Insufficient Support or Insufficient Research? A Review of Professional Development for Novice Social Studies Teachers

• In Event: Quantitative and Mixed Methods Research in Social Studies Education

Abstract

This systematic literature review explores research on how social studies novice teachers (within their first five years in the classroom) engage with professional development (PD). Using Desimone's (2009) framework for high-quality PD, we analyze 19 peer-reviewed studies published since 2015 to report on PD design, content focus, active learning approaches, and outcomes for teachers’ learning. Our findings reveal that many PD experiences incorporate elements of effective PD, but few are content-specific and fewer examine causal outcomes of PD. We argue that improving research and practice around content-specific social studies PD is essential to teacher retention and strengthening the profession.

Authors

• Alexa M. Quinn, James Madison University

• Anna Yonas, University of Kansas