Professional Development Planning Flashcards
7 cards from real MAT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Professional Development Planning flashcards as text
A teacher participates in a lesson study group. What is the primary purpose of this professional development structure?
Answer: To collaboratively plan, observe, and refine a single research lesson to improve instruction
Lesson study involves a collaborative cycle of planning, observing, and debriefing a research lesson to refine teaching practice.
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the 'transfer of learning' problem in professional development?
Answer: A teacher returns from a conference inspired but reverts to old habits within two weeks
Transfer of learning failure occurs when skills gained in PD do not carry over into sustained classroom practice.
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), professional development for teachers must meet which standard?
Answer: It must be sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused
ESSA defines effective professional development using specific criteria including sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused characteristics.
A teacher evaluates her professional development progress mid-year and finds she has not met her stated goal. What is the most appropriate next step?
Answer: Reflect on barriers encountered and adjust strategies while maintaining the core goal
Mid-cycle reflection should lead to strategy adjustment rather than goal abandonment, preserving the intent of the original development target.
Which of the following best explains why peer observation is a valuable professional development tool?
Answer: It provides authentic instructional models and collaborative feedback grounded in shared context
Peer observation offers real-time instructional modeling and context-specific feedback from colleagues who understand the same student population.
A teacher is completing a National Board Certification portfolio. How does this process function as professional development?
Answer: It requires deep reflective analysis of teaching practice, student work, and video evidence over time
National Board Certification is widely regarded as transformative PD because it demands extended, evidence-based reflection on teaching and student learning.
A school adopts instructional rounds as a professional development strategy. Which statement accurately describes this approach?
Answer: Small groups of educators observe classrooms to identify a targeted instructional problem of practice across the school
Instructional rounds engage small cross-role teams in structured classroom observations focused on a shared problem of practice to build collective knowledge.