Professional development that addresses school capacity: Lessons from urban elementary schools

We argue that professional development should address five aspects of school capacity: teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions; professional community; program coherence; technical resources; and principal leadership. A two-year study of nine urban elementary schools in the United States found considerable variation in schools' use of professional development to address capacity. More comprehensive professional development occurred through both externally developed programs and school-based initiatives. Comprehensive professional development was most strongly related to the school's initial level of capacity and principal leadership, less related to per teacher funding, least related to external assistance and district/state policy. Implications are discussed.