Assessing Development Programmes
CPD and the Cambridge English Teaching Framework: Guide for Trainers and Academic Management
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Assessing Development Programmes
Overall Evaluation
A teacher development programme is an important project for any institution, so trainers and institutions will
want to evaluate the benefits of having invested time and resources into this. However, teacher development
programmes do not easily lend themselves to ‘summative’ evaluation where the focus is only on the end
results.
1. Results Take Time
It should be noted that those who will ultimately benefit from such programmes are the learners that
the teachers teach but not necessarily the learners that are currently being taught. Gains resulting
from teacher development may not be immediate and measurable, so the use of before-and-after
learner grades or learner satisfaction surveys are extremely unreliable tools to measure development
progress in the short term.
2. Consider Goals, Not Numbers
The benefits of teacher development programmes for an institution may be difficult to measure, even
in the long term. Institutional evaluation should therefore begin with a consideration of the institutional
goals that led to the creation and implementation of the programme. The clearer and more specific
these goals are, the easier it will be to agree on the extent to which they have been achieved.1
It is our recommendation that institutions do not evaluate programmes overall in terms of results as
expressed by test or exam grades, numbers and statistics. It is more productive to ‘get a sense’ from those
involved of whether the programme adopted is positive and valuable. Feedback will allow the programme to
be adjusted to further strengthen this positive effect.
Feedback – Evaluation Meetings
Development programmes should include systems for continuous evaluation by its participants. The
frequency of this evaluation will depend on a number of factors, but, as a guide, they should take place
roughly after every twelve hours of work.
It is not always necessary to have the trainer or members of the academic management team present at all
meetings, especially when the teachers involved are at Proficient and Expert stages and within the
Professional Development and Values category. Teachers at these levels should be working together in order
to carry out such evaluations and provide feedback to the trainer as appropriate, e.g. in the form of a report.
In the middle of the programme, it is more advisable for the trainer to be present so that they can assess the
progress made so far and make any changes which are suggested in order to ensure the success of the
programme.
The focus of such a structured evaluation is primarily formative and designed to help develop and improve
the programme. It will be important for the trainer to give their own feedback as part of this process, either in
A valuable source of ideas for further exploration of these issues can be found in Assessing Language Teachers'
Professional Skills and Knowledge, edited by Rosemary Wilson and Monica Poulter, Cambridge Studies in
Language Testing 42 (2015)
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Cambridge English Teacher © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2015
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CPD and the Cambridge English Teaching Framework: Guide for Trainers
Assessing Development Programmes
a meeting with teachers or after receiving the teachers’ reports on their collaborative evaluation. An outline
evaluation meeting agenda appears at the end of this document. It highlights the key questions that we feel
could be helpful when discussing and evaluating the programme.
Keeping Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Records
It will be beneficial for participants to keep a record of all of their development activities during the
development programme.
Teachers can use our CPD Record Card template to remind themselves of what they’ve done. If you they
also used our Development Plan template, they will be able to copy the rows from one into the other as they
complete them.
Download the Word version of the CPD Record Card for teachers
Download the blank version of our CPD Record Card for teachers
At the end of the programme, the CPD Record Card could be included in a CPD portfolio which teachers
should be encouraged to keep. You may also wish to have this submitted to you for your own records of
teachers’ development.
The CPD Record Card can be used generally even outside of a formal development programme. Ideally,
your institution would accept submissions of these cards from teachers as proof of their development
activities, offering appropriate recognition to teachers that do so – thus increasing motivation.
The Next Step
The best teachers never stop learning.
At the end of a development programme, it’s time to re-evaluate the institution’s and the teachers’ goals and
set new ones. It’s also an ideal time to see what you’ve learnt from conducting the programme and to
consider how it could be improved in future.
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CPD and the Cambridge English Teaching Framework: Guide for Trainers
Assessing Development Programmes
Further Guidance
Articles for you to read or to recommend to teachers participating in the programme:
Are you interested in getting ahead? Advice from new teachers by Lucy Norris
Finding balance, then staying interested: The importance of continuous professional
development by Tessa Woodward
Cambridge Teaching Qualifications: A Guide for New Teachers by Lucy Purkis
Cambridge Teaching Qualifications: A Guide for Experienced Teachers by Lucy Purkis
Attending a conference by Eric Baber
Action Research for Busy Language Teachers by Andy Curtis
Webinars for you to watch or to recommend to teachers participating in the programme:
Where Do I Go From Here? Strategies for Professional Development by Jack Richards
What is Action Research? by Fiona Barker
Action Research for Language Teachers by Andy Curtis
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Evaluation Meeting Agenda
Date
Meeting #
1. Progress

What progress do you feel has been made on the goals that were agreed at the start of the
programme?

Do you feel that the goals are being met? If not, why do you think this is?

Is it necessary to modify in any way the agreed development goals? If so, how?
2. Activities

Which resources (webinars, readings, etc.) and activities (observations, meetings, etc.) have been
most and least useful so far?

Is it necessary to find additional resources?
o

Who will be responsible for finding such resources, if this is necessary?
Has anyone discovered (or does anyone know about) other useful resources which it would be
useful for other teachers to access?
3. Logistics

Have there been any logistical, administrative or time issues during the latest period of the
programme which have caused problems? If so, how can these be resolved?
4. Summary

How does everyone feel about the development programme over the last X weeks?

With the benefit of hindsight, would anyone have done anything differently?

How will the experience of the last X weeks affect the way that participants approach the next part
of the programme?
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