It would be unsurprising if this parochial school had a poor academic track record. None of the teachers went to college. All the students speak Yiddish as their first language. The vast majority of the students are extremely poor. Yet for the past decade the principal has coaxed excellence out of both students and teachers.

A decade ago, Australia nearly topped the charts when it came to teaching children to read. Although Australia has fallen in more recent international rankings, its reputation has helped one company dominate the New York City market in on-the-job teacher training. The company, known as AUSSIE, is a leading example of how the push to provide improved training for teachers has turned into a multimillion dollar enterprise.

With the spotlight on teacher performance, we take a closer look at the world of professional development which is supposed to help teachers improve and stay on top of their game.