A new
report
from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), commissioned by
Wellcome, undertakes a detailed review of the evidence on the
impact of teacher professional development.
The new study, which includes analysis from Ambition
Institute, examines 52 randomised controlled trials evaluating
teacher development programmes, in order to establish their
impact on pupil and teacher outcomes.
Continuing professional development (CPD), which can
include training courses, mentoring, seminars and peer review,
can play a crucial role in improving teaching
quality.
The Department for Education states that ‘effective
professional development for teachers is a core part of securing
effective teaching’. Despite this, teachers in England rank among
the lowest of all OECD countries for time allocated to
CPD.
Key findings
The impact of professional development on
pupils
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High-quality CPD for teachers has a
significant effect on pupils’ learning outcomes. CPD
programmes have the potential to close the gap between beginner
and more experienced teachers: the impact of CPD on pupil
outcomes (effect size 0.09) compares to the impact of having a
teacher with ten years’ experience rather than a new graduate
(0.11). CPD also has similar attainment effects to those
generated by large, structural reforms to the school system
(0.1).
-
Evidence suggests that quality CPD has a
greater effect on pupil attainment than other interventions
schools may consider, such as implementing performance-related
pay for teachers or lengthening the school
day.
-
Teacher CPD may be a cost-effective
intervention for improving pupil outcomes: while
there are other interventions with a larger impact on pupil
attainment, such as one-to-one tutoring (0.28), these
programmes are typically far more expensive.
-
CPD programmes generally produce positive
responses from teachers, in contrast to other
interventions. Large, structural changes to the school
system, while as effective at improving pupil outcomes, incur
substantial costs in terms of staff turnover and
dissatisfaction.
The impact of professional development on
teacher retention
-
Increasing the availability of high-quality
CPD has been shown to improve retention problems, particularly
for early-career teachers. While factors other than
access to CPD tend to be behind teachers’ decisions to quit the
profession, there is evidence supporting targeted CPD
programmes for teachers in the early stages of their careers.
-
Induction training and mentoring programmes
are particularly effective for improving retention rates early
on. Quality CPD has the potential to alleviate acute
retention problems for early-career teachers.
Improving access to professional
development for teachers
-
Teacher turnover is a major impediment to
the effectiveness of a CPD programme: those programmes that can
offer flexibility to account for volatility in the teacher
labour market are more likely to be successful.
Additional support for new teachers joining the CPD programme
half-way through the year, could be offered to mitigate
this.
-
Professional development is more accessible
for teachers and has a greater impact when it receives
sustained support from school leaders. Those designing
CPD programmes can also ensure continuity by adapting to any
changes in school leadership.
-
CPD programmes that make allowances for
workload and limited teacher time are also likely to be more
effective. High teacher workload represents one of the
greatest obstacles to accessing CPD; interventions are likely
to see success if they are both attractive and strive to
minimise the demands placed on teachers.
Recommendations for future
research
-
While research on high-quality professional
development demonstrates a positive impact on pupil attainment,
further studies are needed to establish the effect of CPD
interventions on pupils’ long-term learning outcomes.
Longer-term evaluations on CPD could be achieved in a
light-touch way, for example by obtaining follow-up data for
studies through the National Pupil Database.
Commenting on the new report, James Zuccollo,
Director for School Workforce at the Education Policy Institute
(EPI), said:
“This research shows that quality professional
development for teachers can have a positive impact on pupil
attainment. Teacher development programmes compare favourably
with other more costly education interventions, but can be
overlooked as a route to improving young people’s
outcomes.”
“Given there is also evidence that professional
development can help to tackle acute teacher retention problems,
policymakers are right to explore how they can improve teachers’
access to high-quality support programmes.”
Nan Davies, Professional Development
Programme Lead at Wellcome, said:
"This important report from the Education Policy
Institute shows the significant impact teachers' continuing
professional development can have on pupil outcomes compared to
other more expensive interventions. However, the time given to
teachers' CPD in England does not compare favourably to other
OECD nations. Ensuring that teachers have access to and regularly
participate in high-quality professional development must
continue to be a priority for
policymakers".
Notes to
editors
Effect sizes
This report uses effect sizes to calculate the effectiveness of
education interventions on student learning outcomes. Effect
sizes calculate how large differences are, by measuring the
strength of the relationship between two variables. This study
conducted a meta-analysis using 49 effect sizes, from 42
studies.
The overall effect size for teacher professional development on
student learning is 0.09. This figure had a 95 per cent
confidence interval of 0.06 to 0.13. This echoes other recent
meta-analyses in identifying a positive effect for professional
development on student outcomes.
EPI-Wellcome CPD research
project
This review of the evidence on teacher professional development
informs a wider EPI research project on CPD, commissioned by
Wellcome. The research, which is to be published later in the
year, will examine the costs and benefits of a policy entitling
all teachers to thirty-five hours of high-quality professional
development every year.
About EPI
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) is an independent,
impartial, and evidence-based research institute that promotes
high quality education outcomes, regardless of social background.
We achieve this through data-led analysis, innovative research
and high-profile events. Find out more about our
work here.
About Wellcome
Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to
thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges,
we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved
with science and health research. We are a politically and
financially independent foundation.
We believe that science should be exciting for young
people, giving them skills and opportunities to improve their
futures. We want to make sure that all young people in the UK
have access to a world-class science education.
Our work in education focuses on:
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Teacher expertise
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Primary science
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Science education research
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Informal science learning
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Practical science
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Young peoples’ views on science
