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The Cost of Professional Learning

Take a moment to add up all the costs of providing professional development credit to your teachers. No doubt, it’s worth it. But is there a more sustainable way?

Do You Know Your District’s Spend on Professional Learning?

Research shows that districts typically underestimate how much they spend on professional development, sometimes by quite a lot. 1

$460,000

one district’s reported development spend according to one study

$8,900,000

The actual spend after closer review

(1) Gulamhussein, Allison. 2013. Teaching the Teachers: Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. The Center for Public Education.

Where Is the Money Hiding?

Though districts usually include the cost of actual workshops or trainers when examining the cost of PD, it’s easy to overlook some of the biggest expenses:

Sub teacher

Substitute Teachers

Travel

Travel

Food

Food

Accommodations

Teacher Time

Is There a Better Way?

Conventional, onsite professional development is expensive — take a look at the cost below for just one teacher. Then multiply that across every educator in your district!

Compare that to online learning — with hours of content available anytime for a fraction of the cost. An online library would not only pay for itself, it would save you funds that could be put back into professional growth in other ways.

Cost of a One-Day Workshop

The cost breakdown of a typical on-site workshop:

  • $80 for 6 Credit Hours
  • $80 for Substitute Coverage

Total Cost: $160 Per Teacher Per Workshop

Cost of a Year With Frontline’s Learning & Collaboration Resources

Over 3,000 hours of online courses and videos plus collaborative groups:

  • $0.01 per hour, per teacher

Total Cost: ~$40 Per Teacher Per Year

Value Beyond Dollars and Cents

Professional growth programming is an ongoing learning cycle composed not only of the initial course or workshop that introduces a concept, but of the subsequent practice, feedback, observation and continued refinement toward mastery.

If you could eliminate just one live workshop day for your teachers by providing online learning and collaboration resources, you could save hundreds of dollars per teacher, and you can redeploy that savings into the rest of the learning cycle for their professional growth. 

Ready to Start Saving?

With Frontline’s Learning & Collaboration Resources, a part of Professional Growth, you can access on-demand learning resources and virtual groups that save the district money and support educators in growing in the way that meets their needs — and schedules.

Collaborative Groups

Develop and spread great teaching by enabling educators to engage in discussions around exemplary instructional videos, share resources, give and receive feedback, and more in collaborative groups.

Just-in-time Learning

Enable educators to learn about topics that are relevant to them at a time that works for their busy schedules.

SCORM-Compliant Courses

Easily keep track of employee professional learning and training. Our courses are SCORM-compliant, giving you confidence that courses have been completed.