Designing Professional Development That Works Beatrice F. Birman, Laura Desimone, Andrew C. Porter, and Michael S. Garet
Professional development plays a key role in addressing the gap between teacher preparation and standards based reform; it is a key focus of U.S. efforts to improve education. Much of the professional development that is offered to teachers, however, simply does not meet the challenges of the reform movement (Corcoran, 1995; Darling Hammond, 1995; Hiebert, 1999; Lieberman, 1996; Little, 1993; Sparks Loucks Horsley, 1989)