In April 2026, we surveyed The Toolkit readership about their experiences with professional development. Teachers, administrators, funders and more responded to questions about what professional development they receive and their opinion about the largest “knowledge gaps.”
The survey received more than 100 responses.
Some highlights:
- 36 percent of skilled trades teachers are offered internal “in-service” days by their schools
- 44 percent of teachers want more hands-on technical upskilling and support for their curriculum and pedagogy.
Below are some insightful comments from the more than 100 people who responded:
“The best professional development I’ve ever experienced is going to visit other CTE schools. We learn best from each other. Never has one person’s ideas been the best and greatest; it’s the community learning that is best practice and provides the best advancements in teaching.”
“I teach small engines/power sports, auto maintenance & collision repair and by far the best professional development was working with a local machine shop specializing in engine machining where I spent a couple of hundred hours doing everything from tear down to assembly of 5 hp Briggs engines to 700 hp race engines.”
“Hands-on project make-and-takes, where I learned how to make, step by step, create, and then take projects back for students to create.”
“The best professional development of the year was essentials of woodworking, a hands-on workshop that provided teachers with an opportunity to experience the machinery but also put us in the shoes of the students for two days.”
“The most meaningful was a new teacher course on classroom management. A lot of eye-opening things in that course that really defined what a teacher versus a good teacher is. Small things like a Good Morning or Shaking a Hand means a lot, also knowing how to get straight to connecting with your students. Seems that the better connection you have with students the better respect and understanding they have.”
