Although there are many variables which affect the impact of continuing professional development (CPD), both schools and local authorities need to be able to asses what impact teachers’ engagement in early professional development (EPD) has on the individual, the school and learners in order to develop an understanding of what works well and in what circumstances.
The TDA's guidance on CPD impact evaluation, available from the downloads section, offers useful advice.
How local authorities can monitor and evaluate the impact of EPD
- Establish procedures that identify good practice and monitor CPD overall as well as EPD as a part of professional development
- Establish teacher tracking systems to provide evidence about staff retention and career progression
- Use exit interviews to seek to establish any correlations, positive or negative, between the leaver’s participation in EPD with their reasons for leaving the school
- Develop and promote the use of questionnaires for monitoring purposes
- Use a variety of sources and data, (research undertaken by Harris and her team in 2005 into the impact of CPD found that evaluations will be more reliable and rigorous if a variety of sources of data and information are used to make judgements)
- Incorporate the evaluation of EPD into existing structures and local practice in monitoring the work of schools
- Use the outcomes of monitoring the more long-term impact of EPD to support career succession and planning for and in your schools
How schools can monitor and evaluate the impact of EPD
You need to assess the quality of your EPD provision and weigh this against an evaluation of its impact.
It is not enough to know that EPD activities have taken place or that staff needs have been identified and recorded through performance management arrangements.
It is also important to take a pragmatic approach to evaluation and ensure that the time spent on the process is proportionate to the activity being evaluated.
- Identify the desired outcome of EPD activity prior to it taking place and ensure that teachers know what impact/outcomes are expected
- Devise suitable methods for collecting ‘evidence’, such as questionnaires and staff surveys
- Be clear about what measures to use, (for example, pupil attainment, pupil perception, staff retention, staff motivation and confidence, school improvement)
- Develop measures for assessing cost-effectiveness or value for money
- Focus on long-term impact rather than short-term
- Depending on local arrangements, draw on local authorities to help asses the impact of EPD
- Include an analysis of EPD in school self-evaluations
- Involve pupils in evaluations of EPD through the development of pupil voice
- Consider using pupil attitudinal surveys and parent surveys to provide useful information about whether something that has been introduced, such as a different teaching strategy, has had an effect
