Putting the “Quality” into Professional Development
Date: January 8, 2008
Summary: The NWP is hosting a forum on Capitol Hill to explore what kinds of professional support are successful in retaining teachers, benefiting students, and improving the larger educational landscape.
What kinds of professional support are successful in retaining teachers, increasing student achievement, and improving the larger educational landscape? The National Writing Project (NWP) will conduct a Professional Development Forum on Capitol Hill, on Thursday, January 24, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, to present research results that answer this question.
Following opening remarks by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Carnegie Foundation senior scholar Ann Lieberman will discuss what professional development prospects are currently available to teachers and how to decipher which ones offer "quality." NWP Director of Research Paul LeMahieu will present recent research that demonstrates the impact of the NWP professional development model on the ways students perform and the extent to which their teachers remain in the profession.
Also, two classroom teachers, one from the Rhode Island Writing Project and one from the Western Massachusetts Writing Project, will share their experiences with professional development and describe how it has shaped their professional lives and boosted the accomplishments of their students.
Download "Congressional Briefing Invitation"