Why Spend Billions on Professional Development for Teachers?

Despite the billions that have been spent on professional development for K-12 teachers in the United States, we actually know extremely little about the characteristics of effective professional development programs. The major reason lies in deficiencies in the research on professional development.

A major review in 2008 of the research on professional development for teachers of mathematics and of other subjects "uncovered no studies … of sufficient quality where the designs and measures permitted them to ask and answer questions about teachers' learning. Most studies used a simple pre- and post-test design with no comparison group or used self-report data on teachers' learning." Nor did studies on the topic "support any specific claims about the nature of professional development that affects teachers' effectiveness."