Characertistics of Public School Teachers' Professional Development Activities: 1999-2000. Issue Brief

摘要

As in many professions, elementary and secondary school teachers are expected to participate regularly in professional development activities. These activities may be intended to help teachers to learn new teaching methods, broaden their subject matter content knowledge, or stay informed of changing policies, among other purposes. Researchers have identified several features of professional development that have been correlated with change in teacher knowledge and instructional practices, including (1) a focus on teachers subject matter content or the teaching methods they employ (called focus on content and focus on methods in this Issue Brief); (2) duration in terms of the number of hours of training and the number of weeks or months over which training is provided (duration); (3) an activity format that is integrated into the daily work of teachers rather than removed from the context of direct public school teaching, as in traditional workshops (format); (4) collective participation of teachers peers in matters of instruction (collective participation); (5) alignment with local standards and other initiatives to change instructional practice, as well as teachers own professional goals (alignment); and (6) activities that produce many opportunities for active learning, including observation, planning, practicing, and presenting (opportunities for active learning).