| What makes professional development programs successful in improving teaching and student learning? While a consensus on this question is emerging, hard evidence is still in short supply. A group of professional development programs with proven track records in improving teaching and learning will become lab sites for a PSA study to close this gap.
PSA’s research, which is intended to inform state and local policy makers about the policies and investments necessary to support high-quality professional development, will:
- Identify the strategies and combinations of strategies that contribute to their successes
- Determine the costs of these activities
- Document the organizational factors and policies that facilitate and support program maturation
All of the professional development programs in this study are designed to help teachers improve the way they teach literacy and mathematics. However, the study will not endorse specific instructional programs or initiatives. Rather, it will use case study research to document what it is about these programs that encourages teachers to use what they learned in their classrooms. PSA will also use data on student outcomes as indicators of teachers’ successful implementation and use of their new knowledge and skills.
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