Influences of Teacher Professional Development on Student Outcomes & Efficacy

Abstract

Teacher professional development has taken place in isolation and has been dependent upon input from outside “experts” (Sandholtz, A companion of direct and indirect professional development activities. Professional development for teachers is the range of formal and informal processes and activities that teachers engage in both inside and outside of the school, in order to improve their teaching knowledge and skills. As an alternative, collaborative action research actively involves teachers in professional reflection, validates educators as producers of knowledge, and recognizes their role in professional development and decision making. The value of teacher research is well documented (Cochran–Smith & Lytle, Inside outside: teacher research and knowledge, Teachers College Press, New York, 1993) but unless deliberate attempts to share findings are established, the products of teacher research often remain within individual classrooms. Strategies to develop collaborative research capabilities are needed. The ultimate goal of teacher professional development is improving student learning outcomes. Research indicates that teachers have control over many factors that influence motivation, achievement and behavior of their students. Therefore, professional development focusing on effective classroom management will enhance a teacher's skills and performance in the classroom. Skills such as effective classroom management are vital to teaching and require common sense, consistency, a sense of fairness and courage. The skills also require that teachers understand the psychological and developmental levels of each student. The ability of teachers to organize classrooms and manage the behavior of their students is critical for achieving positive educational outcomes. Although sound behavior management does not guarantee effective instruction, it establishes the environmental context that makes good instruction possible. Reciprocally highly effective instruction reduces, but does not eliminate, classroom behavior problems. Effective classroom management competencies also significantly influence the persistence of new teachers in the classroom. Effective classroom management requires a comprehensive approach that should include structuring the school and classroom environment, actively supervising student engagement, implementing classroom rules, enacting procedures that encourage appropriate behavior, using behavior reduction strategies and collecting and using data to monitor student behavior and modifying classroom management procedures. Therefore in teacher preparation programs greater emphasis needs to be placed on preparing teachers to be competent and efficient at managing today's classrooms with their diverse range of learners. This approach means not only giving pre-service teachers the intellectual understanding of the issues involved but also providing them supervised experience related to components of classroom management. The purpose of this paper is to provide research and recommendations related to professional development of teachers, specifically addressing the area of classroom management to improve learning outcomes