What Teachers Value in Professional Development

The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) works with educators to strengthen and improve instructional practices. Our experience providing professional learning on a high-quality curriculum is that it is critical to integrate the curriculum into coaching cycles, planning routines, leadership team processes, and other school systems and structures as deeply as possible.

We asked teachers two things about their professional learning on high-quality instructional materials: “What type of PD do you find most valuable, and what type of professional development are you most likely to apply in the classroom?” In both cases, teachers reported that what they valued, they were more likely to use:

• Teachers are 4 times more likely to apply professional learning in their classroom when it includes frequent individualized support from teacher leaders.
• Teachers are nearly 30 times more likely to apply PD in their classroom when it aligns with their needs as identified through evaluation.

Learn more in the summary, linked below.