Professional development and student achievement

Many educators believe professional development is strongly linked to improved student achievement. Howley &Howley (2005) sustain that “Policymakers and educators see professional development as a way to improve the quality of instruction in classrooms across the nation (...) it would seem that the right kinds of professional development would improve instruction, and that better instruction would result in higher student achievement.”.
Taking this into consideration, we may say that even though many politicians and educators think professional development would result in better teaching and, therefore, improve student achievement, there is no empirical evidence to support this linkage.
Considering discourse markers, they are words or phrases that are relatively syntax-independent, do not have a particular grammatical function, do not change the meaning of the utterance, and have a somewhat empty meaning. Discourse markers may have different functions. For example, they may be used to add or contrast information, or to provide reasons. Examples within the article are: “and”, “in addition”, furthermore”, “but”, “though”, “however”, “because”.
Returning to the topic of professional development, Howley & howley (2005) refer to date-based improvement as a way of improving professional development Through an ongoing process of assessment and classroom-level reform, professional development can be achieved.
To conclude, even though there is no evidence of the linkage between professional development and student achievement, it is worth trying to improve our skills and so transmit our improvement to our students.

Reference

Howley, A., & Howley, C. B. (2005). High-quality teaching: Providing for rural teachers' professional development. The Rural Educator. Retrieved September, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4126/is_200501/ai_n13591361