33 research outputs found
Mejores prácticas de desarrollo profesional docente en Estados Unidos
This paper discusses best practices in teachers’ professional development (PD)
in the United States (U.S.). We begin by presenting a conceptual framework for effective professional development, which suggests five key features that make professional
development effective—content focus, active learning, coherence, sustained duration, and
collective participation. We then describe the findings from recent U.S. research that has tested
the five features, with an emphasis on the results of rigorous randomized control trials. We
discuss several insights gained from this work and that have helped refine the framework. They
are that (a) changing procedural classroom behavior is easier than improving content
knowledge or inquiry-oriented instruction techniques; (b) teachers vary in response to the same
PD; (c) PD is more successful when it is explicitly linked to classroom lessons; (d) PD research
and implementation must allow for urban contexts (e.g., student and teacher mobility); and (e)
leadership plays a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers to implement in the
classroom the ideas and strategies they learned in the PD. We then examine three major trends
in how professional development for teachers is evolving in the U.S.—a move away from short
workshops, linking teacher PD to evaluations, and the use of video technology to improve and
monitor the effects of PD. Finally, we discuss the challenges faced by districts and schools in
implementing effective professional development.Este artÃculo analiza las mejores prácticas de desarrollo profesional docente (DPD) en los Estados Unidos de América (USA). Comenzamos presentando un marco conceptual sobre DPD, que sugiere la existencia de cinco caracterÃsticas clave que favorecen un DPD efectivo: foco en el contenido, aprendizaje activo, coherencia, duración sostenida, y participación colectiva. Continuamos describiendo los resultados de recientes investigaciones que han puesto a prueba dichas cinco caracterÃsticas en USA, enfatizando los resultados de rigurosos estudios experimentales aleatorizados. Discutimos las lecciones aprendidas a partir de dichos estudios, que nos han permitido refinar nuestro marco teórico sobre el DPD efectivo. Hemos aprendido que (a) cambiar el comportamiento de los profesores en clase es más fácil que mejorar sus conocimientos disciplinares o las estrategias instruccionales de alto nivel; (b) los profesores varÃan en respuesta al mismo DPD; (c) DPD es más exitoso cuando está explÃcitamente conectado con la práctica docente; (d) la investigación y la implementación del DPD debe tener en cuenta las condiciones de las áreas urbanas (e.g., la movilidad de estudiantes y profesores); y (e) los lÃderes juegan un rol fundamental apoyando y animando a los profesores para que apliquen en sus clases las ideas y estrategias aprendidas en DPD. Después examinamos tres tendencias generales en la evaluación reciente del DPD en USA—un descenso en el uso de cursos y talleres de corta duración, la conexión del DPD con las evaluaciones del profesorado, y el uso de video-tecnologÃa para mejorar y supervisar los efectos del DPD. Finalmente, discutimos las dificultades que los distritos y las escuelas encuentran para implementar DPD efectivo
Best Practices in Teachers’ Professional Development in the United States
ABSTRACT: This paper discusses best practices in teachers’ professional development (PD) in the United States (U.S.). We begin by presenting a conceptual framework for effective professional development, which suggests five key features that make professional development effective—content focus, active learning, coherence, sustained duration, and collective participation. We then describe the findings from recent U.S. research that has tested the five features, with an emphasis on the results of rigorous randomized control trials. We discuss several insights gained from this work and that have helped refine the framework. They are that (a) changing procedural classroom behavior is easier than improving content knowledge or inquiry-oriented instruction techniques; (b) teachers vary in response to the same PD; (c) PD is more successful when it is explicitly linked to classroom lessons; (d) PD research and implementation must allow for urban contexts (e.g., student and teacher mobility); and (e) leadership plays a key role in supporting and encouraging teachers to implement in the classroom the ideas and strategies they learned in the PD. We then examine three major trends in how professional development for teachers is evolving in the U.S.—a move away from short workshops, linking teacher PD to evaluations, and the use of video technology to improve and monitor the effects of PD. Finally, we discuss the challenges faced by districts and schools in implementing effective professional development