Promising Approaches to Professional Development for Early Childhood Educators

Professional development (PD) for in-service teachers is increasingly used as a tool to strengthen the impact of early childhood classrooms on children’s outcomes. This chapter briefly describes an emerging conceptualization of PD that emphasizes intensity, duration, and linking content to the realities of teachers’ classrooms and contexts. Characteristics and outcome research related to three promising approaches to PD are examined. The approaches are professional learning communities, coaching and similar forms of individualized work with teachers, and uses of innovative technologies in the delivery of PD. Factors associated with variations in the implementation and outcomes of PD are discussed and needed directions in PD research are identified.