Teacher Advisory Council: Teacher Organized Workshops

The teachers on the council also have sought to make a difference through designing and hosting two workshops, each on a different aspect of professional development, a topic that has direct relevance and impact, both positive and negative, on all teachers’ professional growth, their willingness to remain in classrooms, and ultimately their ability to improve student learning.

Teachers too often have experienced a “one-size-fits-all” professional development model, in which someone else decides what they need to learn. And too often experiences with professional development focus primarily on improvement (i.e., remediation) rather than professional growth and exploration of new ideas, cutting-edge developments in a teacher’s field of expertise, or promising new pedagogies. This conventional model seldom meets the particular needs of teachers in specific fields and disciplines, such as mathematics, science, and technology.

February 2007 Workshop on Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers: Potential Uses of Information Technology

The Teacher Advisory Council convened this workshop and issued a report, Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers: Potential Uses of Information Technology. The workshop served to catalyze discussions among expert teachers, school administrators, PD providers and policy makers about the present and future use of online teacher professional development.

October 2004 Workshop on Linking Mandatory Professional Development with High-Quality Teaching and Learning

Recognizing ineffective professional development as a critical issue, the Teacher Advisory Council convened this workshop and issued a report called Linking Mandatory Professional Development with High-Quality Teaching and Learning (National Research Council, 2006).