ABSTRACT

Recognizing the potential importance of professional development (PD) in improving teachers’ knowledge and practice and student outcomes, scholars have identified elements of effective PD including core and structural features (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Penuel, Fishman, Yamaguchi, & Gallagher, 2007; Wayne, Yoon, Zhu, Cronen, & Garet, 2008) and have developed a causal model for evaluating PD programs (Desimone, 2009). The Promoting Science among English Language Learners (P-SELL) model’s theory of change (see details in Lee, O’Connor, & Haas, previous chapter in this volume) was developed based on the elements of effective PD and the call for a causal model for evaluating PD.