Teach Effectively!

The folks at Staff Development for Educators have a Web site that advertises staff development resources. The list of training opportunities describes a mix of methods and topics, including these: “Guided Reading, Four Blocks™, Differentiated Instruction, Six-Trait Writing, Four Square Writing, Singapore Math, Learning Centers, Kindergarten, Reading Comprehension, Discipline and much more….” So, who are these people and what are they offering? Here’s their own description.

Staff Development for Educators (SDE) was founded more than twenty-five years ago by two educators with a revolutionary idea: Teachers learn best from other teachers. Jim and Lillian Grant held their first teacher get-together in a school lunchroom in tiny Temple, New Hampshire, more than two decades ago. Educators gathered from across New England to learn the best techniques from the best teachers in the region.

Since then, SDE has grown to become one of America’s leading providers of professional development resources for PreK through grade 12 educators. Today, SDE provides timely solutions to all your staff development needs, through the combined resources of its four specialized divisions:

I found myself feeling a little skeptical about these practices and the philosophy. So, I skimmed the site looking for evidence about the research basis for SDE’s efforts. Couldn’t find it. Must’ve looked in the wrong places. All I got was testimonials.

Let me apologize if you’ve already thought of this, but…uhm, could this be an illustration of why American education can’t get out of the doldrums? What’s up here? If the product SDE is selling is so good, why not show us the basis (other than testimonials) for its goodness?

Show us your data, please!