7 Reasons To Evaluate Professional Learning

FOCUS

7 reasons to evaluate professional learning

By Joellen Killion

Categories: Continuous improvement, Data, Evaluation & impact, Implementation

Each year, educators engage in hours of professional learning to enhance their practice. Those hours are limited, both by contract and the imperative of keeping teachers in classrooms as much as possible. It is essential that this professional learning time is well-spent and pays dividends toward the goal of all public education: ensuring that each student succeeds. Evaluation is fundamental for assessing the quality, effectiveness, and impact of professional learning. It provides data for planning and strengthening educators’ learning and, ultimately, explaining and justifying school systems’ investments in it. When educators neglect to collect and analyze data about the effects of professional learning, they tend to default to some common fallacies about it: When educators attend professional learning, students automatically benefit. If educators report that

Read the remaining content with membership access. Join or log in below to continue.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.

References

Guskey, T. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Corwin.

Killion, J. (2018). Assessing impact: Evaluating professional learning (3rd ed.). Corwin & Learning Forward.

Killion, J., Sommers, W., & Delehant, A. (2023). Elevate school-based professional learning. Solution Tree.

Kirkpatrick, D. (1974). Evaluating training programs: The four levels. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Learning Forward. (2022). Standards for Professional Learning. Author.

Joellen Killion

+ posts

Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and a sought-after speaker and facilitator who is an expert in linking professional learning and student learning. She has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, standards-based professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She is the author of many books including Assessing Impact, Coaching Matters, Taking the Lead, and The Feedback Process. Her latest evaluation articles for The Learning Professional are “7 reasons to evaluate professional learning” and “Is your professional learning working? 8 steps to find out.”