Recent research analyses show professional learning programs that include specific elements known to contribute to effectiveness may have a powerful influence on teachers’ instructional practices but relatively modest impact on student learning outcomes. Thomas Guskey explores research-based explanations for the incongruence and offers practical recommendations to remedy the disparity. He offers ideas for planning professional learning programs that focus on the end results for students.
ArensS.A.StokerG.BarkerJ.ShebbyS.WangX.CicchinelliL.F.WilliamsJ.M. (2012). Effects of curriculum and teacher professional development on the language proficiency of elementary English language learner students in the Central Region. (NCEE 2012-4013). Mid-continent Research for Education Learning.
2.
BosJ.SanchezR.TsengF.RayyesN.OrtizL.SinicropeC. (2012). Evaluation of quality teaching for English learners (QTEL) professional development (NCEE 2012-4005). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
3.
BoserU.ChingosM.StrausC. (2015, October). The hidden value of curriculum reform: Do states and districts receive the most bang for their curriculum buck?Center for American Progress.
4.
CohenD.K.BallD.L. (1990). Policy and practice: An overview. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 12 (3), 233-239.
5.
CorcoranT.FuhmanS.H.BelcherC.L. (2001). The district role in instructional improvement. Kappan, 83 (1), 78-84.
6.
CoveyS.R. (2004). The seven habits of highly effective people. Free Press.
7.
Darling-HammondL.HylerM.E.GardnerM. (2017, June). Effective teacher professional development. Learning Policy Institute.
8.
DashS.deKramerR.M.O’DwyerL M.MastersJ.RussellM. (2012). Impact of online professional development on teacher quality and student achievement in fifth grade mathematics. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 45 (1), 1-26.
9.
EvansM.TeasdaleR.M.Gannon-SlaterN.La LondeP.G.CrenshawH.L.GreenJ.C.SchwandtT.A. (2019). How did that happen? Teachers’ explanations for low test scores. Teachers College Record, 121 (2), 1-40.
10.
FirestoneA.R.CruzR.A.RodlJ.E. (2020). Teacher study groups: An integrative literature synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 90 (5), 675-709.
11.
FosterE. (2022). The research foundation for standards for professional learning. The Learning Professional, 43 (3), 22-26.
12.
GaretM.S.CronenS.EatonM.KurkiA.LudwigM.JonesW.UekawaK.FalkA.BloomH.DoolittleF.ZhuP.SztejnbergL. (2008). The impact of two professional development interventions on early reading instruction and achievement (NCEE 2008-4030). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
13.
GaretM.S.WayneA.J.StancavageF.TaylorJ.WaltersK.SongM.BrownS.HurlburtS.ZhuP.SepanikS.DoolittleF. (2010). Middle school mathematics professional development impact study: Findings after the first year of implementation (NCEE 2010-4009). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
14.
GerstenR.TaylorM.J.KeysT.D.RolfhusE.Newman-GoncharR. (2014). Summary of research on the effectiveness of math professional development approaches (REL 2014-010). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast.
15.
GulamhusseinA. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of high-stakes accountability. The Center for Public Education Initiative of the National School Boards Association.
16.
GarrettR.ZhangQ.CitkowiczM.BurrL. (2021). How Learning Forward’s standards for professional learning are associated with teacher instruction and student achievement: A meta-analysis. Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, American Institutes for Research.
17.
GuskeyT.R. (1996, October23). To transmit or to ‘construct’? The lure of trend infatuation in teacher professional development. Education Week, 16 (8), 34.
18.
GuskeyT.R. (1997). Research needs to link professional development and student learning. Journal of Staff Development, 18 (2), 36-40.
19.
GuskeyT.R. (2004). Organize principal support for professional development. Journal of Staff Development, 25 (3), 8.
20.
GuskeyT.R. (2007). Multiple sources of evidence: An analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions of various indicators of student learning. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 26 (1), 19-27.
21.
GuskeyT.R. (2014). Measuring the effectiveness of educators’ professional development. In BausermanK.L.MartinL. (Eds.), Handbook of professional development in education: Successful models and practices, PK-12 (pp. 447-466). Guilford Press.
22.
GuskeyT.R. (2017). Where do you want to get to? Evaluating the effectiveness of professional learning experiences. The Learning Professional, 38 (2), 32-37.
23.
GuskeyT.R. (2024). Look beyond the satisfaction survey: A framework to evaluate results of professional learning. The Learning Professional, 45 (1), 28-33.
24.
GuskeyT.R. (2025). In professional learning, form should follow function. The Learning Professional, 46 (1), 22-25.
25.
GuskeyT.R.RoyP.von FrankV. (2014). Reaching the highest standard in professional learning: Data. Corwin Press & Learning Forward.
26.
HillH.C.BeisiegelM.JacobR. (2013). Professional development research: Consensus, crossroads, and challenges. Educational Researcher, 42 (9), 476-487.
27.
HillH.C.LynchK.GonzalezK.E.PollardC. (2020). Professional development that improves STEM outcomes. Kappan, 101 (5), 50-56.
28.
JacobA.McGovernK. (2015). The mirage: Confronting the hard truth about our quest for teacher development. The New Teacher Program.
29.
KalenzeE. (2014). Education is upside down: Reframing reform to focus on the right problems. Rowman & Littlefield.
30.
KennedyM.M. (2016). How does professional development improve teaching?Review of Educational Research, 86 (4), 945-980.
31.
KennedyM.M. (2019). How we learn about teacher learning. Review of Research in Education, 43 (1), 138-162.
32.
KraftM.A.BlazarD.HoganD. (2018). The effects of teacher coaching on instruction and achievement: A meta-analysis of the causal evidence. Review of Educational Research, 88 (4), 547-588.
33.
KraftM.A.PapayJ.P. (2014). Can professional environments in schools promote teacher development? Explaining heterogeneity in returns to teaching experience. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36 (4), 476-500.
34.
Learning Forward (2022). Standards for professional learning.
35.
MarounJ.TienkenC.H. (2024). The pernicious predictability of state-mandated tests of academic achievement in the United States. Education Sciences, 14 (2), 129.
36.
McKenzieS.BarnesK.ReidC. (2024, June5). Effects of PLC at Work in Arkansas on academic outcomes. Policy Briefs, 21 (1).
37.
OddenA.R. (2009, December9). We know how to turn schools around -we just haven’t done it. Education Week.
38.
PayneC.M. (2008). So much reform, so little change: The persistence of failure in urban schools. Harvard Education Press.
39.
PolikoffM.S.PorterA.C.SmithsonJ. (2011). How well aligned are state assessments of student achievement with state content standards?American Educational Research Journal, 48 (4), 965-995.
40.
SantagataR.KerstingN.GivvinK.B.StiglerJ.W. (2010). Problem implementation as a lever for change: An experimental study of the effects of a professional development program on students’ mathematics learning. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4 (1), 1-24.
41.
SchmokerM. (2018). Focus: Elevating the essentials to radically improve student learning (2nd ed.). ASCD.
42.
SchmokerM. (2019). Focusing on the essentials. Educational Leadership, 77 (1), 30-35.
43.
TaylorJ.A.GettyS.R.KowalskiS.M.WilsonC.D.CarlsonJ.Van Scot-terP. (2015). An efficacy trial of research-based curriculum materials with curriculum-based professional development. American Educational Research Journal, 52 (5), 984-1017.
44.
WaterhouseL. (2006). Inadequate evidence for multiple intelligences, Mozart effect, and emotional intelligence theories. Educational Psychologist, 41 (4), 247-255.
45.
WennerJ.A.CampbellT. (2017). The theoretical and empirical basis of teacher leadership: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 87 (1), 134-171.
46.
WhitmanG.M. (2023). Learning styles: Lack of research-based evidence. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 96 (4), 111-115.
47.
WillinghamD.T.Rotherham.A. (2020). Education’s research problem. Educational Leadership, 77 (8), 70-75.
48.
YoonK.S.DuncanT.LeeS.W.-Y.ScarlossB.ShapleyK. (2007). Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2007-No. 033). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest.
49.
ZouG.DoanS.KaufmanJ.H. (2023). How do teachers spend professional learning time, and does it connect to classroom practice? Findings from the 2022American Instructional Resources Survey. RAN D Corporation.
