WHEN ONE SHOT IS ALL YOU’VE GOT: Bringing Quality Professional Development to Rural Mathematics Teachers

Criteria for “powerful” professional development in mathematics have been well documented by researchers and organizations. Unfortunately, barriers of distance, time, and expense impede rural teachers from attending conferences, workshops, and college courses built on these recommendations. This paper proposes a professional development model that has successfully addressed these criteria, resulting in change in teacher knowledge, skill, and practice, with positive results for student learning. In particular, the model is analyzed against five curricular and structural criteria identified by research as essential for effective professional development: a focus on content knowledge, the use of active learning strategies, coherence with other learning experiences, sufficient duration of the experience, and collective participation by teachers.