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Evaluating continuing professional development (CPD)

Evaluating the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) can be challenging for CPD leaders. But with effective planning and review systems in place, you can get the most out of CPD.

The ultimate purpose of all CPD is to improve outcomes for pupils, but it can be difficult to isolate improvements that can be attributed to CPD. This means it is important that you assess how CPD affects staff performance and what impact this has on pupils.

Professional development requires time and resources, and you will need to be able to assess the difference it makes to pupils and staff. As such, it is important that CPD evaluation processes also support broader school self-evaluation processes.

It is essential that your colleagues identify their intended outcomes before planning and engaging in any CPD activity. This requires a clear picture of what things are like before the CPD takes place (the baseline) and a clear idea of how things should look when it is completed (the impact). This planning stage makes it easier to then identify observable changes in the classroom that result from CPD. Children and young people can also provide useful feedback on the effects of CPD.

More support is provided in the TDA's guide, Impact evaluation of CPD (PDF, 87KB).

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