Effective continuing professional development

What makes for effective continuing professional development (CPD) in mathematics teaching?

Effective maths teacher CPD, like teaching, is complex
More research is needed on impact as well as teacher satisfaction with CPD
CPD can take a variety of forms - not just face-to-face – and can be informal or formal
Effective CPD should be based on participants’ needs and goals and teachers should have enough time to engage with, reflect on and embed the CPD
Long-term, teacher-driven CPD, such as lesson study, mentoring, and teacher research (developing learning communities) can be effective
Important features of effective CPD for maths teachers include a practical focus, time to reflect and opportunities for networking
Some features appear critical, for example; one possible set of critical features for effective maths teacher CPD are: content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation
CPD that is subject-specific and considers how pupils makes sense of mathematics is considered valuable by maths teachers

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