ABSTRACT
In its publication Professional Learning Communities: Strategies That Improve Instruction (n.d.), the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) reports,
Effective professional development to improve classroom teaching also concentrates on high learning standards and on evidence of students’ learning. It mirrors the kinds of teaching and learning expected in classrooms. It is driven fundamentally by the needs and interests of participants themselves, enabling adult learners to expand on content knowledge and practice that is directly connected with the work of their students in the classroom. (p. 1)
AISR further asserts that “research findings have repeatedly confirmed that a significant factor in raising academic achievement is the improvement of instructional capacity in the classroom” (p. 1). Effective professional development that achieves these ends has four “critical factors”:
♦ It is ongoing.
