About the PDAL

The PDAL is a web-based log of teachers’ professional development (PD) activities. A log or journal can be a powerful source of thoughts and evidence about the effects and events of PD on teachers’ professional lives. The best way to create and use a log or journal is to write in it consistently, routinely, and as soon as possible after experiencing events. The PDAL was developed in order to collect accurate, time-sensitive information about all the PD activities teachers attended. Previous instruments leave doubts about providing reliable data on multiple PD activities over time. The PDAL is able to disaggregate PD experiences both by activity and time.

The PDAL was developed for a three-year empirical study to test an objective, reliable methodology for measuring the effects of professional development on improving instruction in mathematics and science education. The study is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and is conducted in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER).

On the basis of national data, researches have concluded that six key features of professional development are effective in improving teaching practice: active learning, content focus, coherence, reform type, duration, and collective participation. These characteristics of quality were incorporated into the web-based PDAL to measure the features of the professional development in which teachers participate and to examine the effects of professional development on instruction.