How can we guarantee the time and effort we invest in professional learning will lead to meaningful and enduring improvements? Thomas R. Guskey, professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky, shares six steps to evidence-based professional learning that makes a difference.

Why does professional learning for educators have such a mixed history? Why is it so hard to find solid research evidence of professional development programs that actually improve student learning outcomes? Part of the answer, writes Thomas R. Guskey, is that professional learning experiences for educators are rarely well planned. Consequently,…

Educators often shy away from evaluating professional learning experiences because they believe the process requires knowledge and skills they don't possess. As a result, they either neglect evaluation procedures completely or leave them to "experts" who come in at the end and gather data to determine if anything made a difference. But…

This paper describes a major initiative in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to develop a statewide, standards-based, student report card for reporting the learning progress of individual students at all grade levels (K-12). Led by a team of researchers with expertise in grading and reporting, 36 educators from three diverse school districts created…

Scholars from the American Institutes for Research analyzed findings from over 1,300 studies that potentially address the effect of professional development on student learning outcomes. The project was sponsored by the Regional Education Laboratory-Southwest (RELSW) and funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of…

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a district-wide professional development effort based on a modified Ramp-Up Program, designed to help high school teachers improve the reading skills of their students. Ramp-Up is a two-year course that seeks to accelerate the learning progress of entering high school students who…

All proposals for education reform include professional development as a significant element in promoting change. Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of professional development and its role in educational reform. Consequently, evaluation of professional development programs is increasing and expanding to include student…

In recent years, different researchers and research agencies, teacher associations, national education organizations, and the U.S. Department of Education have published lists of the characteristics of "effective professional development." This study analyzed 13 of the better known of these lists to determine if they were derived through similar…

Accountability is now a requirement in education, and that extends to professional development. Leaders must understand what evaluation is, what its purposes are, and the critical levels of professional development evaluation to be able to provide meaningful data that demonstrate the difference professional learning makes.

In recent years, different researchers and research agencies, teacher associations, national education organizations, and the U.S. Department of Education have published lists of the characteristics of effective professional development to guide school leaders in their improvement efforts. This study analyzed 13 of the better known of these lists…

Because of increased emphasis on accountability, program evaluations today must go beyond measures of change in program participants to consider the effects, either direct or indirect, of staff development on students and their learning. A model is presented illustrating the relationship between staff development for teachers and student learning…