An Exploration of Learner-Centered Professional Development for Reluctant Math Teachers

In recent studies, researchers found that, while 90 percent of teachers reported participating in professional development, most of those teachers reported that it was not effective for improving their practice (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001; Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002; Corcoran & Foley, 2003). These findings indicate that the real issue is not that teachers are not provided with professional development, but that the typical modes of professional development are ineffective at changing teacher practices and/or student learning. Therefore, there is a need to explore new ways of conducting effective professional development for teachers. This study investigates a learner-centered model of professional development, which is designed to maximize the impact of teacher training on student learning.