Staff Development Days

Recommendation 6.1 calls for 10 staff development days, but something in the plan needs to address the QUALITY of these staff development days.  In the American Educational Research Association's recent report, six aspects of effective professional development are identified - form, duration, collective participation, content, active learning, and coherence.  Lesson study, an approach mentioned in earlier comments, works because it has these six aspects embedded into it.  However, lesson study is only one form of professional development that can work.  In my work with many dedicated well meaning teachers, I see the need for coherent professional development embedded into the culture of the school with time given during the work day for teachers to actually examine the work of students in a systemmatic way, and to change their instructional plans RIGHT THEN AND THERE. We need lesson study as well as assignment analysis, long range planning, teacher content knowledge, collaboration on best practices and some real world experience.