Teacher professional development (PD) programs are only effective if teachers actually adopt the strategies advocated by the programs.
Research shows that traditional teacher PD does not support enactment, i.e. teachers’ transfer of new skills and strategies into classroom practice.
Teachers say that these workshops leave them ill-equipped to enact what they learned. Research confirms teachers' impressions. Joyce & Showers (2002) found that enactment is minimal for what is often considered high-powered teacher professional development, where presentations, discussion, demonstrations, and practice sessions are included.
Only when classroom-based coaching is added to professional development experiences is there significant enactment.
The implication of this body of research is clear: classroom-based coaching is necessary for teachers to enact new knowledge and skills.
Without enactment of research-based reading strategies, for instance, there is no logical reason to expect that student reading achievement will increase as a result of professional development activities.
thereNow has demonstated the potential efficacy of a new approach to coaching: a professional development delivery method that makes use of telepresence—as facilitated by carefully selected videoconferencing equipment—to connect teachers with coaches that are expert both in content and professional development strategies.
Founded by a team of psychologists, educational researchers, evaluators, and teacher professional development experts, thereNow's mission is to re-define teacher professional development. Please browse this website to learn more about our approaches to teacher training.
