Professional Development: Kansas

Retaining Effective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should require professional development to be based on needs identified through teacher evaluations.

Meets a small part of goal
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Professional Development: Kansas results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/KS-Professional-Development-9

Analysis of Kansas's policies

Kansas requires that teachers should receive copies of their evaluation documents. The state also specifies that local boards of education should develop plans for professional development programs "based on identified needs at the individual, building and district levels."

Citation

Recommendations for Kansas

Require that evaluation systems provide teachers with feedback about their performance.
Although Kansas requires teachers to receive copies of their evaluations, this only ensures that teachers will receive their ratings, not necessarily feedback on their performance. As such, the state should require that evaluation systems provide teachers with feedback about their classroom performance.

Ensure that professional development is aligned with findings from teachers' evaluations.
While Kansas does demonstrate an intent to customize professional development based on individual teachers' needs, the state does not go far enough in ensuring that such activities are informed by teachers' evaluations. The state could take its policy a step further by ensuring that districts utilize teacher evaluation results in determining professional development needs and activities.

State response to our analysis

Kansas recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

Research rationale

For evidence of the benefits of feedback from evaluation systems, and the potential for professional development surrounding that feedback, see T. Kane et al, "Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness." Education Next. Vol 11, No. 3 (2011); E. Taylor and J. Tyler, "The Effect of Evaluation on Performance: Evidence from Longitudinal Student Achievement Data of Mid-Career Teachers." National Bureau of Economic Research (2011).

Much professional development, particularly those that are not aligned to specific feedback from teacher evaluations, has been found to be ineffective.  For evidence see M. Garet, "Middle School Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study: Findings After the Second Year of Implementation." Institute of Education Sciences (2011).

For additional evidence regarding best practices for professional development, see "The Deliver, Financing, and Assessment of Professional Development in Education: Pre-Service Preparation and In-Service Training." The Finance Project (2003).