ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss research that examines professional development designs and characteristics that make the approaches effective. Researchers also discovered it was essential to incorporate instructional strategies teachers were expected to use with students in the professional development activities to increase achievement of students in math cluster groups. According to Robinson et al., professional development that results in teacher change and improved student achievement should be ongoing, include extended contact time, have an element of follow-up support, contain explicit instruction on teaching practices, and be situated in educators' own classrooms. Individual professional development modules were developed to help teachers successfully teach the curriculum units. Each module reinforced important ideas about content and instruction and provided “information about research-based best practices, a description of teaching strategy. In the suburban schools, all staff participated in an initial 5-day professional development session regarding “theories and definitions of giftedness, curriculum and instructional differentiation, classroom management, curriculum compacting, and acceleration and enrichment strategies”.
