Professional development for teachers

Professional development has been deemed ineffective for several decades. This ineffectiveness could stem from the one-size-fits-all professional development designs, and the inconsistencies and contradictions pointed out in professional development research (which is used to create these designs). Investigating how subject taught (STEM and non-STEM), Title I status of the school (Title I and non-Title I), and grade level of instruction (elementary, middle and high) could influence teachers’ preferences regarding components included in an effective design is a step toward resolving some of these inconsistencies. The research design was an embedded mixed method – an overall causal-comparative design embedded with interviews. Interviews determined teachers’ perceptions of an effective professional development design. The survey investigated preferences for nine components: content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, active learning, duration, alignment with goals and policies, follow-up, collaboration, support, and resources (tangible and intangible). In the interviews, teachers communicated a need for differentiation based on grade level of instruction, Tittle I status of the school, and subject taught, with high percentages of agreement with the final questions of the survey. The ordinal logistic regression indicated that subject taught and Title I status of the school did not have a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable. Breaking up participants according to grade level of instruction (elementary versus secondary) had a statistically significant effect on teachers’ preferences regarding the components included in an effective professional development design. This indicated that professional development should be differentiated based on elementary and secondary instruction. When the researcher reviewed the components, some showed that the independent variables, Title I status of the school and grade level of instruction had a statistically significant effect. Although the ordinal logistic regression revealed a lack of statistical significance, percent differences indicated that factors such as subject taught, Title I status of the school, and grade level of instruction influenced teachers’ preferences regarding specific components in an effective professional development design. These findings illustrate promise that in a larger study, statistical significance might be present. Thus, professional development should be differentiated based on subject taught, Title I status of the school, and grade level of instruction.

While classroom teachers report alarming rates of unpreparedness, and even
unwillingness to include diverse populations in the classroom, our nation is continuing
along a trend started in the 1990s to include students with disabilities (SWD) in general
education settings. This quasi-experimental research study uncovered the impact of
completing the required continuing education course in teaching SWD course mandated
by Florida Senate Bill 1108 ([SB1108]; The Florida Senate, 2013b), which amended
Florida Statute 1012.585 (3) (e) (Process for Renewal of Professional Certificates, 2017)
on perceived teacher ability to implement inclusion practices. An online version of the
Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale developed by Sharma, Loreman,
and Forlin (2012) was utilized, along with demographic and experiential factors for
classroom teachers in the study district to examine their self-efficacy toward inclusion.
Analysis of the data indicated statistically significant differences in mean TEIP scale
scores for exceptional student education (ESE) and general education teachers. Data analyses revealed that almost half of the teachers had a negative view of and
did not perceive any benefit from the course. While ESE and general education teachers
had similar preparation needs, they also reported areas of concern specific to their subset.
Overall, the course did not provide enough continuing education in the areas most needed
by the participants. SB1108-mandated course completion was also not found to be an
indicator of higher teacher self-efficacy for the majority of teachers. Analysis of the
differences in TEIP scale scores found that only elementary school teachers benefited
from completing the course, while it had the opposite effect for general education high
school teachers and no significant effect for ESE teachers. Differences in TEIP scale
scores from demographic and experiential factors accounted for 13% of the variance in
the population and was not significant for the ESE teacher subset. One percent or less of
the variance was attributed to completion of the required continuing education course.
Implications include reviewing the legislation’s effectiveness for teachers in
different areas and grade levels, hiring and evaluation decisions based on TEIP scale
scores of applicants and employees, and designing more meaningful continuing education
courses. Recommendations for state legislatures, school administrators, designers of
continuing education courses, and for future research regarding improvement of teacher
self-efficacy for inclusive practices are offered.