Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Professional education and training'

Since the statement of then -Secretary of Education Paige on the "soft bigotry of low expectations," the necessity of holding "high expectations" appears to be generally accepted as an important factor in student achievement. Secretary Paige asserted that not all teachers hold high expectations of their students, yet the possibility of such thinking is not typically acknowledged among educators. Instead there appears to be a presumption that all teachers do hold high expectations for their students and there is no evidence that this assumption is ever questioned. The assumption that high expectations are universally held negates belief that expectations should be part of the professional conversations in which educators engage and precludes the topic from being included in the professional development programs in which school staffs are engaged.

My review of literature includes learning from the other social sciences on beliefs, cultural assumptions, and expectations. This dissertation examines the development of negative stereotypes and manifestations of those stereotypes in the educational experiences, past and present of African Americans, as representatives of those segments of the population who have historically been under-served by education.

The results of the survey conducted as part of this study indicate that expectations are rarely included in professional development programs. Additionally, the results demonstrate a lack of consistency among districts in approaching similar challenges. Finally, a model developed to increase the effectiveness of professional development is proposed.

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher experiences, attitudes, feelings, and beliefs regarding professional development in order to plan professional development in the future. Eighteen teachers, the elementary school improvement coordinator, and elementary principal were interviewed or participated in a focus group, in a semi-structured environment using a set of questions to gather data. Financial records for professional development expenditures, teacher credentials, agendas from professional development activities, school calendars, and grants were reviewed to get a better understanding of past professional development in the district. This research indicates that teachers: (a) are unsure whether professional development improves teacher quality and/or student achievement (b) have had a lot of diverse professional development experiences; (c) like professional development that is interactive, easily implemented, and applicable; (d) feel more time needs to be allocated for professional development; (e) do not feel they are involved in the planning process of professional development; and, (f) that there's a lack accountability, sustainability, and focus related to professional development. Implications can be generalized for all teachers, but more specifically, from this research for this individual district.

Educators in a low socioeconomic urban school district have been concerned with the quality of professional development (PD) training provided by the district. This issue affects students, parents, and teachers. Guided by the educational philosophy of inquiry and community, which hold that empowering teachers with validated PD could improve teacher pedagogy and perhaps academic outcomes, this project study examined (a) what benefits a standardized professional development content validation program for the 21st century can provide and, (b) what standardized professional development content validation for the 21st century looks like. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was used on a purposive sample of 8 teachers, who participated in semistructured, open-ended interviews. A quantitative questionnaire collected perceptions of teachers at the school. Interview data were analyzed via an inductive analysis approach, and survey data were analyzed via descriptive statistics. The findings of this sequential mixed methods research revealed that the content of PD activities often lacked structured validation for teachers to master important skills in their content area, new skills were undiscovered, and their pedagogy was underdeveloped. The outcome was a 3-day workshop designed to provide PD content validation for educators in 1 district in Washington State. Positive social change implications include teachers who can engage students in an informed, confident, professional manner, and increased teacher satisfaction at the research site as well as in other rural schools. Implementing this workshop will provide useful knowledge for policymakers, educators, and other researchers who are looking for a clearer definition of PD content for the 21st century.

With increasing demands on student achievement as set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (2001), teachers are the catalyst for improving their students' performance (Marzano, 2000). Existing studies on the use of formative assessment as a process by which teachers elicit information of their students' progress and use that information to inform their instruction have shown promising results in student achievement gains (Wiliam & Thompson, 2007). Extensive teacher professional development is needed, however, to instill a change in teacher practice needed to successfully employ formative assessment resulting in improved student achievement (Trumbull & Lash, 2013; Wiley & Heritage, 2010).

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Linking Learning and Assessment professional development (including online training modules and communities of practice) as well as other forms of professional development on formative assessment and resulting self-perceived teacher practice, and what aspects of the professional development teachers found meaningful in improving their practice.

This study utilized a mixed-methods design. A questionnaire was administered to middle level educators (N=82) throughout the state followed by a focus group interview (N=5). Quantitative data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics, correlations, Anova, and t-tests. Qualitative data were obtained through open-ended questions and the focus group. Content analysis was conducted to analyze the qualitative data obtained through the focus group interview and the open-ended questions on the questionnaire.

A major finding of this study is that most teachers are in the early stages of implementing the formative assessment process and have begun to realize the power of formative assessment. Those who have had ongoing and intensive training have begun to see meaningful changes in their practice. Professional development found to be most meaningful to teachers includes: collaboration, active learning opportunities and coherence. In addition, teachers expressed the need for professional development to be differentiated to meet their individual needs.

The results of this study may serve to inform teachers, administrators, districts and state departments of education when developing and implementing professional development in general as well as professional development on formative assessment.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the educator’s perception of the optimal professional development experience. Research studies have concluded that the biggest indicator to predict student achievement is teacher effectiveness (Aaronson, Barrow, & Sander, 2007; Marzano, 2003; Sanders & Horn, 1998; Wong 2001). Guskey (2000) stated, “Never before in the history of education has greater importance been attached to the professional development of educators” (p. 3). School districts continue to face reduced budgets and continue to expend resources on professional development. In addition, states such as Indiana have recently changed their evaluation system to encourage more professional development at the school and district level. A survey was created to analyze educator perceptions of professional development in five Midwest states: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. The survey collected basic teacher demographic data: gender (male/female), licensure (elementary K–5, secondary 6–12), years of experience (0–5, 6–10, 11–15, 16–20, and 20 or more), and position type (teacher/principal). The survey consisted of 35 questions that focused on educator perceptions of professional development. In all, 396 educators from 18 school districts across five Midwest states responded to the survey instrument. A statistical analysis of the responses provided composite mean scores and standard deviations. A factorial ANOVA was used to test the first hypothesis. An independent samples t-test was used to test the second, fourth, and fifth hypotheses. A one-way ANOVA was used to test the third hypothesis. There was a significant difference between position type (teacher/principal) and licensure (elementary K–5, secondary 6–12) on their perceptions of professional development. Principals responded with a higher perception of professional development than teachers. Elementary licensure, K–5th grade teachers, also responded with a higher perception of professional development. There was no significant difference between gender (male/female) and years of experience (0–5, 6–10, 11–15, 16–20, and 20 or more). Educators responded that their perception of the most effective forms of professional development were having more time to work with colleagues (86.6%), using a professional learning community model (85.7%), and attending conferences and workshops (84.9%). In addition, educators had a higher perception of the effectiveness of professional development at the school level versus the district level.

This qualitative case study utilizing in-depth interviews examined academic advisers' perceptions of training and professional development resources at a Midwestern U.S. community college. In addition, the study examined the availability and accessibility of training and professional development resources at the community college. The study sought to gain a better understanding of influences that shaped academic advisers' perceptions. Four themes emerged from the interviews: Educational Experiences, Adviser Participation, New Advising Resources, and Funding. Findings of the study indicated that perceptions of training and professional development varied. However, there was a consensus among advisers that training and professional development opportunities existed on- and off-campus. However, there were divergent perspectives regarding availability, accessibility, and advisers' ability to participate. The findings also indicated that advisers' ability to participate and obtaining new advising resources were tied to funding. The findings of the study can be used by advising managers, administrators, and policymakers to improve advising practice, better serve a changing student population, and fulfill institutional goals and missions.

Despite Minnesota’s investment in professional development in content area literacy, secondary students are not showing expected literacy gains. A lack of literacy proficiency limits future options for students. The purpose of this study was to examine content-area literacy strategy inclusion and its relationship to professional development in the context of complexity theory, efficacy theory, transformational learning theory, structured teaching, and constructivism. A cross-section correlation survey research study was conducted to investigate the relationship of time spent in systematic professional development, type of professional development, rate of strategy inclusion, and confidence in literacy strategy inclusion in lesson design. Convenience sampling was employed to secure secondary teachers (N = 65) in public schools in Minnesota. The Spearman Rho Coefficient calculation was used to analyze these 4 variables; relationships were determined at ( p < .05) and (p < .01) confidence levels. According to the results of the study, self-selected professional development is related to the frequency of literacy strategy use and confidence in literacy strategy use. Time in professional development is a critical issue in confidence of literacy strategy use. Recommendations for local districts include providing a menu of self-selected literacy professional development options. This study may impact social change through providing educators improved literacy instruction, resulting in more competent adult readers and informed decision-makers.