Supporting teacher learning during the professional development experience: The case of national board certification

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Handler ◽  
Teresa Petty ◽  
Amy Good

Amidst increasing globalized pressures to raise student achievement, nations are heavily investing in various forms of teacher professional development. In the United States, teachers are increasingly electing to pursue National Board Certification, yet few studies have analyzed the experience within the greater complex system of teaching and learning. Viewed from this approach, findings from this study suggest that numerous dynamic forces—relationships, partnerships, structures, and policies—interact in various patterns that can potentially support effective teacher professional development. Implications suggest a need for broader conceptualization, greater cohesion, and more strategic integration of teacher learning in education policy.

2020 ◽  
pp. 002242942098252
Author(s):  
Justin J. West

The purpose of this study was to evaluate music teacher professional development (PD) practice and policy in the United States between 1993 and 2012. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) spanning these 20 years, I examined music teacher PD participation by topic, intensity, relevance, and format; music teachers’ top PD priorities; and the reach of certain PD-supportive policies. I assessed these descriptive results against a set of broadly agreed-on criteria for “effective” PD: content specificity, relevance, voluntariness/autonomy, social interaction, and sustained duration. Findings revealed a mixed record. Commendable improvements in content-specific PD access were undercut by deficiencies in social interaction, voluntariness/autonomy, sustained duration, and relevance. School policy, as reported by teachers, was grossly inadequate, with only one of the nine PD-supportive measures appearing on SASS reaching a majority of teachers in any given survey year. Implications for policy, practice, and scholarship are presented.


Author(s):  
Amani Abisai Lyanga

This paper reports on promoting and enhancing effective teacher professional development in Tanzania: Lessons from Chinese teacher professional development. Teacher professional development is an important aspect in any country for educational achievement. In several years Tanzania has been facing ineffective teacher training and professional development. As a result, most of the teachers fail to plan their professional development as it expected to be. The analysis of findings indicated that Chinese teacher professional development has obtained significant achievement due to the presence of a strong policy, heavy investment in the teacher education sector, and other related factors. In this regard, these lessons are worth to Tanzania which still struggling to have effective teacher professional development through teacher practice. Therefore this study recommended that the Tanzanian government should encourage professional training programs for teachers through financial and material support.


Author(s):  
Tania Heap ◽  
Ruthanne Thompson ◽  
Adam Fein

AbstractFrom a design perspective, this paper offers a response to the impact, value, and application of a manuscript published by Philipsen et al. (Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: A systematic meta-aggregative review. Educational Technology and Research Development, 67, 1145–1174. 10.1007/s11423-019-09645-8, 2019). Philipsen et al. (2019) reviewed what constitutes an effective teacher professional development program (TPD) for online and blended learning (OBL), with our response focusing on its value and application in light of an emergency shift to digital to address a global pandemic. This paper also proceeds to examine limitations in previous research into the subject and future research opportunities to investigate important components that inform the design of a resilient and scalable TPD for OBL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.


2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-186
Author(s):  
Caroline Brayer Ebby ◽  
Maria Palaitis Ottinger ◽  
Penny Silver

Research has shown that learning to teach mathematics for understanding is not simply a matter of learning new pedagogical techniques but rather requires substantial changes in a teacher's knowledge, beliefs, and practice (Putnam and Borko 2000). Preparing teachers to implement reform-oriented curricula requires positioning them as learners and inquirers of mathematical content, student learning, and instructional practice. Ball (1996) asserts that teacher professional development must embrace the uncertainty of practice and reflect a “stance of critique and inquiry—a stance of asking and debating, a discourse of conjecture and deliberation” (p. 506).


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