Measuring impact of CPD

When designing CPD for impact there is a shared understanding, backed by research, about what makes for effective CPD. The key features are:

• that it should be sustained
• that it is directly relevant to participants
• that it is about making a difference to teaching and learning
• that it includes impact evaluation as part of the activity from the outset.

The National CPD Team has been leading a group of CPD managers who have been considering this topic. They have concluded that CPD impact evaluation should focus on:

• what participants learn
• how they use what participants learn
• the impact on the learning of students.

Further research indicates that collaborative CPD is more likely to be sustainable and to impact on learning and teaching. For CPD to be sustainable, teachers should consider the shift from CPD based on co-location and co-operation to that based on collaboration. 

The CPD Team have approached this issue by making connections between CPD and the PRD process and Curriculum for Excellence. Good collaborative CPD practice will be identified and recorded as case studies to illustrate impact on learning and teaching.