Professional Development

I have attempted to separate these updates from politics, but this week’s news went over the line. The Administration is asking the Supreme Court to approve the Administration’s decision to cancel professional development for teachers that has already been approved by Congress. We have all seen lousy professional development programs, and it is easy to cherry-pick those that are ineffective and without a research foundation. But canceling all of them because some are bad is like canceling all cancer treatments because some do not work. A better approach is to consider criteria that Professor Tom Guskey and I have advocated for: professional development that is explicitly linked to improvements in student achievement. These criteria are neither political nor “DEI” related, but rational ways to have effective stewardship of public funds. I do not want any of our colleagues to be put on the defensive about bad professional development programs. I do, however, want us to staunchly defend effective PD that improves teaching and learning. 

You can read more about this argument here:  https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/us/politics/trump-supreme-court-teacher-grants.html

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