At a Glance

This study provides empirical evidence that effective professional development has a positive significant impact on instructional practices not only for those who directly experience professional development, but also for colleagues who receive help and support from those who have participated directly and thus gained expertise.

The Study

Sun, M., Penuel, W.R., Frank, K.A., Gallagher, H.R., & Youngs, P. (2013, April). Shaping professional development to promote the diffusion of instructional expertise among teachers. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 35(3), 344-369.

What This Means for Practitioners

So how do we use this study to influence our practice? This study provides empirical evidence of the spillover effect and focused on specific attributes of effective professional learning.

When planning, implementing, and evaluating professional learning, leaders must use research-based features, including the three features examined in this study. These features, as well as additional ones drawn from a consensus of research and evidence-based practice, are delineated in the Standards for Professional Learning and guide the design and continuous assessment and evaluation for effective implementation.

With evidence that spillover effect is nearly equal to the effects of direct participation, leaders within schools and those within school systems must leverage this information to distribute expertise among staff by thoughtfully selecting and purposely building the capacity of staff within the school to increase the diffusion of expertise. Schools may benefit from multiple experts rather than a single expert such as an instructional coach.

Leveraging the spillover effect may mean that existing content experts within the school may need to develop more capacity to collaborate with colleagues or that leaders should develop stronger content expertise in teachers who have strong relationship and collaboration skills.

For the kind of interactions that produce the spillover effects described in this study to occur, state, district, and school leaders must adjust school day schedules and school year calendars to provide time for collaboration about content-specific instruction.

Teacher collaboration about instruction, particularly writing instruction as a tool for learning in all disciplines, has the potential to lead to increased student success in all discipline areas in which teachers integrate writing for multiple purposes.

However, the ultimate outcome of improved student learning is not magic. It requires that all teachers commit to developing and sharing expertise widely across the school. In such a culture of growth and development and collective responsibility, all students will thrive.