How to Make Professional Development Actually Useful

It’s a common frustration in schools:

“We provide PD, but no one seems to use it.”

Or worse: “We offer training, but teachers dread it.”

The truth is, a lot of professional development doesn’t fail because it’s underfunded — it fails because it’s misaligned.

Too often, PD feels generic, disconnected, or forced. It’s driven by compliance, not curiosity. And teachers — the most over-committed professionals in the building — can spot the difference immediately.

“Teachers want professional development that respects their time, meets their needs, and actually improves their practice.”

— NEA Today, “How Can We Improve Professional Development?”

(Full article)

If you want PD that works, it needs to shift from events to experiences — embedded in goals, grounded in the classroom, and centered on actual teacher input.

In our work with schools and academic leaders, we help redesign PD around these core principles:

Why PD often fails:

• It’s too theoretical and not rooted in classroom realities

  
  

• It’s one-size-fits-all with little differentiation by role or skill level

  
  

• It’s disconnected from school improvement goals

  
  

• It’s designed for teachers, but not with them

“Effective PD is not a presentation. It’s a process — built over time with opportunities to reflect, collaborate, and practice.”

— Frontline Education

(Source)

What great PD looks like:

• Connected to the school’s actual instructional goals

• Aligned to teachers’ current challenges and aspirations

• Ongoing, not just one-day workshops

• Collaborative — creating time for teachers to talk, try, and revise together

• Practical and immediately usable

“The best PD provides teachers with tools they can implement tomorrow — and space to reflect on how it’s working next week.”

— Prodigy Education

(Read more)

Planning tips that make the difference:

• Survey teachers before designing your PD calendar

• Tie every PD session to a clearly stated schoolwide objective

• Build in follow-up: coaching, check-ins, and reflection

• Empower teacher leaders to help co-facilitate and personalize sessions

We help schools move from checkbox training to meaningful, embedded professional learning — PD that actually shifts practice and builds teacher confidence.

If your PD feels like a formality, it might be time to redesign it as a leadership tool — not just a compliance mechanism.

Let’s talk about how to create a development plan your staff will actually value — and use.

Visit our other pages or message me to get started.

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