Professional Development

Like medical and legal professionals, educators need and deserve access to continual and high-quality professional education. EDC develops, implements, and evaluates professional development programs for teachers and administrators at every stage of their career growth—from university-based, pre-service programs to continuing education programs integrated into the daily work of experienced teachers. In the U.S., many of our professional development projects focus on helping teachers and administrators deepen their content knowledge through immersion in rigorous challenges and close analysis of student work. Many of our global projects focus on helping educators integrate active learning approaches into more traditional classroom practices. On a broader level, we work to restructure professional development systems by creating "communities of practice" within and among schools.

Media and Digital Design Curriculum

EDC is working with ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Careers, with support from The James Irvine Foundation, to develop a curriculum for career sector academies in California public high schools. This project focuses on the arts, media and entertainment (AME) sector.

Connecting Science and Literacy: A Professional Development Program for Elementary Teachers

CSE, along with literacy consultants from the Tufts University Center for Applied Child Development, are nearing completion of a set of professional development materials to be published by Heinemann Press in the summer of 2009. The Connecting Science and Literacy Program (CSLP) is designed to enhance the understanding of this connection and its relationship to the development of scientific reasoning skills and conceptual understanding.

Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Learning Resource Center (LRC)

The Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program is designed to increase opportunities for students and teachers to learn about and use information technologies within the contexts of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The program supports both youth-based projects with strong emphases on career and educational paths, and comprehensive projects for students and teachers.

New Mexico Reading First Initiative Evaluation

CCT is evaluating New Mexico’s statewide implementation of the Reading First program, the literacy component of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The primary goal of the New Mexico Reading First (NMRF) initiative is to improve students’ literacy skills by changing how teachers address literacy in grades K–3. New Mexico hopes to improve student achievement in literacy by providing intensive professional development to teachers, helping districts select quality reading programs and materials, engaging in ongoing assessment, and ensuring curriculum coherence across grade levels.

Educational Quality Improvement Program 3: Learning and Earning for Out-of-school Youth (EQUIP3)

The Educational Quality Improvement Program 3 (EQUIP3) is a Leader-with-Associate Award that is designed to improve earning, learning, and skill development opportunities for out-of-school youth in developing countries.

Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) Technical Assistance

In collaboration with EDC’s Education, Employment, and Community Programs, ERO promotes and supports the Ford PAS program. Ford PAS includes an interdisciplinary high school curriculum that challenges students academically and develops their problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills. We provide ongoing technical assistance for all schools and partners implementing Ford PAS by hosting an interactive Web site and toll-free hotline, designing and conducting an annual national networking and training conference, and offering professional development activities.

Decentralized Basic Education in Indonesia: Teaching and Learning

USAID’s Decentralized Basic Education (DBE) Program Objective 2 seeks to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Indonesia’s public and private sector primary schools. DBE 2 builds upon successful aspects of recent initiatives in Indonesia to improve educational quality through new attention to strengthening teacher training and improving school learning environments. The DBE 2 Partnership works with public and private sector partners to develop a more comprehensive system of teacher professional development.

Boston Science Partnership

The Boston Science Partnership is a five-year NSF-funded Math and Science Partnership project designed to improve science teaching and learning in Boston’s middle schools and high schools, to enhance university-level teaching by STEM faculty, and to ensure the university partners’ continued support for and faculty involvement in science education. The Partnership involves the Boston Public Schools, the University of Massachusetts/Boston, and Northeastern University as the principal partners. Harvard Medical School and the College Board participate as supporting partners.

Support for NSF's Discovery Research K-12 (DR-K12) Program Grantees

This project provides logistical and substantive support to the IMD, TPC, and DR-K12 grantees funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Working collaboratively with the principal investigators and NSF program officers over a five-year period, EDC has coordinated four of five annual Principal Investigators conferences and is establishing a knowledge-transfer network that includes developing print and Web-based resources to ensure ongoing, high-quality dialogue and sharing among grantees.

Learning to RECAST Students’ Causal Assumptions in Science Through Interactive Multimedia Professional Development Tools

CSE is directing the external formative and summative evaluation activities for Harvard University’s Learning to RECAST Students’ Causal Assumptions in Science Through Interactive Multimedia Professional Development Tools project. This five-year project develops tools that enable teachers to assist their students in learning the nature of causality underlying scientific concepts. CSE’s role is to monitor the project’s progress on materials and technology development as well as to determine the impact of the tools on teacher practice.