If you've ever sat through a professional development day and thought, 'this won't change anything I do on Monday,' you were probably right. Decades of research back that up. But effective PD does exist — and knowing the difference can save your school time, budget, and teacher goodwill."

What the Research Actually Shows:

1. One-day workshops don't work. A widely cited 2007 research review found that single-shot, one-day workshops show no measurable impact on student achievement. If your PD strategy is a once-a-year in-service day, the research says it isn't moving the needle.
2. Sustained PD works better than isolated events. Reviews of effective professional development consistently find that PD is most effective when it's sustained over time, collaborative, and tied directly to what teachers are actually teaching, rather than delivered as a one-off session.
3. Coaching and feedback matter more than content delivery alone. Research has found that combining expert mentoring with ongoing feedback on student progress produces stronger results than one-time information delivery — teachers need practice and follow-up, not just a slideshow.
4. Collaboration between teachers drives real change. Bringing more-experienced and less-experienced teachers together, and building in structured time to learn from each other, is repeatedly identified as one of the more consistent contributors to teacher improvement.
5. Context matters — generic PD often fails. Research also shows that PD which isn't tailored to a school's specific needs and culture tends to remain ineffective, regardless of how well-designed the content is in isolation.

The honest caveat:
It's worth noting that even the research on 'what makes PD effective' has been critiqued — some reviews question how rigorously certain 'best practice' lists were actually tested. The honest takeaway isn't a magic formula; it's that sustained, collaborative, feedback-driven PD consistently outperforms one-time workshops, even if no single checklist guarantees results.

Written by Ghirmay Alazar, PhD (Coach G)

"Stay Teacher's Professional Development Program is built around exactly what the research supports: ongoing coaching, real feedback, and support that continues long after a single workshop ends. Not a slideshow — a sustained partnership that actually changes how teachers feel and teach."

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