Improving learning: What research says on the effectiveness and scalability of teacher professional development

Key takeaways from GPE KIX research projects on how to scale the impact of promising or proven innovations on teacher professional development implemented between 2020-2024.

February 05, 2025 by Carmen Pon, Education Development Trust, and Sophie D’Aoust, International Development Research Center - IDRC
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7 minutes read
Teacher Ibragimo Saltanat during a class at the Early Learning Hub supported by GPE in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Credit: GPE/Federico Scoppa

Teacher Ibragimo Saltanat during a class at the Early Learning Hub supported by GPE in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Credit: GPE/Federico Scoppa

With post-pandemic learning poverty reaching levels as high as 70% in low-income countries, efforts to provide quality education are crucial.

The quality of teaching and the training of teachers are key factors in improving student learning. However, not all students have access to teachers who can offer the necessary pedagogical support.

While there’s been increased attention to and investment in teacher professional development, delivery models with limited efficacy persist. They often include short courses delivered outside of schools where teachers normally work, one-off conferences or workshops and cascade training.

These “one-size fits all”, facilitator-centered models impose strategies and provide resources without enabling teachers to actively build skills or reflect on learning.

Research indicates that such models have limited effectiveness and minimal influence on teachers' openness to altering their practices, which in turn limits improvements in student learning.

How GPE KIX supports effective teacher professional development models

Between 2020–24, GPE’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) – a joint endeavor with Canada’s International Development Research Centre – has funded nine research projects in support of scaling the impact of promising or proven innovations in teacher professional development:

Countries in which GPE KIX teacher professional development research projects were implemented

Countries in which GPE KIX teacher professional development research projects were implemented.

From the synthesis report of these projects, we draw out two key areas critical to addressing learning poverty: effective teacher professional development and scaling, with a focus on stakeholder engagement.

The key features of effective teacher professional development

Expanding on existing literature, five key features of effective teacher professional development emerged from the KIX research:

  • A focus on both curriculum content and pedagogy. Content mastery is crucial as is understanding the pedagogies best suited to each subject. The STEM Teacher and Student Education for Primary Schools project provided teachers with materials adapted to each country's context and curricula, while the Connected Learning for Teacher Capacity Building in STEM project collaboratively developed subject-specific online modules along with a general pedagogy module focused on teaching these subjects.
  • Active adult learning strategies.Professional development should focus on how adults learn best, promoting self-reflection, encouraging engagement with new ideas and helping connect these ideas to prior experience and knowledge. Examples from GPE KIX projects include observing effective teaching demonstrations, analyzing student work and engaging in peer observation.
    The Strengthening Capacity for Scaling Education Innovation in the Caribbean project employed a bottom-up approach to enhance the capacities of teachers and school leaders to co-develop innovative and relevant learning strategies.
  • Peer collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. By focusing on collaborative learning, teacher professional development initiatives promote continuous professional development and facilitate the establishment of professional communities that play a critical role in sustaining autonomous processes.
    Study groups in Connected Learning for Teacher Capacity Building in STEM held regular meetings (both face-to-face and virtual) with tutors or mentors who provided feedback and responded to questions, while in other GPE KIX projects, such as Adapting and Scaling Peer Tutoring for Teachers and School Leaders for Equitable Rural Education and Adapting, professional communities shared lesson plans and materials, and encouraged problem solving and reflection.
  • Expert support. Experienced educators who are well versed in professional learning strategies and have knowledge of classroom dynamics are important to designing effective learning experiences, facilitating collaborative work and professional communities, and serving as coaches in school-based support programs.
    The Strengthening School-based In-service Teacher Mentorship and Support project involved mentoring and tutoring by trained university professors, creating teaching materials, visiting schools to present projects, assessing the applicability of innovations to the classroom and monitoring the implementation of teaching practices.
    Trained fellows in the Multi-modal Approach to Teacher Professional Development in Low Resource Settings project were employed to assist teachers in conducting action research and identifying students’ difficulties.
  • Sustained duration. Although there’s no set duration for teacher professional development programs, short-term courses or workshops alone do not produce lasting changes in teaching practices, whereas a continuous combination of training, on-site practice and support from mentors or study groups is more likely to lead to successful adoption of new practices.
    Two projects–Teaching at the Right Level and Adapting and Scaling Teacher Professional Development Approaches–assessed and scaled low-cost models that could be sustained over time and in multiple contexts, including remote rural areas.

GPE KIX research projects also used the potential of technology to support these features to allow more teachers to benefit by increasing access to quality educational resources and encouraging peer-to-peer learning.

Over time, technology can also reduce costs, making professional development programs more scalable and sustainable and, depending on the context, low- or high-tech options (or hybrid models) may better suit users’ needs.

Technology was used in a variety of ways across GPE KIX projects to support teacher training. For instance, Improving Community Teacher Development in the Digital Era designed a digital platform that enables trainers and teachers to connect in their national languages, widening access to teacher professional development in low-resource, multilingual contexts.

Jakhonigir Burkhonov, teacher at the Early Learning Hub supported by GPE, working in his class. Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Credit: GPE/Federico Scoppa

Jakhonigir Burkhonov, teacher at the Early Learning Hub supported by GPE, working in his class. Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Credit:
GPE/Federico Scoppa

Implications for scaling and policy uptake

Three project facets were found to be essential to the sustainability and scaling of teacher professional development: stakeholder alignment and engagement; the growing role of technology; and knowledge generation and mobilization.

Delving deeper into stakeholder alignment and engagement, the synthesis report emphasizes the importance of including teachers in the design and implementation process, recognizing that they play a critical role not only in adopting new methods, but also in adapting and refining these innovations to meet the specific needs of their students.

This approach recognizes that impact is more significant when there’s a deeper understanding of how teachers learn and what motivates them.

Projects used observations, surveys and interviews with teachers to:

  1. Gain insight into how teacher professional development was translated into the classroom;
  2. Understand teachers' willingness to adopt new practices; and
  3. Identify pathways to leverage pedagogical change.

Project participants also flagged the need to involve school leaders to effectively support teacher professional development, as adopting and sustaining new pedagogical practices can be hindered by a lack of shared vision.

Governments were identified as key enablers of sustainable teacher professional development, with GPE KIX research indicating that their early participation (along with clear and continuous communication) can help ensure ownership and facilitate scaling of initiatives.

Successful projects conducted situational analyses to help embed teacher professional development within government policies to ensure alignment as well as legitimacy and cultural appropriateness.

Partnerships with stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, universities, teacher training colleges, unions and the private sector, are equally crucial to the sustainability and scaling of teacher professional development programs, as they provide essential technical and financial resources, networks, visibility and expertise.

GPE KIX projects produced valuable evidence on scaling and effective teacher professional development, leading to government uptake across multiple GPE partner countries.

In Uzbekistan, findings from the Adapting and Scaling Teacher Professional Development Approaches project influenced reforms to the regulations governing official in-service training.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the Ministry of Education identified Teaching at the Right Level as their remedial approach in the national foundational learning strategy and has begun incorporating the method into pre-service education.

In Benin, the government has expressed interest in registering the STEM Teacher and Student Education for Primary Schools science books as state-authorized textbooks.

In Bhutan, the Connected Learning for Teacher Capacity Building in STEM practice-based model was adopted by the Ministry of Education.

GPE KIX’s continued commitment to teacher professional development

Evidence from GPE KIX projects implemented between 2020–24 demonstrates that education stakeholders in GPE partner countries remain dedicated to delivering quality teacher professional programs, as highlighted in these examples of government uptake.

These projects provided policy makers with evidence from successful programs that go beyond traditional, top-down approaches and prioritize innovative, context-specific interventions.

Looking forward, GPE KIX developed a recent scoping study on Supporting Teachers to Improve Teaching and Learning to inform new funding for GPE KIX research for the 2024–26 period.

This study underscores the ongoing need to support teacher professional development, as well as teachers’ and school leaders’ agency to foster a sense of ownership and commitment to sustainable pedagogical change.

Based on priorities outlined in the scoping study and on the findings in the synthesis report, a new group of GPE KIX projects will address further knowledge gaps to enhance teachers' capacity, motivation and agency, and strengthen their role in promoting gender equality and inclusion in education.

Translating research into practice

Outputs are available to support government officials, policy makers, practitioners and researchers in turning teacher professional development evidence into practice:

  • Policy brief: to inform meetings with policy makers and partners who are not researchers.
  • KIX research brief: the summary of national priorities and research gaps to support teachers.
  • Infographic: presents the findings of the synthesis report in a graphic way.

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