Effective professional development activities designed for teachers, administrators, and other education professionals have been shown to have positive effects on student achievement.
Teachers face new situations and challenges each day as they work with their students.
Effective professional development activities allow teachers to access the expertise of more experienced peers and learn concepts and techniques that can help them to deal effectively with new situations as they arise. The support and learning inherent in such activities give teachers and other educators the environment they need to grow in their profession and to be more effective in the classroom . Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Improving America s School Act of 1994 better known as the Bilingual Education Act provides federal funds through the U.S. Department of Education to increase the capacity of local and state education agencies to meet the educational needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students. Study results reinforce the importance of Title VII, Subpart 1 funding and document a number of best practices for replication. Utilization and sharing of expertise among teachers, program directors, and administrators The following information expands on these six characteristics by summarizing principles for effective professional development and best practices.