Designing High-Quality Professional Development: Reflecting on Learning

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For learning to affect practice, participants need the opportunity to both 1) identify that learning has occurred, individually assessing if they’ve acquired the new knowledge or skill, and 2) reflect on how this new learning is consistent with or refines their view of their professional role and their practice. This process of identifying and reflecting involves practicing skills with constructive feedback and assessing knowledge with corrective feedback. Research suggests that teachers benefit from an opportunity to reflect on their current practice, recognize their growth as a result of feedback, and clearly identify how their practice will change (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Research also suggests that this opportunity to self-assess and reflect has a role in supporting teacher efficacy and, ultimately, in improved student outcomes (Ross & Bruce, 2007). Each of the indicators in this domain comprises a piece of the overall process of identifying learning that has occurred and of reflecting on how the learning will result in change of practice.

A pre- and posttest with corrective feedback can give the learners an indication of whether new knowledge and skills have been acquired. Performance assessments allow the learners to practice decision-making processes and then compare their performance to an exemplar. The impact of learning is greatly influenced by the opportunity to reflect on how the learning will influence or change practice.

The presenter should:

• Provide opportunities to practice the application of knowledge or skills with corrective feedback.
• Engage the participants in an assessment of their learning and reflection on how it will impact their practice.
• Provide participants with evidence that they left the session having learned new knowledge or skills.

To support participants’ reflection, the local provider should coordinate with the presenter to:

• Provide follow-up performance assessment with constructive and corrective feedback.
• Engage the participants in continued reflection on the application of the content, by facilitating periodic discussions on implementation and impact.

Indicator 14. Provides constructive feedback within practice opportunities to promote the acquisition of skills.

Quality practice opportunities include feedback on performance. In order to be able to identify learning, participants need to receive constructive or substantive feedback on their practice or performance related to the content. This means that each participant engages in practice opportunities and receives feedback on how well they meet an established criterion. Feedback may take several forms, from specific feedback on each participant’s practice to general feedback based on the established criterion. It is important, however, that each participant responds to and evaluates their own performance based on feedback or a model.

If the presenter does not provide practice opportunities, then the local provider may provide this support through follow-up sessions, such as professional learning community meetings or coaching sessions in which the participants practice the content and receive specific feedback.

Indicator 15. Engages each participant in assessment of knowledge/skill acquisition with corrective feedback.

Providing the participants with evidence of their learning and the opportunity to reflect on the learning are key elements supporting a change in practice. Research suggests that the opportunity to self-assess and reflect on learning has a role in supporting teacher efficacy and, ultimately, improved student outcomes (Ross & Bruce, 2007). There are many strategies professional development providers use to provide evidence of their learning and their improved knowledge or skills, including a pre/posttest with feedback. Multiple in-session quizzes, with corrective feedback, enhance learning and promote reflection (Yang et al., 2021). Performance assessments focused on implementation criteria, such as a rubric or practice profile, provide participants with the opportunity to analyze the critical components of a practice and determine their level of implementation (Metz, 2016). To effectively implement practices, participants need to be confident that they possess the requisite knowledge and skills.

Indicator 16. Facilitates opportunities for participants to reflect on current practice and the influence of new learning on their future practice.

Recognizing and being able to reflect on learning are key elements supporting a change in a participant’s practice. To sustain implementation, teachers benefit from an opportunity to reflect on their practice, recognize their growth as a result of feedback, and clearly identify what will change (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Research also suggests that this opportunity to self-assess and reflect has a role in supporting teacher efficacy and, ultimately, improved student outcomes (Ross & Bruce, 2007). During professional development, participants benefit from opportunities to recognize that they have acquired new skills and to specifically identify how this new learning or skill will impact their practice.

There are several strategies that can be used to provide participants with the opportunity to reflect on current practice and the impact of new knowledge or skills. When a session is being planned, it is useful to identify what evidence indicates that the participants left the session knowing that they learned new content or skills. How were the improved knowledge or skills documented? How did the participants identify what elements of their practice would change or be refined as a result of the professional development? Because engaging participants in higher-order or more complex thinking about content or practice results in the sustained and generalized use of the content, the reflection questions should engage the participants in higher-order thinking about their current and revised practice. The Taxonomy of Reflection provides guidance on how to phrase reflection questions to promote more complex thinking.

Indicator 17. Establishes a process for participants’ continued reflection on implementation and impact.

Because reflection is such a powerful tool, participants should continue reflection activities, either individually or within their collaborative groups, while working through implementation. Support for reflection could be provided through a guidance document to be used individually or by teams. Participants benefit from locally established collaborative structures, ongoing coaching, and reflection/brainstorming discussions.

Implementation science continues to demonstrate the impact of ongoing implementation teams in sustaining an innovation with fidelity. If left isolated, individual attempts at implementation generally result in only modest outcomes. But ongoing implementation teams improve success rates from under 15% to 80% and reduce timeframes for successful use from 17 years to 3 years (Metz et al., 2013). Reflection on professional practice is an evidence-based strategy that supports the teams as they process learning, review action plans, and connect the new knowledge and skills to ongoing practice.