Can Professional Development Move the Needle on Personalized Pedagogical Practices? Evidence From the Middle Grades

• In Event: Documenting Teacher Change and Shifts in Practice Over Time

Abstract

School reforms aimed at personalizing education are growing across the United States. Personalization requires teachers to shift their practices, and professional development can help teachers make these shifts. However, programs to help meet this emerging need cannot necessarily utilize traditional approaches, and their efficacy is difficult to characterize. This study measures changes in the personalization practices of 72 teachers who participated in a year-long co-designed program of professional development. Results indicate significant growth in six of seven categories of teacher practices. However, engagement with professional development as measured by teacher contact time was not a significant predictor of growth. The importance of continuing to understand how to measure professional development in this emerging educational ecosystem is considered.

Authors

• Mark W. Olofson, University of Texas at El Paso

• John M. Downes, The University of Vermont

• Penny A. Bishop, The University of Vermont

• Carmen Petrick Smith, The University of Vermont