DINF Web Posted on December 15, 1997

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1995

Professional development serves as the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be to meet the new challenges of guiding all students in achieving to higher standards of learning and development. On-going, high-quality professional development helps teachers and other educators acquire needed content knowledge and teaching strategies and supports them in learning to work together to improve the teaching and learning environment. Effective professional development also requires partnerships among schools, higher education institutions and others to address important and complex educational issues in a variety of settings and for a diverse student body.

Based on the best available research, exemplary practice and feedback from hundreds of educators and organizations concerned with education, the Department of Education has identified principles of professional development that can provide useful guidance to states, school districts, schools and institutions of higher education in their efforts to provide high-quality professional development for teachers and other educators who work with children with disabilities.

The mission of professional development is to prepare and support educators to help all students achieve to high standards of learning and development.

High-Quality Professional Development:

• focuses on teachers as central to student learning, yet includes all members of the school community;

• focuses on individual, collegial, and organizational improvement;

• respects and nurtures the intellectual and leadership capacity of teachers, principals, and others in the school community;

• reflects best available research and practice in teaching, learning, and leadership;

• enables teachers to develop further expertise in subject content, teaching strategies, uses of technologies, and other essential elements in teaching to high standards;

• promotes continuous inquiry and improvement embedded in the daily life of schools;

• is planned collaboratively by those who will participate in and facilitate that development;

• requires substantial time and resources;

• is driven by a coherent long-term plan; and

• is evaluated ultimately on the basis of its impact on teacher effectiveness and student learning (and this assessment guides subsequent professional development efforts).

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