- Effective leaders use data and evaluation and establish
accountability systems so their staff and programs have the
feedback they need to continuously strengthen organizational
functioning and improve results. This practice builds a culture
of learning so that participants continually reflect on their
needs, actions and results. [add strong statement here
from the PD research base re: that such practices have been
proven effective.]
- State leaders increasingly acknowledge the importance of the
recommended actions for supporting growth and excellence in
professional learning. Learning Forward’s 2011 standards for
professional learning, which establish the importance of these
practices within a cycle of continuous improvement, have been
adopted by 38 states and were adopted or used by eleven of the 15
states in the SREB study.
- High-quality research on the effectiveness of professional
learning programs and strategies is lacking nationwide. This
shortcoming leaves state leaders with little high-quality
evidence upon which to base the design of their professional
learning initiatives and activities. In 2010, Learning Forward
and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education
studied state-level policies and strategies for professional
development. The researchers found that, while policies and
strategies that seemed promising could be identified, more
research was needed to identify a causal relationship between
state practices, teacher effectiveness and student achievement.
In a 2007 review of research, Yoon and colleagues reviewed 1,343
studies addressing the effect of professional development
programs on student learning outcomes in math, science, reading
and language arts. They concluded that only nine of the studies
employed sufficiently rigorous methods to meet the standards for
credible evidence set by the U.S. Department of Education’s What
Works Clearinghouse, which is a division of the department’s
Institute of Education Sciences charged with providing educators
with information they need to make evidence-based decisions. Yoon
and colleagues noted further that of those nine studies not one
was recent; they dated between 1986 and 2003. The lack
of robust research on the effectiveness of professional learning
programs and strategies makes it imperative that state leaders
embed evaluation of the professional learning they undertake into
regular practice, in order to continually increase the evidence
base upon which they make decisions about the use of funds, staff
and time.
- Federal policy provides support for undertaking this work.
The latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, known as The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of
2015, increases emphasis on data, evaluation and accountability
for excellence in PL. In annual Title II applications, states
must describe how their professional development activities are
aligned with challenging state academic standards and how they
are expected to improve student achievement; and provide an
assurance that the SEA will monitor the implementation of
professional development activities and use data to continually
update and improve the activities. In annual Title II reports,
states must describe how their chosen activities improved
teacher, principal, or other school leader effectiveness.
Further, states must require LEAs in their annual Title II
applications to the state, to describe how LEA professional
development activities will be aligned with challenging state
academic standards and how the LEA will use data to continually
update and improve activities. The state has flexibility to
require that LEAs provide evidence of the extent to which their
chosen activities improved teacher, principal, or other school
leader effectiveness.
- SEA’s are well-placed to provide support for increasing the
capacity of districts and schools to evaluate and continually
reflect on their work. Through providing guidance and tools,
professional learning and technical assistance, SEAs can help
local leaders more rigorously and regularly examine data about a
range of key aspects of the professional learning process from
initial planning to ultimate outcomes (through the evaluation
research questions listed above), thereby enhancing the quality
and consistency of professional learning evaluation practices —
and ultimately, professional learning outcomes —statewide. Yet,
in its benchmarking study SREB found that, overall, states have
not provided local leaders with much support for professional
learning evaluation. This leaves a gap in the resources and
supports school and district leaders can access to undertake this
important and challenging work. Efforts in this area have varied
widely, however — see below for a discussion of strong state
efforts.
- The stakes are too high not to undertake this work. The money
spent on professional learning nationwide is enormous. A 2015
study by TNTP estimated that the largest 50 school districts in
the U.S. devote at least $8 billion to teacher development
annually. And, the professional learning funded is not always
high quality. In SREB’s interviews with educators, several
teachers and school and district leaders shared that, year after
year, they have sat through low-quality training that has not
improved their practice. Although the financial and human capital
needed to make comprehensive program evaluation part of regular
practice can be great, when armed with timely monitoring data and
comprehensive evaluation results, state and local leaders can
direct funds and effort to programs that work, and stop
repeatedly funding costly programs that do not produce needed
change.
