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Professional development and teacher education policies have the potential to greatly affect teachers' abilities to teach and, as a result, students' abilities to learn. States can play varied roles in the provision of teacher education and professional development. This policy brief summarizes states' policy approaches to teacher professional deve...
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Teachers are faced with many barriers during their first few years of teaching, and they desire support to help them through this challenging time. Unfortunately, many beginning teachers rarely receive this assistance. Lack of support can create barriers that grow into to overall job dissatisfaction and lead to the failure of teacher retention. In...
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... Unlike primary and secondary school teachers that regularly engage in professional development as part of their continued growth and to maintain certification (Collinson et al., 2009;Loeb et al., 2009;Mukan et al., 2019), the professional development opportunities for post-secondary instructors are more ad hoc. One might go to a workshop, attend a conference, or participate in sessions offered by a university's center for learning and teaching. ...
One way that university mathematics departments across the United States are making efforts to improve their introductory mathematics courses is by implementing or increasing the level of course coordination. This can entail creating uniform course elements for multi-section courses and efforts to build a community of practice among the instructors teaching these courses. In this paper we explore coordinator orientations that implicitly (and in some cases explicitly) guide their work. In particular, we identified two orientations toward coordination, a Humanistic-Growth orientation and a Resource-Managerial orientation. Data analyzed in this manuscript consists of interviews with 19 course coordinators and 53 instructors from seven different higher education institutions across the United States. We introduce a framework that aligns two approaches to professional development with these two coordinator orientations and conclude with a discussion on how department chairs and others looking to implement or improve coordination may leverage this framework provided in this paper.
... PD is a universal vehicle for K-12 teacher learning in the U.S. Common experiences include inservice workshops, clinics with outside experts, webinars and other online PD, professional conferences, teacher collaboration, and teacher coaching/mentoring. Every state conditions licensure renewal on accrual of PD credits/hours and a full 99% of teachers participate annually in some form of PD (Loeb et al., 2009;Taie & Goldring, 2020). Jacob and McGovern (2015) estimated that in the 50 largest U.S. school districts annual PD expenditures was a combined $8 billion, or about $18,000 per teacher per year. ...
... In fact, short-term workshops and clinics, which feature tangible methods and quick implementation, remain the most popular PD activity among U.S. teachers (Gallo, 2018;Wei et al., 2009;West, 2021). Since most schools and districts have traditionally awarded PD credit based on hours spent (Loeb et al., 2009), many teachers are loath to participate in PD that may not "count" (Davis, 2011). Moreover, despite efforts to increase access to sustained PD in schools (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017), teachers often struggle to integrate it into their already-packed schedules. ...
In this article, we examine how the COVID-19 pandemic, an exogenous shock to the United States education system, shaped teachers’ readiness and willingness to engage in professional development (PD). We borrow the concept of exogenous shocks from economics and sociology to illustrate how education practice can be driven as much by factors outside the field (e.g., viral outbreaks) as by those within it (e.g., policy and scholarship). Using the four substantive domains in Appova and Arbaugh’s (2018) framework on teachers' motivation to learn in PD—teacher education and PD, educational psychology, andragogy and adult learning, and policy and accountability—we argue that teacher motivation, rather than mere PD structure or content, is the true linchpin of teacher learning. In that light, we describe some of the pandemic’s demotivational effects on teachers’ learning in the U.S. and offer a roadmap for scholars to center motivation in future PD research. We outline several pathways of inquiry, including a renewed focus on links between teacher motivation and PD effectiveness, the generation and application of new measures and models of teachers’ motivation to learn, and the use of PD as an instrument for teacher resilience and efficacy after an exogenous shock. Keywords: professional development, teacher learning, teacher motivation, COVID-19, pandemic
... If teachers believe they are capable of achieving intended goals through their actions, they are more likely to commit to the PD learning process. • Policy refers to the influence of PD credit requirements (Loeb et al., 2009); gatekeeper facilitation of PD through time, financial, and physical resources (Desimone et al., 2007); and whether general policy conditions are perceived by teachers as conducive to their learning (J. J. West, 2020a). ...
... Current PD-credit policies, which often define PD engagement by clock hours (Loeb et al., 2009), are sometimes incompatible with growth-in-practice models. Many large-scale PD providers offer nondegree credit to attendees (e.g., NAFME In-Service Conference, Midwest Clinic). ...
The purpose of this study was to explore why and how a prototypically "effective" teacher professional development (PD) effort, reciprocal peer coaching (RPC), fell short. Despite RPC's conformity with long-espoused best practices in PD-content-specificity, extended duration, collaboration, inquiry, and self-direction-only two in eight music teachers who began the 5-month coaching and observation trajectory completed it. We used instrumental case study analysis to understand teachers' decisions to continue in or prematurely withdraw from RPC. Findings revealed motivational factors such as collaboration and affirmative support, growth-in-practice learning, and content relevance were, for the majority of participants, overcome by demotivational factors related to participants' perceived lack of agency in shaping their work context and the incoherence and insufficiency of their policy environments. We advance implications for PD providers, researchers, and policymakers.
... Teachers responsibilities today are becoming so important that it requires hard work than ever, to nurture manpower that society required in the teaching profession. Loeb, Miller, and Strunk (2009) have indicated that professional development and teacher education policies have the potential to greatly affect teachers' abilities to teach and, as a result, students' abilities to learn. Teachers may have all the skills and all the knowledge but will still be worthless without practice (Snoek, Dengerink and Dewit, 2019). ...
Teaching requires a kind of dispositions and skill sets that can be made possible by a network of groundwork. In addition, everything in education rises and falls on the teacher because good policies can fail without aspect of the teacher. Teaching is an art that is easier said than done, and so those who will teach must be a continuous learner, sharpened through persistent practice and developed through constant reflection. This work therefore, is a three-dimensional perspective discourse of the teaching profession in terms of; (i) Readiness (ii) Responsibility (iii) Reflection
... Teachers responsibilities today are becoming so important that it requires hard work than ever, to nurture manpower that society required in the teaching profession. Loeb, Miller, and Strunk (2009) have indicated that professional development and teacher education policies have the potential to greatly affect teachers' abilities to teach and, as a result, students' abilities to learn. Teachers may have all the skills and all the knowledge but will still be worthless without practice (Snoek, Dengerink and Dewit, 2019). ...
Teaching requires a kind of dispositions and skill sets that can be made possible by a network of groundwork. In addition, everything in education rises and falls on the teacher because good policies can fail without aspect of the teacher. Teaching is an art that is easier said than done, and so those who will teach must be a continuous learner, sharpened through persistent practice and developed through constant reflection. This work therefore, is a three-dimensional perspective discourse of the teaching profession in terms of; (i) Readiness (ii) Responsibility (iii) Reflection
... Here, a strong connection between teachers' personal learning goals and the programmes' goals is crucial as it increases the likelihood of teachers becoming ambitious and successful while learning (Coburn, 2004;Penuel et al., 2007;Zepeda, 2013). Likewise, the policy approaches to professional development often, at least loosely, call for enhancement of teachers' CK through their participation in PDPs, as seen in Loeb et al. (2009). Furthermore, the same goal is shared by research scientists that facilitate the programmes (Drayton & Falk, 2006;Gentsch, 1999;Schuster & Carlsen, 2009;Taylor et al., 2008). ...
Elementary particle physics is a contemporary topic in science that is slowly being integrated into high-school education. These new implementations are challenging teachers’ professional knowledge worldwide. Therefore, physics education research is faced with two important questions, namely, how can particle physics be integrated in high-school physics curricula and how best to support teachers in enhancing their professional knowledge on particle physics. This doctoral research project set up to provide better guidelines for answering these two questions by conducting three studies on high-school particle physics education. First, an expert concept mapping study was conducted to elicit experts’ expectations on what high-school students should learn about particle physics. Overall, 13 experts in particle physics, computing, and physics education participated in 9 concept mapping rounds. The broad knowledge base of the experts ensured that the final expert concept map covers all major particle physics aspects. Specifically, the final expert concept map includes 180 concepts and examples, connected with 266 links and crosslinks. Among them are also several links to students’ prior knowledge in topics such as mechanics and thermodynamics. The high interconnectedness of the concepts shows possible opportunities for including particle physics as a context for other curricular topics. As such, the resulting expert concept map is showcased as a well-suited tool for teachers to scaffold their instructional practice. Second, a review of 27 high-school physics curricula was conducted. The review uncovered which concepts related to particle physics can be identified in most curricula. Each curriculum was reviewed by two reviewers that followed a codebook with 60 concepts related to particle physics. The analysis showed that most curricula mention cosmology, elementary particles, and charges, all of which are considered theoretical particle physics concepts. None of the experimental particle physics concepts appeared in more than half of the reviewed curricula. Additional analysis was done on two curricular subsets, namely curricula with and curricula without an explicit particle physics chapter. Curricula with an explicit particle physics chapter mention several additional explicit particle physics concepts, namely the Standard Model of particle physics, fundamental interactions, antimatter research, and particle accelerators. The latter is an example of experimental particle physics concepts. Additionally, the analysis revealed that, overall, most curricula include Nature of Science and history of physics, albeit both are typically used as context or as a tool for teaching, respectively. Third, a Delphi study was conducted to investigate stakeholders’ expectations regarding what teachers should learn in particle physics professional development programmes. Over 100 stakeholders from 41 countries represented four stakeholder groups, namely physics education researchers, research scientists, government representatives, and high-school teachers. The study resulted in a ranked list of the 13 most important topics to be included in particle physics professional development programmes. The highest-ranked topics are cosmology, the Standard Model, and real-life applications of particle physics. All stakeholder groups agreed on the overall ranking of the topics. While the highest-ranked topics are again more theoretical, stakeholders also expect teachers to learn about experimental particle physics topics, which are ranked as medium importance topics. The three studies addressed two research aims of this doctoral project. The first research aim was to explore to what extent particle physics is featured in high-school physics curricula. The comparison of the outcomes of the curricular review and the expert concept map showed that curricula cover significantly less than what experts expect high-school students to learn about particle physics. For example, most curricula do not include concepts that could be classified as experimental particle physics. However, the strong connections between the different concept show that experimental particle physics can be used as context for theoretical particle physics concepts, Nature of Science, and other curricular topics. In doing so, particle physics can be introduced in classrooms even though it is not (yet) explicitly mentioned in the respective curriculum. The second research aim was to identify which aspects of content knowledge teachers are expected to learn about particle physics. The comparison of the Delphi study results to the outcomes of the curricular review and the expert concept map showed that stakeholders generally expect teachers to enhance their school knowledge as defined by the curricula. Furthermore, teachers are also expected to enhance their deeper school knowledge by learning how to connect concepts from their school knowledge to other concepts in particle physics and beyond. As such, professional development programmes that focus on enhancing teachers’ school knowledge and deeper school knowledge best support teachers in building relevant context in their instruction. Overall, this doctoral research project reviewed the current state of high-school particle physics education and provided guidelines for future enhancements of the particle physics content in high-school student and teacher education. The outcomes of the project support further implementations of particle physics in high-school education both as explicit content and as context for other curricular topics. Furthermore, the mixed-methods approach and the outcomes of this research project lead to several implications for professional development programmes and science education research, that are discussed in the final chapters of this dissertation.
... Teachers are expected to be skilled practitioners who can solve practical problems and create quality learning opportunities for the students (Sachs, 2005). Professional development elements and educational policies have the potential to affect the teaching abilities of teachers to a great degree (Loeb et al., 2009). ...
p style="text-align: justify;">The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the levels of occupational professionalism and occupational alienation in kindergarten teachers. Correlational survey model among the quantitative research models was used in the research. In this context, 224 kindergarten teachers were reached via convenience sampling model. The data of the research was collected via the Teacher Information Form, Teachers’ Occupational Professionalism Scale and Occupational Alienation of Preschool Teachers Scale. SPSS software and statistical measures such as independent samples t-test, ANOVA and Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation were used to analyse the obtained data. According to the research findings, both occupational professionalism and occupational alienation levels of kindergarten teachers were found to be high. Levels of occupational professionalism and occupational alienation may differ according to some demographic variables among teachers. The relationship between occupational professionalism and occupation alienation was found to be statistically significant. The same is also true for the sub-dimensions of the scales. Lastly, the findings and results obtained during the research were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions were made.</p
... However, policies in professional development are often stated ambiguously (Hardy et al., 2010;Kennedy, 2015) and its subsequent goals are also defined rather vaguely. The most common learning goals in policies include strengthening teachers' competencies (Hardy et al., 2010), keeping teachers in contact with new curricula and policies (Loeb et al., 2009), and improving teachers' understanding of high-quality academic research (Department for Education, 2016). Indeed, the literature rarely reports more specific learning goals, such as enhancing CK (Donnelly & Argyle, 2011). ...
Effective professional development programs (PDPs) rely on well-defined goals. However, recent studies on PDPs have not explored the goals from a multi-stakeholder perspective. This study identifies the most important learning goals of PDPs at science research institutions as perceived by four groups of stakeholders, namely teachers, education researchers, government representatives, and research scientists. Altogether, over 100 stakeholders from 42 countries involved in PDPs at science research institutions in Europe and North America participated in a three-round Delphi study. In the first round, the stakeholders provided their opinions on what they thought the learning goals of PDPs should be through an open-ended questionnaire. In the second and third rounds, the stakeholders assessed the importance of the learning goals that emerged from the first round by rating and ranking them, respectively. The outcome of the study is a hierarchical list of the ten most important learning goals of PDPs at particle physics laboratories. The stakeholders identified enhancing teachers' knowledge of scientific concepts and models and enhancing their knowledge of the curricula as the most important learning goals. Furthermore, the results show strong agreement between all the stakeholder groups regarding the defined learning goals. Indeed, all groups ranked the learning goals by their perceived importance almost identically. These outcomes could help policymakers establish more specific policies for PDPs. Additionally, they provide PDP practitioners at science research institutions with a solid base for future research and planning endeavors.
... Borko, 2004) or national policies (e.g. Loeb et al., 2009), respectively. Previous research suggests that collaboration between different PDP stakeholders can lead to more effective PDPs (Kennedy, 2007;Park Rogers et al., 2007). ...
... Similarly, enhancement of PCK was also frequently mentioned by all stakeholder groups (e.g. Borko, 2004;Loeb et al., 2009;Park Rogers et al., 2010;Schuster & Carlsen, 2009). In contrast, the enhancement of PK was only included as a learning goal of PDPs in some studies with teachers (e.g. Park Rogers et al., 2010) and one study with educational researchers (Smith & Gillespie, 2007). ...
... (Loeb et al., 2009), school systems direct tens of billions of dollars annually toward PD provision (Jacob & McGovern, 2015;Odden et al., 2002), and almost every major education reform enacted in the modern era has included PD as a key implementation lever (Little, 1987;Tooley & Connally, 2016). PD may be the most universal of any activity regularly undertaken by teachers. ...
... Since at least the 1980s, teacher quality-and thus, teacher PD-has been at the epicenter of education policy debates in the United States (Ravitch, 2014). Effectively every state now requires a fixed number of PD hours for teacher recertification and articulates standards for which activities count as PD (Loeb et al., 2009). States are also increasingly integrating PD into formal teacher evaluation systems (Goe et al., 2012). ...
... Guskey (1986) described PD as "deliberate activit[ies] generally undertaken with specific purposes . . . to alter the beliefs and attitudes of teachers prior to the implementation of a new program or innovation" (p. 6). Many states still rely on means-focused depictions of PD because they can be cleanly quantified (e.g., accrual of hours or credits for recertification; Loeb et al., 2009). Education scholars tend to adopt a more capacious formulation: PD as an end in itself. ...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate music teacher professional development (PD) practice and policy in the United States between 1993 and 2012. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) spanning these 20 years, I examined music teacher PD participation by topic, intensity, relevance, and format; music teachers’ top PD priorities; and the reach of certain PD-supportive policies. I assessed these descriptive results against a set of broadly agreed-on criteria for “effective” PD: content specificity, relevance, voluntariness/autonomy, social interaction, and sustained duration. Findings revealed a mixed record. Commendable improvements in content-specific PD access were undercut by deficiencies in social interaction, voluntariness/autonomy, sustained duration, and relevance. School policy, as reported by teachers, was grossly inadequate, with only one of the nine PD-supportive measures appearing on SASS reaching a majority of teachers in any given survey year. Implications for policy, practice, and scholarship are presented.
