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The topic of this week’s module looked at which methods
of professional development have the most impact on student learning. The
article “Teaching Teachers: Professional Development to Improve Student
Achievement” (Hill & Cohen, 2005) cited three main ways
that teachers can significantly improve student learning through professional
development. They include focusing on how students learn a particular subject
matter, instructional practices that are specifically related to the subject
matter and how students understand it, and strengthening teachers’ knowledge of
specific subject matter content.
While Hill and Cohen find three clear ways to help
teacher development, it must be noted that the article is from 2005, nearly 10
years ago. A second, more recent article, "What Research Tells Us: Common Characteristics of Professional Learning that Leads to Student Achievement" (Blank, 2013) also explored the
relationship between professional development and student achievement. Blank identified
16 significant studies, of more than 400 hundred published professional
development studies ( (Blank, 2013, p. 52), that scientifically
proved that student learning had achieved gains because of professional
development. The article came to some significant, data driven solutions, which
suggest that the type of professional development given, does have impact on
student learning.
Both articles come to two very similar conclusions on
teacher development. The first is that
professional development must focus on a way for teachers to directly apply
what they learn to their teaching.
According to Hill and Cohen (2005), “Research shows that professional development
leads to better instructions and improved student learning when it connects to
the curriculum materials that teachers use. (p. 2)
The second conclusion is “that the more time teachers spend on professional
development, the more significantly they change their practices”. (Hill & Cohen, 2005, p. 2) Blank agrees by
saying that teachers need both “More time for professional learning” (p. 52) and “Longer duration
of professional learning” (p. 52).
Both articles agree that in order to move student learning,
teachers need professional development that is focused on the content that they
teach, and that they need more of that type of professional development than
they are currently receiving.
Works Cited
Blank, R. (2013, Feb). What Research Tells Us: Common Characteristics of Professional Learning that Leads to Student Achievement. Journal of Staff Development, 34(1), 50-53.
Hill, H., & Cohen, D. (2005). Teaching Teachers: Professional Development to Improve Student Achievement. Research Points, 3(1), 1-4.