Insight Help Center
Professional Development
High-quality professional development should help all teachers improve their practice. In this Insight survey domain, teachers report on their experiences with professional development and how well professional development helps them learn new, useful skills.
Recommendations
Based on our extensive experience, TNTP recommends the following as evidence-based practices for this domain:
- Align: Ensure that professional development is aligned to a rigorous academic curriculum.
- Focus: Narrow the focus of your practice to help teachers develop specific, isolated skills.
- Practice: Provide opportunities for teachers to apply the skill, not just talk about it.
- Provide Feedback: Ensure teachers are getting high-leverage, actionable feedback based on their classroom practice.
Resources
| Resource | Description |
| The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development | A summary of TNTP’s research on professional development |
| Principles for High-Quality, Standards-Aligned Professional Learning | An overview of effective professional learning from Student Achievement Partners |
| Creating the Conditions for Strong Teacher Development | A guest TNTP blog post from then-superintendent of Achievement First on their guiding principles for teacher development |
| Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Chapter 4: Professional Development) | Concrete guidance for leaders regarding best professional development practices |
| The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation by Elena Aguilar | A practice-based guide on the foundational skills and tools needed by coaching educators |
| Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves by Diane Sweeney and Leanna S. Harris | An overview of an evidence-based coaching model that shifts the focus from “fixing” teachers to collaborating with them to design instruction that targets student outcomes |
| Coaching Conversations: Transforming Your School One Conversation at a Time by Linda M. Gross Cheliotes and Marceta F. Reilly | A handbook on coaching teachers (and others) |