-all statements impossible. Finally, he says, while the promise of research-based decision making on professional development remains unfulfilled, it does not need to remain so. He urges identifying the strategies of effective teachers in each school and sharing them with colleagues as a basis for highly effective professional development in that context.
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| Strand(s): | Professional Development |
| Author: | Guskey, T.R. |
| Publication Date: | 2003, June |
| Journal: | Phi Delta Kappan |
| Journal Volume: | 84(10) |
| Pages: | 748-750 |
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