Although there remains a place in a teacher s overall professional development plan for short-term training sessions, a variety of other options exist that can be used to design an effective professional development experience that is sustained and intensive. Summer institutes are another option that can provide indepth opportunities to study and learn new skills and knowledge.
Teachers pose questions based on district priorities, school goals, or classroom situations.
Through the collection and analysis of data, teachers gain useful insights that can inform and shape classroom practices. Although usually tailored to the unique needs of their particular school, the findings and conclusions from the research are often applicable to other sites. Thus, an important aspect of teacher research is the opportunity to share the results with colleagues. Study groups typically are organized around a particular topic of interest. For example, a group of elementary teachers might decide to read and discuss a variety of sources on the subject of teaching reading.