PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT— The term “professional development” means a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement.
After reading this definition I wondered if I have been missing out on something at the PD's I have attended this school year. I am pretty sure that every professional development that I have attended did not intend to increase my effectiveness in raising student achievement.
I am not sure if I agree that this a necessary component of PD. I think that sometimes professional development can be used to inform, educate or simply raise the morale of a staff.
Even more importantly PD can be used to teach teachers and administrators new information that may not have an affect on student achievement. For example if we were doing a PD on using Grade Book, the end product would not raise student achievement but it's necessary so that teachers are aware f how to record students' grades.
Overall, I think that the majority of Professional Development should definitely increase a teacher's effectiveness in raising student achievement. However, I don't think that should be the all encompassing definition of professional development.
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Yeah, I am almost positive that every PD I've attended, or held for that matter, did not have an explicit focus on raising student achievement.
ReplyDeleteI think for that to always be the focus, we would have to find measurable ways to determine that our PD affects students. Without application by teachers, and a direct lineage to the training that teacher received, then we are merely shooting off the cuff when we make blanket statements about such and such will improve scores.
I guess, as much as it pains me to say it, we need more data to back up those claims.
Good post!
-Lindsay