Professional Development

How Do You Define PD?

By Anthony Rebora — April 09, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Over the past year, the National Staff Development Council, a nonprofit devoted to improving teacher learning, has been pushing Congress to adopt a new, expanded definition of professional development.

If you weren’t aware there was a federal definition of PD, you can probably be forgiven. The current definition resides in a little-noticed No Child Left Behind provision. But, according to the NSDC, it has a far-reaching impact on teacher-quality and -support programs in many schools.

The existing definition manages, at least in theory, to restrict the use of one-shot workshops for teacher-training, but the NSDC believes it does not do enough to ensure in-depth learning for teachers.

Coming Soon: Education Week Teacher Book Club

Starting this Spring, Teacher will be hosting a series of interactive book club discussions featuring prominent education authors.

Sign up for book club notifications and win a chance for a free book!

The organization’s rewrite thus goes to a new level, stipulating that teacher PD should: foster collective responsibility among educators for student performance; employ team-based methods facilitated by in-school leaders; take place several times per week in a “continuous cycle of improvement”; define clear teacher-learning goals based on data analysis; and inform ongoing improvements in student learning.

Some educators have reacted to the proposed definition with a mixture of enthusiasm and skepticism that it could ever be implemented effectively given the current constraints on teachers’ time.

Even so, it has met with some success. According to the NSDC, both national teachers’ unions have voiced their support for the new definition, and versions of it have been included in legislation proposed in both houses of Congress.

A version of this article appeared in the April 12, 2010 edition of Teacher PD Sourcebook

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Professional Development Coming Soon: PD Mega Event From ISTE/ASCD
Bringing the two events to the same venue is a huge step.
2 min read
Attendees walk around the expo hall, where technology companies showcase their products, at the 2022 International Society for Technology in Education conference in New Orleans on June 28.
Attendees walk around the expo hall where technology companies showcased their products at the International Society for Technology in Education conference in New Orleans on June 28, 2022.
Lauraine Langreo/Education Week
Professional Development From Our Research Center Teachers Desperately Need AI Training. How Many Are Getting It?
Teachers' lack of AI knowledge and support hinders their use of the technology.
2 min read
Illustration of AI and classroom tools.
Anna Frajtova/iStock/Getty
Professional Development Opinion Are Your Staff Meetings Unfocused and Disjointed? Try These 5 Strategies
Too often, staff meetings do not focus on learning, which is a lost opportunity. Here's how to make them more meaningful.
Michael Nelson & Peter DeWitt
6 min read
Screen Shot 2024 02 18 at 4.01.50 PM
Canva
Professional Development Spotlight Spotlight on The Importance of PD and Growth Opportunities for Teachers
This Spotlight will help you with the ins and outs of effective PD, the types of PD that teachers want, and more.