Professional Development
Education news, analysis, and opinion about efforts to provide continuing education for school staff.
Special Report
Smart Strategies for Teacher Professional Development
How are school districts making professional development more relevant and meaningful for teachers? This special report takes an in-depth look at a few of those efforts.
Special Report
Teacher PD in the Common-Core Era
This special report on professional development explores the juncture between the common core and growing efforts to reconfigure learning opportunities for teachers.
Special Report
Virtual PD Creates Connections
This special report, another installment in Education Week's series on virtual education, examines how K-12 professional development is taking a more digital and freewheeling approach to educator training.
Professional Development Opinion Lead From Your CoreIf you haven't read Brene Brown's Dare to Lead, I strongly recommend it and not just for leaders, for anyone. Her voice is a strong and honest one that brings humor and humility to the front of the lessons she teaches.
Professional Development Opinion Support Teachers Where They Are for Initiatives to ThriveAlthough we can make a case for developing more informed citizens, we really want critically thoughtful, creative people, who are less afraid of risk and more willing to take chances to grow. Our current system doesn't breed that in most people.
Professional Development Opinion How to Coach the Overwhelmed TeacherOften when I ask educators how they're feeling, the most common phrases I hear are, "I'm overwhelmed" and "I'm so stressed."
Professional Development Opinion Leaders, Don't Assume, Stay CuriousIt is important when we are doing this that we don't unintentionally assume the worst about our learners, adult or student, and give them every opportunity to share what they know and can do.
Professional Development Opinion Comfort Is a Killer of InnovationAs a profession, we need to work to innovate, see education as it needs to be now, and stop comparing it to what it was when we were doing it. The stakes are too high.
Professional Development Opinion 9 Tips for Making the Most of the Observation ProcessSince adult learning is a little more challenging than student learning, we have to let our learners process what they hear in a way that is dignified and works for them.
Professional Development Gates Giving Millions to Train Teachers on 'High Quality' CurriculaThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to invest about $10 million to improve how teachers are taught to use and modify curricula that are well aligned to state learning standards.
Professional Development Opinion 'Making Learning Whole,' a ReviewIf you need convincing as to why project-based learning is the way to go, I strongly recommend Making Learning Whole by David Perkins. It's a quick but meaningful read that is accessible.
Professional Development Opinion Reflecting and Assessing Progress as a LeaderFrom #attentive to #commitment, I decided that my biggest responsibility as a leader is to help our team accomplish the goals they set for themselves.
Professional Development This State Is Reimagining How to Mentor Teachers in Alternative-Certification ProgramsEight Louisiana school systems are piloting an approach in which alternative-certification teacher candidates receive a full period of support from their mentor each day.Professional Development Opinion Why Teachers Might Benefit From Transformational CoachingTransformational coaching is an approach that explores a teacher's behaviors, beliefs, and ways of being, and that uses a systems thinking perspective to solve for common instructional challenges.
Professional Development Leaders To Learn From 2019: A Sneak PeekMeet three outstanding educators—the first in Education Week’s 2019 class of Leaders To Learn From—who are single-minded in their pursuit of opportunity and excellence on behalf of their students, their teachers, and their communities.
Professional Development 'Learning Styles' Aren't a Reliable Way to Categorize Students, Study SaysA new study offers further evidence against the "learning styles" theory—the idea that students can process information best when teachers tailor instruction to students' strengths.
Professional Development Opinion Who Are You Grateful for in Your Professional Learning Network?Gratitude is a feeling we should share more than we do. If we focus more on those who help to make us the best versions of ourselves, we can let down our walls and invite the vulnerability of growth and change the world.
Professional Development Opinion Educator-to-Educator Learning: The Transforming Learning CollaborativeThe Transforming Learning Collaborative provides educator-to-educator professional learning in support of learning/school redesign. Key ingredients are authentic, real-world contexts, experiential learning, collaboration, and mentoring.
