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This article presents a model that describes the process of teacher change, particularly through staff development programs. The model suggests a temporal sequence of events that is hypothesized to typify the process front staff development to enduring change in teachers’ perceptions and attitudes. Research evidence supporting the model is summarized and the conditions under which change might be facilitated are described. Several principles for enhancing the change process to improve staff development efforts are also outlined.

hat do we really know about the relationship between professional development and improvements in student learning? What evidence validates that relationship, and how trustworthy is that evidence? What does that evidence tell us about the characteristics of truly effective professional development activities? These questions guided one of the largest and most inclusive syntheses of research on effective professional development conducted to date. Scholars from the American Institutes for Research analyzed findings from over 1,300 studies that potentially address the effect of professional development on student learning outcomes. The project was sponsored by the Regional Education Laboratory-Southwest (REL SW) and funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. The findings from this comprehensive analysis, titled Reviewing the Evidence on How Teacher Professional Development Affects Student Achievement (Yoon et al. 2007), shed new light on the complex relationship between professional development and improvements in student learning. It is hoped that they also will lead to new and better research on this vitally important dimension of the educational improvement What Works in Professional Development? A research synthesis confirms the difficulty of translating professional development into student achievement gains despite the intuitive and logical connection. Those responsible for planning and implementing professional development must learn how to critically assess and evaluate the effectiveness of what they do.