Investing in our Teachers: What Focus of Professional Development Leads to the Highest Student Gains in Mathematics Achievement?

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to better understand the relationship between the substantive-content focus of professional development for inservice teachers of mathematics and their students\u27 achievement. That professional development for teachers enhances student achievement has been well established by recent studies; however, those meta-analyses have studied structural characteristics such as the duration and the format/delivery method of the professional development. It is important to understand how the focus of professional development relates to student achievement because different foci must still compete not only among themselves but also with other instructional-improvement strategies (such as high-stakes testing, accountability, and curriculum reform) for limited resources, such as time and money. Hence, having evidence that professional development works and, more importantly, a better understanding of what focus comprises more effective professional development is not just of theoretical importance, it is also a policy-relevant imperative. The study\u27s results indicated that the focus of professional development is, in fact, a significant and educationally important predictor of variation in student-achievement effect sizes