ABSTRACT
As the knowledge base on educational reform and improving teacher quality has grown over the past decade (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2010; Desimone, 2009; Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry, & Hewson, 2007; Putnam & Borko, 1997), it has become more evident that traditional professional development formats do not result in sustained improvement of teacher practice and/or student learning. Fortunately, we know a great deal about what types of professional development experiences translate into changes in teacher practice that are linked to growth in student learning of STEM content and skills. Desimone (2009) conducted an extensive review of published research in this area and developed a Core Conceptual Framework for Professional Development that included five key components that were consistently connected to programs that produced results in either teacher or student outcomes. The Core Conceptual Framework for Professional Development requires collective participation, active learning, coherence with policy, extended duration, and a focus on learning new skills in the context of building content knowledge. Each of the five components will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.
