Conference Program

Impact evaluation of teacher professional development (TPD) has become a central concern in educational research and policy debates. Several models have been proposed to conceptualise and assess the effects of professional learning, drawing on traditions of programme evaluation (Kirkpatrick, 1994; 2006) and their subsequent adaptations to the field of teacher education (Guskey, 2000). Within this framework, the impact of TPD has often been examined in terms of changes in teachers’ knowledge and instructional practices and in relation to student learning outcomes (Hattie, 2009; Yoon et al., 2007). However, the literature increasingly highlights that impact is an inherently multifaceted and multidimensional concept, involving interconnected levels of educational processes, including teachers’ professional learning, transformations in classroom practices, collaborative dynamics within schools, and students’ learning (Timperley et al., 2007; Kennedy, 2016). Despite this theoretical recognition of complexity, many empirical studies continue to operationalise impact through linear causal models and limited indicators, often relying on self-reported measures and post-intervention surveys.

Drawing on a scoping review of 159 international studies on the impact of in-service TPD - beyond student achievement-only metric - this contribution critically examines how impact is conceptualised, investigated, and measured in the research literature (Landi et al., 2025; Bosatelli et al., in press; Boscolo et al., in press). The review maps the main dimensions of impact considered in the studies, the methodological approaches adopted, and the actors involved. The analysis reveals a strong concentration on teacher-centred indicators—such as knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions—while other dimensions, including observable changes in teaching practices, student perspectives, organisational transformations, and long-term professional trajectories, remain comparatively underexplored.

The research further examines the reviewed studies through the lens of Ricerca-Formazione (R-F), a heuristic framework for inquiry-based teacher professional learning. The five R-F core elements are used as an analytical lens to explore the extent to which the PD initiatives described in the literature align with inquiry-based and collaborative learning processes. The analysis shows that most PD initiatives display a limited alignment. In particular, while contextual analysis and documentation-supported reflection appear relatively frequently, other elements—such as negotiated goals and structured collaboration between teachers and researchers—are rarely described. These findings highlight not only the partial integration of inquiry-oriented approaches within PD initiatives, but also the limited and often inconsistent reporting of key programme characteristics, which makes it difficult to connect impact evaluation with the specific features of the PD designs.

The contribution suggests extending this line of inquiry beyond English-language literature in order to identify adjacent traditions and non-Anglophone approaches that may share conceptual affinities with the R-F perspective while relying on different theoretical vocabularies. Further, this study highlights the difficulty of capturing the complexity of TPD within impact research, which often focuses on effectiveness as measurable output while paying limited attention to the structure and dynamics of the formative process itself. We argue that investigating the relationship between the design of PD and its impact requires moving beyond a narrow view of effectiveness toward a more contextualised, relational, and democratic understanding of professional learning and its effects.