ABSTRACT
Professional development is an important element in improving educators’ abilities to impact student academic achievement. Currently, school budgets are often spent on professional development that yields little to no change in student learning outcomes and performance. In fact, despite the heavy investments in professional development for teachers, student learning outcomes continue to stagnate or dwindle, discipline issues often skyrocket, and teacher morale plummets. This may be due, in part, to: a) the lack of attention being paid to learning transfer post-professional development, and b) the difficulties leaders face when they attempt to lead change. This teaching case study explores issues related to leading change and the effective implementation of professional development opportunities. Specifically, this case discusses Kotter’s model of change. The author also provides a learning transfer model that aims to assist practitioners with the organization, implementation, follow-up, and evaluation of their professional development events.
