Resources Diminish

McDiarmid (1995) describes how resources allocated for professional development slowly decrease:

"Resources to support teacher development demanded by systemic reforms tend to diminish over time. In states undergoing systemic reform, policymakers initially provide resources to support additional teacher development. But the availability of such resources diminishes within a few years. They often begin to diminish just as a substantial number of teachers, in the early stages of learning, are just beginning to develop a real sense of how the reform ideas fit together and how they will benefit students. This is the point at which many teachers could seize control over their own development--in fact as well as in form--and could imagine the kinds of experiences that would best get them to the next stage.

This process appears to be a function of the political will. At the beginning of an education reform, substantial political will and concomitant resources are available. Over time, however, other issues demand attention and resources. Policymakers, beset on every side by competing demands for public resources and by voter resistance to tax increases, have difficulty justifying extending resources for teacher development." (p. 10-11)

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