WASHINGTON—The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) today released an issue brief, State Policies to Improve Teacher Professional Development, that outlines approaches states can take to improve the quality of teacher professional development and ensure the investments made in professional development aid student learning.

Currently, state policies focus almost exclusively on the amount of time required and the types of professional development opportunities that can be used for license renewal. State Policies to Improve Teacher Professional Development details ways governors can lead efforts to develop new models of professional development to improve both quality and impact, including:

• Gather and use student achievement data to assess the effectiveness of professional development;
• Use teacher evaluations and student learning data to create individualized professional development plans for teachers;
• Establish research-based state standards to create a vision for high-quality professional development; and
• Create an incentive-driven professional development initiative for teachers to acquire advanced skills.

"Governors are leading the effort to ensure our educational system prepares students to compete in a global economy," said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. "As a part of this, it is important to refocus teacher professional development to ensure that it has real-world implications for classrooms and a positive impact on student performance. This issue brief offers guidelines states can use to achieve that goal."

For more information about the NGA Center's education initiatives, visit www.nga.org/center/edu.

###

Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation's governors and one of Washington, D.C.'s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.