How Does Continuing Professional Development Relate to Teacher Quality? An Analysis of Brazilian Elementary Public Schools

There is a growing body of literature from around the world that describes features of effective Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Still, there is not enough evidence around what works in the specific context of Brazil. This study explored this gap by analyzing the relationship between the participation in and design features of CPD and teacher quality, as measured by teachers’ perceived self-efficacy, across Brazilian public elementary schools. Multivariate regression analyses with data from the Brazilian National Evaluation System of Basic Education (SAEB) revealed that participation in CPD opportunities was positively—but weakly—associated with teachers’ perceived self-efficacy. In addition, results indicated that teachers tended to present significantly higher perceived self-efficacy when CPD engagements: (1)
increased their discipline-specific content knowledge, (2) included frequent, formal meetings, and (3) included collaborative learning activities. These findings speak to the need to pay careful attention to the design of teacher continuing education policies and programs.