Improving Instructional Quality in Jewish Day Schools and Yeshivot ...

Principals, as instructional leaders, realize that professionaldevelopment, well-conceived, planned, and assessed, is vital toimproving teaching and student learning. Best practice in professionaldevelopment points to several components as necessary (Griffin, 1997;Lieberman, 1995).• Purposeful and articulated – Goals for a professionaldevelopment program must be developed, examined,critiqued, and assessed for relevance. These goals must bestated in some formal way so that all educators concernedwith the professional development program are clear about itsintent and purpose.• Participatory and collaborative – Too often professionaldevelopment is top-driven, even at times by administrativefiat. Such programs are less effective because teachers, forwhom professional development serves the greatest benefit,are not actively involved in its design, implementation, andassessment. Best practice in professional development requireswide participation by all stakeholders.• Knowledge-based and discipline-based - Professionaldevelopment must be based on the most relevant and currentresearch in the field. Also, teachers will not value professionaldevelopment unless it contains, in the words of one teacher,“some substance, . . . something I can take back to theclassroom.” Moreover, professional development should be, attimes, targeted by discipline. Often high school Englishteachers may want and need a workshop on a topic quitedifferent from, say, a Jewish studies rebbe.• Focused on student learning – According to Speck (1998),“Educators must never forget that the objective of professionaldevelopment is to increase student learning” (p. 156).Principals and committees that are responsible for planningprofessional development programs should consider first andforemost the teacher behaviors or activities that most directlyimpact student learning and then “work backward to pinpointthe knowledge, skills, and attitudes educators must have” (p.157).73