P.D. Resources  |  Dialogue Forums  |  Study Group Info  |  Other Links

Professional Development Resources

What Is Your Professional Development IQ?
Do you know the answer to this question? According to research, what school investment yields the greatest increase in student achievement? Or this one: According to teachers, what is the number one reason for professional growth?

NSDC has created twenty multiple-choice questions for sharing important information about supporting quality teacher professional development. Links to answers and sources are provided. Several sources of public and educator opinions were examined to create this collection of questions, making this an ideal public engagement tool.

Powerful Conversations about Your School's Professional Development Practice
Does your school's professional development plan help you and your colleagues directly improve teaching and learning in your school? Find out more about Powerful Conversations and how the process can help enhance your school’s Staff Development practice.

Review the newly revised National Staff Development Council's (NSDC) Professional Development Standards on which the Alabama Standards are based.
http://www.nsdc.org/standards/about/index.cfm

Access resources that will increase your understanding of the National Staff Development Council Professional Development Standards.
http://www.nsdc.org/library/index.cfm

Redesigning Professional Development
Review the March 2002 issue of Education Leadership, which is devoted entirely to "Redesigning Professional Development."

Alabama Reading Initiative Promotes High Quality Professional Development
The Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) offers a unique state model for how teacher learning can lead to extraordinary gains in student learning. The program has yielded significant increases in reading scores and in the number and diversity of books read. The initiative has also created substantial changes in how teachers teach, which has resulted in fewer discipline problems and special education referrals. More information about the Alabama Reading Initiative.