How to Know If Professional Development Is Working
/“How can I tell if professional development is actually working for my teaching team?
This is a question many early childhood leaders ask quietly… often after investing significant time, energy, and resources in professional development.
💯Surveys may come back positive.
⬆️Attendance may be high.
👍🏽Teachers may say they “liked” the training.
But the real question remains: Did it work?
The clearest indicator that professional development is effective isn’t found in feedback forms or completion certificates. It shows up in changed behavior.
When professional development is working, teachers don’t just know more; they do things differently. You see it in how they interact with children, how they set up their environments, how they plan, observe, and respond throughout the day. The shift may be subtle at first, but it’s visible.
This is an important distinction, because many programs unintentionally measure the wrong things. Completion is easy to track. Understanding is harder. Application takes time and attention.
Behavior change is the bridge between learning and impact.
That doesn’t mean teachers immediately implement everything perfectly. Real change rarely looks like a dramatic overnight transformation. More often, it shows up as small, intentional adjustments such as teachers trying a new strategy, asking different questions, or approaching familiar routines with a new lens.
For example, after a PD focused on intentional interactions, you might notice teachers:
Pausing longer to allow children an opportunity to speak
Narrating children’s actions more intentionally
Asking open-ended questions instead of giving directions
After training on assessment, you might see:
More targeted observation notes
Documentation tied to learning goals
Increased use of observation data during planning
These shifts tell you that learning has moved beyond awareness and into practice.
Another key indicator is consistency.
When professional development is working, the change isn’t isolated to one classroom or one enthusiastic teacher. You begin to see patterns across the program. Language becomes more shared. Expectations become clearer. Practices start to align.
This is why walkthroughs, observations, and reflective conversations matter so much. They give you real-time insight into whether PD is influencing daily practice. Not in a punitive way, but in an informative one.
It’s also important to recognize that behavior change requires time and reinforcement. If you expect immediate, flawless implementation, you may miss early signs of progress. Effective PD often unfolds in stages—awareness first, then experimentation, followed by refinement and consistency.
When leaders understand this, they stop asking, “Why aren’t teachers doing this yet?” and start asking, “What evidence of change am I already seeing, and how can I support the next step?”
So, if you’re wondering whether your professional development is working, look past the paperwork and into the classrooms.
Because when PD is effective, you don’t just hear that it was helpful.
You can see the difference.
If you’re ready to stop doing “more PD” and start building systems that support real practice, the Winning Beyond the Workshop Ultimate PD Toolkit is a great next step.