Twice a year, NSDC Distinguished Senior Fellow Hayes Mizell and I visit with our national advisors to explore issues relevant to the field of professional learning and NSDC's work. Recently we met with one of our advisors, Kent McGuire, dean of the College of Education at Temple University and a former assistant secretary of education during the Clinton administration. I want to share one of the topics from our recently completed session with Dr. McGuire. I invite you to join the conversation by responding to the questions with your own thoughts. Collectively, we will get smarter about how to market and improve professional development.?

One issue we explored we labeled the "Rodney Dangerfield challenge." Why is it that professional development does not get the respect it deserves? McGuire suggests that some hold the view that educators should learn all they need to know to be successful in their preparation programs. He suggests we combat this argument by turning our attention to other respected professions. Would we take our children to doctors who failed to keep up with the research in their fields? Would we contract with architects who were not knowledgeable on the latest technology and green methods?

McGuire also suggested we provide vivid examples of the kinds of research, information, and tools that teachers must continue to learn that are not part of traditional preparation programs. I know this problem is not characteristic of all school systems, and I want us to do more to showcase the systems and school leaders who understand why PD is vital and the actions they take to advance it. When these districts share their successes, I hope they report how their investment in professional development contributed to these results.?In fact, I hope they boast about their plans for ensuring their teachers are up to date on all aspects of the science of learning. These are the systems and schools all teachers and students deserve. Why do we continue to settle for less?

McGuire also suggested we need to tell better stories about the impact of professional development. He noted that within every community there is at least one school that at one time may have struggled with performance issues and today celebrates the success of its students. In most cases, these schools have a professional development story to tell. And these stories are critical to developing the case for building respect for professional development.?If you have one of these stories, I invite you to identify the school, the city, and the state and summarize the PD and its impact. I hope we collect hundreds of these stories and we use them over and over to spread our message. Together lets make sure PD gets the respect it deserves.

Stephanie Hirsh is NSDC's executive director.?