PD is Not an Event. It’s a System.

“Teachers need much more than a workshop to improve instruction. They need time to learn, time to plan collaboratively, to receive coaching, and to reflect.” - Michael Fullan

We’ve all experienced it: Professional development that looks like this: everyone gathered in the cafeteria or library, facing forward, while an “expert” clicks through a slide deck and occasionally asks the group generic open-ended questions. The topic might be new curriculum, behavior strategies, or an instructional model.

You listen. You nod. You may even get a few good ideas. But there’s one big problem:

You’re being told what to do, not shown how to do it.

Even less common is what should happen after the training: someone checking in, co-planning, modeling lessons, or helping you troubleshoot in real time. You leave with some knowledge, but no real path to change your daily practice.

Effective professional learning looks different. It feels different. And it works because of two key differences:

• It isn’t a series of disconnected events. It’s a system.

• It recognizes that teachers, like students, need differentiated support.

Leadership Perspective

In our last post, we met a principal staring at a whiteboard filled with “new” things for teachers: reading curriculum, behavior systems, tech transitions, language learner initiatives. It was too much. So we started simplifying.

We trimmed the list by eliminating or postponing what wasn’t urgent. Then we connected initiatives, embedding support for language learners within the new reading curriculum work, rather than making it a separate focus.

We were able to limit some of the change and create coherence with much of the rest. Our white board looked simpler and felt more doable. However, we weren’t done yet.

Next, we looked at the calendar. Some PD days were already allocated for the reading adoption by the district and had district-led professional development sessions. Instead of adding new sessions, we built extensions turning those days into a launching pad for ongoing support.

We organized teacher teams to continue the learning through embedded coaching. Those coaching moments were planned and protected—not just optional or reactive. The result? Fewer moving parts. More alignment. And teachers actually had the time and support to change what they were doing.

The Two Missing Pieces in Most PD Systems

1. Sustained, Multi-Tiered Professional Learning

   If we want to change student outcomes, we must change what happens in classrooms. And to do that, professional learning must go beyond one-and-done workshops.

   
   

   Here’s what research and experience both tell us works:

   • Whole-group learning introduces shared ideas, goals, and language.

   • Job-embedded coaching provides the individualized support teachers need to apply and refine those ideas in their own classrooms.

   • Ongoing support allows teachers to reflect, adjust, and sustain the change.

   
   

   This matters because teaching is behavioral. It’s not just knowing something new—it’s doing something new. And like all habits, instructional routines are hard to change.

   
   

2. Differentiated Professional Learning

   We expect teachers to differentiate instruction for students. So why do we keep delivering PD that assumes all teachers need the same thing?

   
   

   Effective adult learning must be:

   • Tailored to experience levels (a first-year teacher doesn’t need the same support as a 20-year veteran).

   • Responsive to classroom context (content area, student needs, instructional goals).

   • Choice-driven, allowing teachers to set goals, choose pathways, and reflect on progress.

   • Adult learners are acutely aware of their own needs. When we ignore that, we create disconnect and resistance.

The Leadership Mirror Moment

We’ve talked about this before - how we must model what we ask of others.

In a previous post, we explored how school systems must differentiate support for schools just as they ask teachers to differentiate for students. In another, we examined how leaders must model the kind of change they want teachers to embrace.

This is no different.

We can’t ask teachers to differentiate for kids while offering one-size-fits-all PD. We can’t expect instructional shifts while offering support that ends at the training session.

What Makes PD Actually Work?

From the our last blog: “Overwhelmed Teachers Don’t Grow—Here’s How Leaders Fix That”:

• Create coherence by intentionally limiting, combining, and connecting new learning for staff

From this post:

• Create a “system” of professional learning that provides job-embedded support and differentiates for teacher needs.

Here’s a quick checklist to assess your current PD system:

✅ Includes both whole group sessions and job-embedded coaching

✅ Supports behavior change, not just idea sharing

✅ Differentiates based on teacher experience and goals

✅ Models what it expects of teachers

✅ Has coherence with school goals (see our last post)

Our next will bring it all together by thinking about how to create an adult MTSS framework (just like we do for students).

Discussion Question

Not all schools have instructional coaches and it can seem daunting to provide differentiated support to teachers. What are other ways that schools can provide this type of support?