Professional Development

Retaining Effective Teachers Policy

Professional Development

The state should require professional development to be based on needs identified through teacher evaluations.

Best practices

Ten states meet this goal, and although NCTQ has not singled out one state's policies for "best practice" honors, it additionally commends Louisiana for clearly articulating that the feedback provided to a teacher in a post-observation conference must include a discussion of a teacher's strengths and weaknesses.

Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Professional Development National Results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/national/Professional-Development-9
Best practice 0

States

Meets goal 10

States

Nearly meets goal 7

States

Meets goal in part 10

States

Meets a small part of goal 12

States

Does not meet goal 12

States

Do states require districts to provide formal, substantive feedback to teachers?

2011
Figure details

Yes. State requires that teachers receive formal, substantive feedback. : AR, CT, DE, GA, HI, IL, KY, LA, MA, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV, WY

No. State does not require formal, substantive feedback; however, teachers receive copies of their evaluations.: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IN, KS, MD, NV, OH, OK

No. State does not require formal, substantive feedback.: AL, DC, IA, ID, ME, MT, ND, NE, NH, SD, VA, VT, WI

Do states require that teacher evaluations inform teachers’ professional development?

2011
Figure details

Yes. State requires that evaluations inform professional development for all teachers.: AR, CT, DE, FL, ID, LA, MI, MN, MO, NC, RI, SC, WY

Partially. State requires that evaluations inform professional development for teachers who earn unsatisfactory evaluation ratings. : CO, GA, IL, IN, TX

No. State does not require that evaluations inform professional development.: AK, AL, AZ, CA, DC, HI, IA, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV

Footnotes
MS: Mississippi requires professional development based on evaluation results only for teachers in need of improvement in school identified as at-risk.

Research rationale

For evidence of the benefits of feedback from evaluation systems, and the potential for professional development surrounding that feedback, see T. Kane et al, "Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness." Education Next. Vol 11, No. 3 (2011); E. Taylor and J. Tyler, "The Effect of Evaluation on Performance: Evidence from Longitudinal Student Achievement Data of Mid-Career Teachers." National Bureau of Economic Research (2011).

Much professional development, particularly those that are not aligned to specific feedback from teacher evaluations, has been found to be ineffective.  For evidence see M. Garet, "Middle School Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study: Findings After the Second Year of Implementation." Institute of Education Sciences (2011).

For additional evidence regarding best practices for professional development, see "The Deliver, Financing, and Assessment of Professional Development in Education: Pre-Service Preparation and In-Service Training." The Finance Project (2003).