The Evolution of Professional Development to Professional Learning

Professional development (PD) is a topic of ongoing interest to education companies—in part to explore possible market opportunities, but also to better understand the current needs and key issues of interest to their customers. Educators are facing increased pressure to improve teaching practices, implement individualized instructional approaches, and increase student learning and achievement outcomes. Effective professional development is essential in order to address these complex goals.

This report focuses on:

• The shape and size of the PD market ($18 billion annually)
• Relevant research about teacher satisfaction
• The effectiveness of the current state of PD offerings
• Evolving PD models
• Areas of opportunities for external vendors including online platforms, micro-credentials, and technology-assisted personalized learning for both students and their teachers

This report examines a range of research on professional learning to identify what we actually know about what works and what doesn’t, how to redefine our goals and capacities, and the way forward to more effective instruction that improves student achievement.