A Statewide Professional Development Conference: Useful Strategy for Learning or Inefficient Use of Resources?

This paper from the Education Policy Analysis Archives examines the utility of large-scale professional development efforts. After studying one particular state-wide conference, authors Paul Bredeson and Jay Scribner contend that large-scale efforts may produce only vague results and that "coordination between the various levels of our educational system must occur to ensure that the professional knowledge gained is internalized by teachers, principals, and others into their respective practices."

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