By Dennis Sparks

Results, February 2000

Those seeking to reform schools exclusively through standards, rigorous tests, and strict accountability measures seem to believe that teachers and administrators already know what to do to improve student achievement but just need to be prodded to work harder. Many states and school districts, however, have begun to understand the limitations of this strategy and to acknowledge that improvements ultimately will depend on what teachers know about the subjects they teach and their ability to use a wide variety of methods to reach an increasingly diverse student body.

In December, NSDC released a national report – A National Plan for Improving Professional Development – in which NSDC Associate Executive Director Stephanie Hirsh and I argue that improving the quality of teaching and leadership requires a new and more powerful form of professional development and that this nation can no longer hope that a random selection of courses and consultants will provide teachers with the knowledge and teaching skills they need to bring all student to high standards.

In this report, we repeat what NSDC members already know: that powerful professional development focuses on improving student learning, is a part of every teacher’s work day, deeply immerses teachers in their subject matter and teaching methods, provides teachers with classroom assessment skills, and is sustained, intellectually rigorous, and cumulative. Unfortunately, there is a wide gap between that type of professional development and the kind experienced by the vast majority of teachers. That’s why strong leadership in this area is required at the national, state, and local levels.

NSDC’s report calls on the U.S. Department of Education to form a National Center on Professional Development. The Center would conduct and monitor research on effective professional development and the link between that staff development and student learning. It would also evaluate the effectiveness of staff development programs, serve as a research and dissemination clearinghouse, and monitor, analyze, and disseminate policies that promote quality staff development.

At the state level, the report recommends increasing funding for quality professional development, tracking the use of state and federal funds, and evaluating the effectiveness of staff development in improving student learning. The report also recommends that states support mentoring programs for new teachers and tie recertification requirements to teachers’ demonstrated knowledge and skill and improvements in student learning rather than "seat time" arrangements such as continuing education units.

At the local level, we advocate spending at least 10 percent of a district’s budget and allocating at least 25 percent of teachers’ time for collaborative learning and planning. Teams of teachers would plan lessons together, critique student work, and solve instructional problems. In these groups and in more traditional courses and workshops, teachers would engage in the sustained study of what they teach, how they teach it, and of how students learn. Assistance to teachers would extend into their classrooms through demonstration lessons and coaching provided by peers and trainers.

"We cannot expect teachers to teach what they do not know, nor to use yesterday’s training to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s future," the report concludes. "By improving staff development, by creating schools optimized for learning, we will be helping all teachers to excel at helping all students reach the high levels of achievement they need to succeed." NSDC intends that the report’s recommendations will stimulate and guide urgently needed changes at the local, state, and national levels.