The concept of professional development has been a part of the public school system for years. Different ideas have come and gone and old ones have reappeared with new names and new twists. However, one thing is clear, the most salient variable in improving student achievement is not the brand name of the program but the degree of implementation of the program (Reeves, pg. 2). Effective professional development is not about the programs it is the people and the practices that make the impact and transforms student learning.
In the book, Transforming Professional Development Into Student Results, Doug Reeves discusses what is wrong with professional learning, how to create high-impact professional learning and most importantly, how to sustain it. In the early part of the book Reeves does an effective job of explaining several of the problems with professional development and as I reflected on my past experiences, I found myself guilty of some of the same practices. For example, Reeves explains that schools cannot claim to be “data driven” when they are guided only by evidence of student learning that reflects no more than a school or district average (Reeves, p. 22). In my early tenure as an administrator our school’s goal was focused on improving state assessment scores as a …show more content…
This laser like focus compliments the beliefs of Reeves but also falls in line with renowned educators such as Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker. In their book, Professional Learning Communities at Work, schools must limit and control the number of initiatives if they are going to make substantive progress (DuFour & Eaker, pg. 101). In addition to looking at the effect the professional development will have on student learning, I am also identifying how it will balance with rigorous observation of adult
In the book, Transforming Professional Development Into Student Results, Doug Reeves discusses what is wrong with professional learning, how to create high-impact professional learning and most importantly, how to sustain it. In the early part of the book Reeves does an effective job of explaining several of the problems with professional development and as I reflected on my past experiences, I found myself guilty of some of the same practices. For example, Reeves explains that schools cannot claim to be “data driven” when they are guided only by evidence of student learning that reflects no more than a school or district average (Reeves, p. 22). In my early tenure as an administrator our school’s goal was focused on improving state assessment scores as a …show more content…
This laser like focus compliments the beliefs of Reeves but also falls in line with renowned educators such as Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker. In their book, Professional Learning Communities at Work, schools must limit and control the number of initiatives if they are going to make substantive progress (DuFour & Eaker, pg. 101). In addition to looking at the effect the professional development will have on student learning, I am also identifying how it will balance with rigorous observation of adult