Abstract:

Demands upon the time and attention of teachers in the fast-paced and multifaceted environment of today’s public school classrooms often work to the detriment of student learning and achievement. Teachers who must respond to new curriculum models, team planning, parent demands, administrative requirements, etc. may find their only solace in the familiarity of repeating lesson plans, instructional approaches, and even their own words. When this happens, the teacher has taken the first step in a series of decisions that may lead to mediocrity and decreased student learning and achievement. Teachers must always respect the individual differences of students in their classes and the instructional implications thereof. Teachers who take the time to understand these characteristics about each individual in their classes and who use this information to guide their instruction, will find their teaching to be more student-centered and effective at increasing learning and achievement.

Of all the factors affecting student learning and achievement in classrooms, only choice and implementation of instructional strategies are typically under the complete control of the teacher. Given this, teachers should be equipped to make the best instructional choices possible. Best practice in teaching results from thoughtful combination of a clear understanding about student development, the academic and pedagogical demands of required curriculum, and extant learning environments. That is, theoretical information from the fields of educational psychology and human development may be employed to accurately arrive at a multifaceted developmental profile for a student. This profile may then be used in combination with curriculum and environmental factors to identify and prescribe instructional approaches to the student that increase achievement.

This paper is presented in four parts.
1. The first section of the paper consists of an introduction to the developmental profiling concept and a review of literature supporting the developmental profiling process and the proposed plan for professional development.
2. The second section of the paper details the developmental profiling process used by teachers in this study.
3. The third section presents aggregated achievement results attained by 3rd -6th grade teachers in low-performing schools measured with the Measures of Academic Progress standardized assessment and similar achievement results attained by over 300 PK-12 teachers (with approximately 4500 students) measured with teacher-constructed assessments, who used the developmental profiling process described in the second section.
4. The final section of the paper details a model for professional development of teachers based upon results of literature and inquiry. described above and details achievement gains attained through its use with 3rd through 6th grade students in low-performing schools. presents the results attained a model for the process described here and the infusion of the process into the public school classroom.

Keywords:

Teacher training, inservice training, professional development, achievement.