Teacher professional development

The Feb. 11, 2009 issue of Education Week included an article titled "Staff Development for Teachers Deemed Fragmented." The article identified one- and two-day professional development opportunities as inadequate in changing teacher's instructional decisions. The article went on to compare, seemingly unfavorably, the professional development methodology of the United States with Asian and European countries that do well on international assessments.

The article reminded me of a particularly successful professional development opportunity that I participated in when I was a teacher. One summer I attended an AP professional development workshop. The workshop lasted five days and, in my opinion, helped prepare me to teach AP Calculus for the first time. I learned a lot during that summer workshop and I translated that learning into the classroom the following year.

So, I would recommend that we pursue professional development opportunities that actually influence professional practice. We should identify the issue that needs to be addressed and then design professional development opportunities that address the need; regardless of the amount of time that teachers will need to be out of the classroom.