JSD On Demand Resource Form
Learning Forward Definition of Professional Development
The term professional development means a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement. (Killion & Roy, 2010).
Learning Forward (formerly National Staff Development Council, 2012), the international leader of professional development in education, advocates for this new definition of professional development and its use in the reauthorization of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The legislation clarifies which practices qualify for federal, state, and district funding and specify that professional development should directly impact teachers’ classroom practices and student achievement.