What impact do your professional development investments have on student achievement and teacher effectiveness? Given the increased emphasis on educator effectiveness and efficient use of resources, answering that question has never been more important. The Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) can help by conducting a comprehensive professional development audit to improve districts’ ability to make informed decisions.

To make strategic decisions regarding professional development, districts need to know how much is truly (not just perceived to be) spent on professional development and what is the real impact—on student academic growth, on teaching practices, and on teachers’ perceptions of the value of professional development to their craft.

CTAC helps answer these critical questions through our comprehensive Professional Development Audit.

Multi-Dimensional Analysis

CTAC’s professional development audit analyzes both quantitative and qualitative data to understand the impact of professional development on student achievement, as well as on the practices and perceptions of educators.

We customize the audit to meet the needs of each district, targeting the programs, grades or subject areas the district wants to examine. It may include the entire district or specific schools. To understand the relationship between professional development and student achievement, classroom practices, human resources, and finances, we gather and analyze a range of data, including:

  • Student academic growth data
  • Programmatic and financial data, including allocations embedded in departmental or categorical program budgets
  • Protocols, artifacts and curricula materials related to professional development
  • Perceptual data from individual and group interviews and from teacher and administrator surveys
  • Classroom observational data to better understand the impact of professional development on teacher practice

CTAC has conducted professional development audits in school systems across the country, including such leading districts as Duval County Public Schools in Florida, Henrico County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia.