Impact of Staff Development on Student Achievement Impact of Staff Development on Student Achievement High quality staff development is essential for improving the learning of all students. This professional development, however, must be very different from past approaches if it is to produce high levels of learning for students and staff members. Most staff development activities do not focus on teachers' content knowledge, instructional skills, or other classroom-related knowledge and skills. Staff Development that Has a Positive Effect on Student Achievement Teachers are more likely to change their behavior and continue to use new skills with a comprehensive staff development program designed to improve student learning by improving instruction. Research suggests these criteria.
Staff development is focused on improving teaching as a way to improve student learning.
There is a clear sense of what students need to learn and be able to do. There is a focused improvement goal based on a documented student learning need. It is focused to a large extent on content and content-specific instruction. Data on student performance are used in planning staff development activities. Results of staff development are monitored by changes in teacher knowledge and skills and improvements in student learning.