What Factors Impact the Professional Development Teachers Engage In and Ultimately Find Valuable

By Melissa Maxson

Background I provide support, resources and

professional development to teachers Teachers are from Muskegon, Newaygo,

Ottawa, and Oceana counties in West Michigan

Schools are very diverse Interested in providing pd experiences

that meet teacher needs

Research Process I am curious as to what teachers really

want, what they value from a professional development event and what they end up using in the classroom from their experiences

Utilize results to influence the professional development that I plan, how it is shared with the teachers, and hopefully increase its impact.

Literary Review Most successful professional

development (pd) requires teachers to attend from the same school or district

Provide collaborative/group learning Pd needs to involve active learning Needs to be sustained for greater

impact Focused on content and on how

students learn

Bibliography Garet, M.S., Porter, A.C., Desimone, L., Birman, B.F. & Yoon K.S. What

makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 38, No. 4. (Winter, 2001). pp. 915-945.

  Guskey, T.R. Professional Development That Works: What Makes

professional Development Effective? Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 84 (2003)  Hendricks, M., Luyten, Hans., Scheerens, J., Sleegers, P., Steen, R.

(2010). Teachers’ Professional Development. Retrieved from http://europa.edu

  Liesure, Beth. (2007). Evaluation of New Hampshire Education &

Environment Team Summer Institute 2003-2006. Retrieved from Sparks, Dennis. (2002). Designing Powerful Professional Development

for Teachers and Principals. Retrieved from http://www.nsdc.org/sparksbook.html

  Penuel, W.R., Fisherman, B.J., Yamaguchi, R., Gallagher, L.P. What

Makes Professional Development Effective? Strategies That Foster Curriculum Implementation. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 44, No. 4. (December 2007). pp 921-958.

Problem Statement What impacts a teacher’s decision in the

professional development they choose to take.

AND

What aspects of that professional development are most valued & least valued?

Data Instruments MSTA Survey; 25 participants SurveyMonkey; 15 participants Focus Group; 6 participants

What criteria do you look at when deciding what professional development to take?

What percentage of professional development knowledge and skills do you take back and use with your students?

Why? What are the deciding factors in whether you use or don’t use the knowledge/skills/topics/curriculum/etc. with your students?

What style of professional development is most beneficial to you?

Example Questions Utilized

Surprising Results

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1000

1

2

3

4

5

Percentage of Professional De-velopment Knowledge/Skills Used

Percentage

Num

ber

of

Resp

onse

s

Highlights of Focus GroupPD needs to be… something I can use today in the classroom Content and grade specific Free Provide conversations with colleagues Ready-to-use Provide materials Hands-on Attended by several people in same building Held later in school year, no summers

Surprising ResultsThe biggest barrier preventing teachers from taking professional development…a. Too expensiveb. Family responsibilitiesc. Lack of administrative supportd. Conflicts with schedulee. No suitable pd opportunities

Highlights of MSTA Survey Needs to be low cost Provide practical information Something useful to take back to the

classroom – immediately! Discussions School wide Hands-on Convenient

Highlights of SurveyMonkey

PD needs to be… Content relevant Connected to curriculum/standards Useable in a classroom – today! Provide new ideas Low-cost Wants it to address helping students learn or

increase student interest Face-to-face, 1-day or multi-day Hands-on Provide peer interaction

Overall… Teachers seem to be wanting the same

things from professional development – free pd, collaboration, hands-on, ready to use, standards based, and content specific.

There are a few differences among schools because of support from administration and school structure

Action Plan Reduce the amount of content at summer

institute Provide more opportunities to reflect on how

content can be incorporated into their classroom Provide more collegial dialogue Require or recommend teachers attending with

colleagues from their school Keep follow-up workshops during the school

year Future research – student impact