A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Improving America's Schools: Newsletter on Issues in School Reform - May 1996

High-Quality Professional Development Supports Education Reform

Professional development is most effective when it is accessible to all educators and is part of a system-wide effort to improve teacher recruitment, selection, preparation, licensing and certification, and ongoing development and support. Strong professional development programs require partnerships among schools, higher education institutions, and other appropriate entities to promote learning opportunities for all those who affect student achievement and to combine resources to address diverse educational needs.

Recognizing the critical role teachers and other educators play in ensuring that all students achieve at high levels, the U. S. Department of Education (ED) convened a Professional Development Team to examine the best available research and practice on professional development and to draft principles that might inform practitioners and policymakers across the country and guide ED's own efforts in professional development. The draft principles were published in the Federal Register in December 1994 and disseminated to more than 600 people and organizations with interests in education. After careful consideration of the extensive comments it received, ED revised and published the principles below.

Professional Development:

Focuses on teachers as central to student learning, yet includes all members of the school community;
Focuses on individual, collegial, and organizational improvement;
Respects and nurtures the intellectual and leadership capacity of teachers, principals, and others in the school community;
Reflects the best available research and practice in teaching, learning, and leadership;
Enables teachers to develop further expertise in subject content, teaching strategies, uses of technologies, and other essential elements of teaching to high standards;
Promotes continuous inquiry and improvement embedded in the daily life of schools;
Is planned collaboratively by those who will participate in and facilitate that development;
Requires substantial time and resources;
Is driven by a coherent long-term plan;
Is evaluated ultimately on the basis of its effects on teacher instruction and student learning, and uses this assessment to guide subsequent professional development efforts

(Source:"Mission and Principles of Professional Development," U. S. Department of Education, 1995).
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[Rethinking Professional Development ]

[Opportunities for Professional Development Sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education]