As many of you know, TNTP released a new study earlier this week, The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About the Quest for Teacher Development, which recommends that we re-envision professional learning by asking fundamentally different questions about what better teaching means and how to achieve it. This will demand more closely measuring the impact of professional development and require coordinated action from education stakeholders at all levels, including teachers, administrators, and technical assistance providers.
The more than 25 organizations Learning Forward has convened to consider professional learning system redesign — including National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, Center for Teaching Quality, AASA, Center for American Progress, and Council of Chief State School Officers — have issued a statement commenting on the findings and the need to re-envision professional learning.
Our recommended course of action includes:
- Defining the critical elements of professional learning systems that are essential to supporting teachers to bring effective teaching practices to scale;
- Establishing tools and resources that help all educators measure the return on investment and impact of teacher supports and other models of professional development so they can make well-informed decisions; and
- Leveraging the collective intelligence and work of the partners to invent new strategies and systems that take effective teaching and learning to scale and eliminate all barriers along the way.
Please view the full statement here and share with your colleagues, peers, and networks.
Let us know if you have any questions, and we appreciate your support as we continue a much-needed discussion about reimagining professional learning systems.
