Schools are changing. The teaching staffs are getting older. Statistics show that approximately 40 percent of teachers working in schools today will not be teaching in five years. They will be gone due to changes in their careers or retirement. Many leave the profession because they are unable to handle the stresses of teaching. Many schools have teaching staffs with a high percentage of teachers near retirement age. As a result, schools will be faced with many new teachers, many of whom come from the business community and take on teaching as their second or even third career in life. Although many of these new teachers bring vast knowledge from the business world, all the basic skills of teaching—such as how to plan lessons, how to handle discipline problems, how to teach reading—must be taught. How do we ensure that these many new teachers learn the core teaching skills needed and that veteran teachers keep up with the current skills of teaching? The answer is through professional development.

Why should schools spend money on professional development for teachers? The bottom line: when we improve teachers’ skills, we improve instruction, which has a direct impact on student performance and state tests.

Today's classrooms present teachers with an increasing diversity of needs, making the challenge of teaching much more complex than it was even ten years ago. With greater cultural diversity and a broader range of learning styles and abilities, a teacher who is not properly trained may misdiagnose a student's problem. Even with an accurate diagnosis of student needs, the teacher may still fail to improve student performance if he or she lacks proper training on the latest methodologies and materials, and does not know how to implement the most effective corrective measures to meet student needs.

As a parent and tax-paying citizen, I am always concerned about how we spend our money in schools. While many schools spend large sums of money on many things—new materials, new buildings, special computer programs, and higher salaries just to name a few—the question we should ask is, do these investments have a significant impact on improving student achievement? The answer is clearly “NO!” The best investment we can make to improve our students’ learning is to invest in improving the instructional skills of our teachers.

The best way to improve teaching is through effective, ongoing professional development. Regular training sessions at the school will ensure that teachers are up-to-date on the best and most current technology, and are well prepared to meet the needs of students who are gifted, struggling, or on-level. Effective training helps teachers use the instructional tools at their disposal to improve learning in their classroom. Our students' success depends on the preparedness of our teachers. We keep hearing that we should "leave no child behind." However, I contend that we should be focusing on another phrase—"leave no teacher behind."

“Leave no teacher behind” means that we support and encourage our schools to focus consistently on professional development for all teachers. With this in mind, schools must focus on professional development that:

• Is practical and useful for teachers
• Focuses specifically on the curriculum or textbook being taught in the school
• Is mandatory and is held when all teachers are available
• Is part of an ongoing professional development program, not just one or two meetings with no follow-up

Our schools need to have a consistent plan for professional development for teachers in all curricular areas. What should you do to support this need? Take some actions of your own and ask your schools the following questions:

• How comprehensive is your plan for professional development?
• Is a qualified trainer leading the sessions?
• When are meetings held? Can I attend a session to lend support?

Improving our teachers’ teaching skills will ensure that we “leave no teacher behind,” which will lead us to our larger goal to “leave no child behind.” Effective professional development for all teachers will lead to better student achievement on our state tests, and will help students become more productive, literate citizens in society.