A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence Linking Mathematics and Science Professional Development Interventions to Teacher Knowledge, Classroom Instruction, and Student Achievement

Despite evidence that teacher professional development interventions in mathematics and science can increase student achievement, our understanding of the mechanisms by which this occurs – particularly how these interventions affect teachers themselves, and whether teacher-level changes predict student learning – remains limited. The current meta-analysis synthesizes 46 experimental studies of preK-12 mathematics and science professional development interventions to investigate how these interventions affect teachers’ knowledge and classroom instruction, and how these impacts relate to intervention effects on student achievement. Compared with controls, treatment group teachers had stronger performance on measures of knowledge and classroom instruction (pooled average impact estimate: +0.53 SD). Programs with larger impacts on teacher practice had significantly larger mean effects on student achievement. However, mean effects on student achievement were not significantly related to impacts on teacher knowledge. We discuss implications for future research and practice.