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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) not only mandates the use of funds for high quality professional development, but also requires educators to be accountable for measuring the impact of programs on students, teachers and administrators. Asking essential questions can deepen the understanding of effective professional development. State and school district leaders should be cognizant of the three major steps in designing or selecting high quality professional development models -- planning, implementation and monitoring.

Leaders are encouraged to use the following essential questions to guide the thorough and reflective selection and design of professional development/learning programs.

• To what extent do the goals, objectives and strategies address the needs of the students, teachers and administrators, including those with special needs?
  • What are the student, teacher, and administrator needs that currently exist (or existed prior to program development)?
    • Academic
    • Learning styles
    • Safety
  • To what extent was a valid needs assessment completed prior to the development of this professional development program?
  • How are the student, teacher and administrator needs related?
  • How were stakeholders included in the planning and development of the program?
  • How has Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) data, as defined by NCLB, been used to determine the needs of this staff development program?
• When and how has evaluation been incorporated into the program design process and to what extent are the goals and intended outcomes both measurable and improvement-oriented?
• How is this professional development program embedded in the overall organization?
  • How is the professional development program aligned to the school or district improvement plan?
  • How is the program tied to other initiatives within the state, district, and elsewhere?
  • How is the program suited to local conditions and needs?
• To what extent does the professional development program take into account and change context factors such as local culture, leadership, and community support?
• How has the allocation of resources (i.e. time, equipment, personnel, infrastructure) been addressed to enable effective implementation of the professional development program?
• In what ways was scientifically-based research used in the development or selection of the program?
• To what extent are multiple types of measures used in the formative assessment plan (quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of stakeholders)?

• How does the professional development program respond to the needs of students, teachers, and administrators, including those with special needs?
• How does the professional development program address the definition of professional development as defined by NCLB (Title IX, Part A)? (See the characteristics of high quality professional development as defined by the framework subgroup.)
• How will support of the program be achieved (technical, personnel, and others)?
• How are various delivery strategies utilized to meet the needs of learners (face-to-face, online, hybrid)?
• What is the readiness level of the leadership in the organization who will implement the change process?
• What is the readiness level of all stakeholders to understand their role in the change process?
• How are practice, research and reflection incorporated into the professional development program?
• In what ways is the professional development program aligned with standards?
  • To what extent was the program designed to address students' needs in meeting learning standards?
• To what extent does the professional development program have sufficient resources and support in terms of funding, staffing, and materials?

• Administrative
  • To what extent are personnel assigned at school and district levels to manage the plan?
  • What levels of administrative support are in place to support the plan?
  • How is the timeline being managed and tracked?
  • To what extent are communication mechanisms in place and being widely used to keep all stakeholders informed and involved?
• Formative
  • To what extent are there formative evaluation activities in place to inform revisions and improvements of the plan, as well as celebrations of successes?
  • To what extent are personnel assigned to perform data collection, analysis, and reporting functions?
  • How will the impact on student achievement be measured and documented?
• Summative
  • What data will be collected to determine if goals are being met?
    • Student performance
    • Teachers' professional growth and learning
  • To what extent does the data show that the professional development program can be readily replicated in similar contexts?
  • How does the program use scientifically-based research procedures and processes to document success?
  • To what extent does the professional development program lead to and measure changes in beliefs, content, materials, processes and behaviors?