Inquiry-based staff development is also consistent with Virginia's commitment to responsive adult education. Teachers are helped to use what they know to continue learning. Activities, attitudes, structures and values support building a community of teachers as well as a community of teachers and learners. There is a focus on program improvement as well as individual change. This means that the inter-relatedness of effective management techniques, student retention, student achievement, improved teaching techniques, teacher satisfaction, improved status for adult education, and staff development is stressed throughout all aspects of adult education, including the planning of staff development.
Staff development is viewed as a continuing process involving administrators as well as teachers.
In short, Fingeret and Cockley were suggesting a practitioner-centered staff development system rather than one that was primarily dependent upon outside experts. The next step for the Office of Adult Education was to contract with 30 practitioner consultants to study the staff development evaluation report. As a result of practitioner synthesis of inquiry-based theory and their own experience, the working group of practitioner consultants would be convened to design a comprehensive staff development system for adult educators consistent with the Fingeret and Cockley recommendations.