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Effective Professional Development Essay

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Effective Professional Development

Effective professional development is intensive enough to allow people to develop new knowledge and skills (Cook, 1997). When entering into a professional development workshop, there are components which would allow you to believe you’re in the workplace as well as in a training environment. Professional development instructors believe that, "professional development enriches teaching and improves learning for all students. It is an essential link to higher student achievement" (Cook, 1997). Workshops help teachers gain support for the classroom to enable them to succeed. A classroom needs management strategies or practice with new curriculum materials (Boreen, 2000).

Attending Professional …show more content…

The following is an example of one school system that developed a mission statement for professional development: The mission for the Howard County Public School System is, "to ensure the highest level of performance for all school system staff by providing a full range of professional development services, resources, and support to promote success for all students" (Allan 2001). As teachers enter into new professional development opportunities they begin to bring the knowledge that they have received back into the classroom while while at the same time, enhancing the student experience.
Educators must, however, consistently evaluate the effectiveness of professional development on job performance and student achievement (Characteristics, 1997).

Courses Offered in Professional Development

Professional development courses in reading and language skills, as well as math and science, have now been made mandatory for all teachers to learn new educational ideas and methods. Educators learn new ways to evaluate and teach reading skills; techniques are taught to enable children with reading disabilities to develop new strategies to make reading easier and a more enjoyable experience. Phonics are taught to help children learn different techniques in reading and language. "Reading and writing are no longer seen as mechanical procedures, rather they are problem-solving

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