Exploring High-Quality Professional Development in North American Jewish Day Schools
A DEEP field research study examining how Jewish day schools support educator learning, professional growth, and school improvement.
How do Jewish day schools create the conditions for educators to learn, grow, and strengthen their practice over time? What distinguishes individual professional development activities from a coherent system of professional learning?
And what can the field learn from schools that are building effective approaches to educator growth?
The DEEP Consortium has commissioned a field research study to be conducted by independent researchers to explore these questions and develop a clearer understanding of high-quality professional development (HQPD) across North American Jewish day schools.
Note: The study is not yet open.
The survey is intended to be completed once per school by the head of school or the person most knowledgeable about the school's professional learning practices, structures, and resources. Estimated completion time: 15–20 minutes, with additional time if you consult colleagues.
About the Study
Professional learning is essential in strengthening teaching and learning, and there are many approaches schools can take. Schools differ in how they organize professional development, allocate resources, support collaboration, provide feedback, and help educators apply what they learn.
This study examines not only which professional learning practices schools employ, but also how those practices function within the broader structures, leadership approaches, and cultures of schools.
For this study, high-quality professional development refers to intentional, relevant, and sustained professional learning designed to support educators' growth and strengthen teaching and learning for teachers. This includes individual learning opportunities as well as the systems through which schools support educators' ongoing development.
Using a focused mixed-methods research approach, the study will combine a survey of Prizmah Jewish day schools with targeted interviews and focus groups. The research will establish a baseline understanding of current practices, explore differences across school contexts, identify promising approaches, and examine the conditions that enable professional learning to be more effective.
Current Practices and Quality
What practices exist, and how consistently and effectively are they implemented?
Conditions for Quality
What structures, practices, resources, and conditions enable learning?
Experiences and Perceptions
How do educators and leaders percieve professional learning?
Perceived Outcomes and Relationships
How are the contributions of professional learning percieved?
Barriers and Opportunities
What support do schools need, and which practices may be promising?
Why this Research Matters
Jewish day schools invest time, resources, and leadership attention in professional development. A clearer understanding of how professional learning is organized and supported can help schools reflect on their current approaches and identify opportunities to strengthen them.
The study will help the field:
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Understand current practice. Build a clearer picture of the professional learning structures and practices in place across North American Jewish day schools.
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Identify the conditions for growth. Explore how leadership, school culture, time, staffing, resources, and alignment with school priorities shape professional learning.
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Learn from promising approaches. Surface practices and approaches that may offer useful lessons for other schools.
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Inform future support and investment. Develop actionable recommendations for schools, DEEP, and other organizations working to strengthen professional learning across the field.
The goal is not to identify a single model that every school should adopt. It is to better understand the range of approaches schools are using, the conditions that support them, and the opportunities to strengthen professional learning in different contexts.
What are we exploring?
The study is organized around five areas of inquiry:
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Current Practices and Quality: What professional learning practices are currently implemented in North American Jewish day schools, how consistently and extensively are they used, and what characterizes the quality of their design and implementation?
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Conditions for Quality: What organizational structures, leadership practices, resources, and cultural conditions enable or constrain the quality of professional learning in Jewish day schools?
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Experiences and Perceptions: How do educators and school leaders experience and perceive professional learning, particularly regarding its relevance, accessibility, quality, and responsiveness to their needs?
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Perceived Outcomes and Relationships: How do educators and school leaders perceive the contributions of professional learning to teaching quality, school quality, educator engagement, recruitment, and retention, and what relationships emerge between professional learning practices and these outcomes?
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Opportunities for Improvement and Field-Level Support: What promising practices, challenges, and opportunities emerge from the study, and how can schools, DEEP, and other field-level organizations use these findings to strengthen professional learning in Jewish day schools?
Participate in the Study
We invite each Prizmah Jewish day school to submit one comprehensive response on behalf of the school.
The survey should be completed by the head of school or the person most knowledgeable about the school's professional learning practices, structures, and resources. Respondents may consult colleagues to ensure that the response reflects the school as a whole, including both Judaic and general studies, as applicable.
The survey asks about:
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Professional learning practices and how consistently they are implemented
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Time, staffing, and financial resources dedicated to educator growth
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Leadership, school culture, and alignment with school priorities
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Perceptions of the quality and effectiveness of professional learning
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Challenges, promising practices, and opportunities for additional support
Estimated time: 15–20 minutes, with additional time if colleagues are consulted.
Note: The study is not yet open.
What will participating schools receive?
Schools that complete the survey will receive:
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A preview of field-wide findings before they are shared more broadly.
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A personalized school report summarizing the school's reported professional learning practices and, where appropriate and methodologically feasible, comparisons with aggregated field-wide findings.
These reports are intended to help schools reflect on their current practices, identify strengths and opportunities, and consider potential next steps.
Beyond the Survey
The study will also include targeted focus groups and interviews with school leaders, professional learning leaders, and educators. These conversations will provide deeper insight into how professional learning operates in practice, the conditions that support or constrain implementation, and approaches that schools find promising.
The survey will invite schools to nominate potential participants. Nominations do not guarantee selection or commit an individual to participate; the research team will contact potential participants directly to explain the opportunity.
Study Timeline
The study is planned to run from fall 2026 through June 2027.
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Fall 2026 | Research design and preparation: Refine the research framework and questions, map the field, and prepare data collection instruments.
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Winter 2026–27 | Data collection: Administer the school survey and conduct targeted interviews and focus groups.
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Late winter–spring 2027 | Analysis and preliminary findings: Analyze survey and qualitative data, identify emerging patterns, and, subject to sufficient participation and data availability, share preliminary findings at the March 2027 Prizmah conference.
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Spring 2027 | School profiles: Develop up to three profiles highlighting particularly strong, innovative, or promising approaches to professional learning.
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June 2027 | Final report and recommendations: Synthesize findings and develop recommendations for schools, DEEP, and other field-level organizations.
This timeline is anticipated and may be adjusted in response to participation, data availability, and the needs of the research.
Meet the Research Team
The study is being conducted by two researchers with complementary experience in Jewish education, professional learning, research, and school improvement.
Dr. Sarah Rubinson Levy is an education consultant and researcher with more than 20 years of experience working with K–12 schools, nonprofit organizations, and foundations. Her work focuses on school improvement, professional learning, educational innovation, organizational change, and the effective implementation of emerging practices.
She holds a master's degree in Jewish education and a doctorate in education. Her research and evaluation experience includes survey design, qualitative data collection, field mapping, program evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
Tal Britt Gale is the founder of LAMA Leadership and an adult education and leadership strategist with more than 20 years of experience designing and evaluating professional learning and leadership development across education, nonprofit, and for-profit settings. Her research and evaluation experience includes work with educational programs, including Diller Teen Fellows and Hebrew at the Center. At Hebrew at the Center, she led the development of the organization's inaugural two editions of the State of the Field Report on Hebrew Education in North American Jewish Day Schools.
Together, the researchers bring experience in survey design, interviews and focus groups, program evaluation, field research, professional learning, and educational systems analysis.
The researchers serve as independent contractors to DEEP and are responsible for conducting the study.
We have also assembled an Advisory Group to serve as a thought partner to the research team, helping us strengthen the study’s design and instruments, review emerging findings, bring important field perspectives to the analysis, and ensure that the work is both methodologically sound and practically relevant. Advisory Group members include:
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Sharon Feiman Nemser
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Dr. Alex Pomson
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Dr. Miriam Heller Stern
About DEEP
The DEEP Consortium supports efforts to strengthen high-quality professional development in Jewish day schools. This study is an opportunity to build a stronger evidence base about current practices, the conditions that support educator growth, and the ways schools and field-level organizations can strengthen professional learning.
The findings will inform DEEP's understanding of the field and help identify opportunities for future support, resources, and collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should complete the survey?
Each Prizmah Jewish day school should submit one comprehensive response, completed by the head of school or the person most knowledgeable about the school's professional learning practices, structures, and resources. Respondents may consult colleagues to ensure that the response reflects the school as a whole.
What time period should responses cover?
Unless otherwise specified, survey responses should reflect the 2025–2026 school year. Questions about current structures should reflect the school's arrangements at the time the survey is completed.
Is the survey anonymous?
No. The survey collects the school's name and respondent contact information to manage participation, prepare personalized school reports, and support appropriate follow-up. Field-wide findings will be reported in aggregate or otherwise presented in accordance with the study's reporting protocols. Because the study includes identifiable school-level data and personalized reports, complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
How will the information be used?
The research team will analyze survey and qualitative data to identify patterns, promising practices, barriers, and opportunities for strengthening professional learning. Identifiable information will also support survey administration, school-specific reporting, and follow-up research. The study's findings will inform field-wide reporting and recommendations.
Will participating schools be compared with one another?
Personalized school reports will summarize each school's reported practices and may include comparisons with aggregated field-wide findings where sample size and data quality support meaningful comparisons. The study is intended to support reflection and improvement, not to produce a simplistic ranking of schools.
What happens after the survey?
The research team will analyze the survey data alongside interviews and focus groups. Some schools or individuals may be invited to participate in follow-up research. The study will also identify up to three schools for more detailed profiles of promising professional learning approaches.
When will findings be available?
Preliminary findings may be shared at the March 2027 Prizmah conference, subject to sufficient participation and data availability. The final report and recommendations are anticipated by June 2027.
Questions or Further Information
For questions about the study, survey participation, or opportunities to contribute to the research, please contact the research team at Sarah@SarahRubinsonCC.com or tal@lamaleadership.org.