Feedback for Professional Development

           Chapter eleven is about feedback for professional development.  It focuses on the need for professional development, the use of assessment to determine appropriate professional development, the assessment of professional development, and the methods of providing professional development.  Feedback for professional development has become a critical issue for administrators and teachers.  Expectations from multiple levels have increased for student achievement outcomes and more complex assessment techniques are required.

            Professional development is the process that improves the job-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes of business educators.  The goals of professional development are to advance students’ learning and to improve the practice of teaching.  Teachers must also stay current with changing technology, which require modification in assessment techniques.  Professional development activities are an excellent way to maintain current knowledge.  When teachers partake in professional development activities, they improve learning and teaching skills amid changes in delivery, subject-matter content, student needs, schools, society, and the workplace.

            Assessment can be used to determine appropriate professional development for a group of teachers.  Assessment-centered professional development focuses on assessment, curriculum, teaching, and learning.  It offers a range of activities that encompasses the teaching and learning process.  It includes establishing goals for student learning, developing assessment instruments and rubrics, implementing the assessment plan, assessing student performance, and evaluating the assessment process.  Educators must also verify the effectiveness of their program.  Individual courses, curricula, and entire programs must be examined frequently to ensure that students at each level are capable of progressing to the next phase.  National Standards, the Major Field Test, and the PRAXIS Series of examinations provide appropriate verification measures.

            Teachers must also be assessed of their own professional development.  Even though many teachers do not like being assessed of their own performance, administrators must ensure them that it is for their own good.  Administrators must show teachers how appropriate assessment can benefit them personally and then they must provide teachers with meaningful professional development opportunities.

            Professional development strategies can be many different forms.  These forms include reflection and inquiry, formal instruction, professional organizations, and mentoring and peer collaboration.  Each of these is very important for both teachers and students.  I know that when I am a teacher I will partake in many of these professional development forms.  When I was younger, I remember my mother going to workshops during the summer and learning new concepts and ideas for the classroom.  She is still going to workshops and teaching me new things.  She is also very active in professional organizations and learns so much when she goes to conferences.  I know that both of these professional development activities will greatly benefit me in the future.

Balachandran, M. E., Blair, R. B., & Lewis, S. (2007). Feedback for Professional Development. In M.L. Bush (Ed.), Assessment for an Evolving Business Education Curriculum (pp. 146-158). Reston, VA: National Business Education Association