“We have a problem.”
This is the opening statement of a new report authored by Robert Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, that finds the majority of teacher professional development options are ineffective. The report, Teaching Children Well: New Evidence-Based Approaches to Teacher Professional Development and Training, was released today by the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
In his report, Pianta argues that increasing teacher and teaching effectiveness is the most significant challenge facing public schools in the United States. At present, school districts are spending thousands of dollars per teacher per year on professional development that are, at worst, known to be ineffective, or at best, have very little evidence of positive impact in the classroom.
In contrast to these options, Pianta discusses the importance of proven-effective professional development tools for teachers.
“The aim of this report is to illustrate features of new evidence-supported approaches to professional development that have promise for closing not only the evidence gap, but the achievement gap as well,” writes Pianta.
The report is focused on the one professional development model, MyTeachingPartner™ or MTP™, that is web-based, scalable and has been proven to improve teacher effectiveness and proven to increase student learning. In secondary schools, MTP™ has been proven to increase student test scores by 9 percentile points.
MTP™ uses online, individualized coaching and a library of highly focused video clips showing effective teachers in action. With MyTeachingPartner™ teachers video themselves in the classroom and send in their footage to be analyzed by trained consultants. The consultants then provide feedback and advice.
MTP™ provides relevant, interactive, and ongoing feedback to teachers through online resources, and web-mediated consultation throughout the school year. MTP™ uses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ or CLASS™ observation tool to focus teachers’ attention on the very interactions shown to be most effective.
Pianta’s report was presented at an event at the Center for American Progress put on to discuss approaches to improving teaching effectiveness and whether the tools exist to do the job well.
“Despite major investments in professional development from federal, state, and local sources, research proves that most professional development in current use is ineffective,” said Cynthia Brown, Vice President for Education Policy at the Center for American Progress. “Developing new, evidence-based teacher-performance systems, such as the one highlighted in this report, is a critical factor in helping our students achieve academic success.”
At the event, the Center for American Progress also released a paper authored by John H. Tyler, associate professor of Education, Economics and Public Policy at Brown University.
#####
Robert Pianta, dean of the U.Va. Curry School of Education, can be reached at 434-243-5481, 434-953-9760 and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
