What Makes Professional Development Effective?

After an examination of 13 recent lists of characteristics of "effective professional development," Mr. Guskey concludes that they vary widely and that the research that supports them is inconsistent and often contradictory. Nonetheless, he argues, we need to seek agreement on criteria for effectiveness, along with clear descriptions of contextual factors. DO WE KNOW what makes professional development effective? Have researchers and practitioners reached consensus about what factors contribute to a successful professional development experience? Do we even agree on what criteria should be used to judge professional development's effectiveness? A review of newly developed lists of the characteristics of effective professional development indicates that the answer to each of these questions is "Maybe not." Recently I analyzed 13 different lists of the characteristics of effective professional development, all published within the last decade. These lists were drawn from publications of the American Federation of Teachers, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Education Development Center, Educational Research Service, Educational Testing Service, Eisenhower Professional Development Program, National Governors' Association, National Institute for Science Education, National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching, National Staff Development Council, and U.S. Department of Education. My goal was to find out the extent to which these various lists agreed. What I discovered is that they were derived in very different ways, used different criteria to determine "effectiveness," and varied widely in the characteristics they identified. I also found that the research evidence regarding most of the identified characteristics is inconsistent and sometimes contradictory. In considering their development, I concluded that most of the lists could be described as "research-based." But that research rarely includes rigorous investigations of the relationship between the noted characteristics and improvements in instructional practice or student learning outcomes. Instead, it typically involves surveys of the opinions of researchers and educators. In other words, researchers and practitioners generally favor these characteristics and believe they are important, despite the lack of verifying evidence. Only a National Institute for Science Education (NISE) analysis and an Educational Testing Service (ETS) study show a direct link between their identified characteristics and specific measures of student achievement.1 Of the 21 characteristics distinguished in the lists, the most frequently cited was enhancement of teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge. Helping teachers to understand more deeply the content they teach and the ways students learn that content appears to be a vital dimension of effective professional development. At present, however, nearly all of the studies relating this characteristic to improvements in student learning focus on achievement in mathematics or science. Whether the same is true for achievement in language arts, social studies, or other subject areas has yet to be thoroughly investigated. Most of the lists mention the provision of sufficient time and other resources as essential to effective professional development. Obviously, educators need time to deepen their understanding, analyze students' work, and develop new approaches to instruction. But significant contrary evidence exists. The NISE analysis, for example, showed that differences in time spent in professional development activities were unrelated to improvements in student outcomes. Similarly, the ETS study found that the amount of time spent in professional development was unrelated to achievement. So while effective professional development surely requires time, it's clear that the time must be well organized, carefully structured, and purposefully directed. Another consistently noted characteristic is the promotion of collegiality and collaborative exchange. …