Teachers’ Professional Development in a Climate of Educational Reform

doi:10.3102/01623737015002129

Paper

Teachers’ Professional Development in a Climate of Educational Reform

Published Jun 1, 1993 · J. Little

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

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Abstract

This essay posits a problem of fit among five streams of reform and prevailing configurations of teachers’ professional development. It argues that the dominant training-and-coaching model—focused on expanding an individual repertoire of well-defined classroom practice—is not adequate to the conceptions or requirements of teaching embedded in present reform initiatives. Subject matter collaboratives and other emerging alternatives are found to embody six principles that stand up to the complexity of reforms in subject matter teaching, equity, assessment, school organization, and the professionalization of teaching. The principles form criteria for assessing professional development policies and practices.

Study Snapshot

Key takeawayThe dominant training-and-coaching model is insufficient for teachers' professional development in educational reform, and subject matter collaboratives and other emerging alternatives offer six principles for assessing professional development policies and practices.

PopulationOlder adults (50-71 years)

Sample size24

MethodsObservational

OutcomesBody Mass Index projections

ResultsSocial networks mitigate obesity in older groups.

Teachers’ Professional Development in a Climate of Educational Reform

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