Randomized Trials of Teacher Professional Development Programs: The Alignment of Research Methods With Content

• In Event: Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Professional Development Posters

Abstract

Teacher professional development (PD) is widely believed to be an important lever for improving student achievement (Hill, 2007). However, little is known about what types of PD improve student learning (Wayne et al., 2008). The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) therefore recently funded several Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) of PD programs. As a method, the RCT is best suited for studying treatments of well-defined, easy-to-implement procedures (Murnane & Nelson, 2007). In this review, I evaluate the extent to which the recent IES-funded studies evaluate programs well-suited for study by RCT. I find that three of the seven studies teach standardized instructional routines to teachers through standardized PD experiences, two ingredients that lend a program well to a randomized evaluation.

Author

• David Quinn, Harvard University