Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Assessing the Effectiveness of Teacher Professional Learning

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluating Teacher Professional Development Experiences

Abstract

Teacher professional learning (PL) is typically the primary mechanism to leverage improvements in professional knowledge, classroom instruction, and student learning (Reeves 2010), but, since districts rarely expect professional developers (PDLs) to evaluate PL, the practice continues with little evidence whether the investment in PL is justified. The purpose of this study was to explain PDLs’ thinking about PL evaluation and how they used the data as evidence of effect. We found that, when PDLs made the effort to evaluate PL, they relied on methods of data collection and analysis best suited to evaluate teachers’ reception of PL rather than on the efficacy of their own teaching to effect PLs’ purported purpose – pedagogical change and improved student outcomes.

Authors

• Wendy James, University of Saskatchewan

• Scott D. Tunison, University of Saskatchewan