Hugh John Leong, Souba Rethinasamy Journal of English Language Teaching Innovations and Materials (Jeltim), 5(2), 160–175 Copyright © 2023 by Authors, e-ISSN 2657-1617 160 Continuous professional development: Assessing teachers' experiences with the cascading training model Hugh John Leong 1, 2 , Souba Rethinasamy 2 1 School of Design and Arts, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak, Malaysia hjleong@swinburne.edu.my 2 Faculty of Education, Language and Communication, University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysia rsouba@unimas.my DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26418/jeltim.v1i1.71219 Abstract Continuous professional development (CPD) is integral in educational reform; developing and enhancing teachers’ pedagogical skills and knowledge. In Malaysia, the cascade training model is often preferred for CPD programmes in public secondary schools. This may be due to cost effectiveness and reach, where many teachers can be trained in a short timeframe. Critics of the cascade model of training tend however, point to a risk of knowledge being diluted as it is transferred from the trainers to the attendees and then to teachers in schools. This paper focuses on documenting the experiences of Malaysian secondary school English teachers attending school-based assessment (SBA) CPD training courses using the cascade training model. Adopting a qualitative research approach, through the use of in-depth semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 14 English teachers from 14 public secondary schools. The findings indicate that there were mixed experiences of teachers attending cascade training programs and that of subsequent trainings that were conducted by attendees of the programmes. These experiences were affected largely by the quality of the training programme (i.e. design of program curriculum and materials), trainer quality, participants selected, and follow up support afforded to participants. This paper culminates with recommendations for further CPD improvements. Keywords: cascade training model; continuous professional development; English language teaching; school-based assessment How to cite this paper: Leong, H. J., & Rethinasamy, s. (2023). Continuous professional development: Assessing teachers’ experiences with the cascading training model. Journal of English Language Teaching Innovations and Materials (Jeltim), 5(2), 160–175. http://dx.doi.org/10.26418/jeltim.v1i1.71219 Journal of English Language Teaching Innovations and Materials (Jeltim) Vol. 5(2) October 2023 Article received Article accepted Published : 26 th September 2023 : 10 th October 2023 : 14 th October 2023