LESSONS LEARNED: BEST PRACTICES IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Sound design of professional development falls into three areas: 1) designing instruction, 2) building relationships, and 3) planning useful evaluation. Designing instruction requires focusing on science content, processes of creating scientific knowledge, and effective teaching. In the earth sciences, instructors should design instruction using local environments for rich and varied investigations. Instruction, centered around investigations that engage, explore, and then explain, must model highly effective teaching through inquiry (e.g. North Carolina Leadership Network for Earth Science Teachers (NCL NEST)). Highly effective teaching occurs when instructors develop communities of learners; address prior knowledge, including misunderstandings and misconceptions; organize information within big ideas; and ask learners to reflect regularly on the process of learning (Stewart, et al., 2005; Donovan and Bransford, 2005). Professional development must be sustained (NSES, 1996).

Building relationships is also critical for effective professional development. Sustained professional development advances these relationships, which must involve everyone, from administrators at the district and building level to teacher participants. Additionally, visits to participants' schools cement relationships (NCL NEST, Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP)).

A thoughtful evaluation, both formative and summative, is essential. Assessment of participants to allow designers and instructors to learn what participants initially know so that instructors can meet them where they are and identify gains in knowledge and changes in practice. Structured classroom observations of participants and control groups allow quantitative evaluation. They also focus discussions among observers on specific classroom behaviors of students and teachers (VDP). Interviews and focus groups provide other means of evaluating professional development.