Date of Award
Spring 2-13-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Audrey Rabas, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Deborah Nattress, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Rinyka Allison, Ph.D.
Abstract
It is an essential goal for educational institutions to create an aspect of successful and continuous school improvement utilizing high-quality professional development for educators. School and district leaders have been faced with the growing need to develop professional development opportunities that will enable educators to keep up with the ever-changing educational reform and needs of students. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine teachers’ perceptions of professional development and to examine if perception can affect what learning happens in these opportunities. Professional development, adult learning theory, and constructivist theory provided the conceptual framework for this study, which focused on how adults learn and the learning that takes place in the opportunities that are presented to educators. This study addressed three questions. First, are there differences in teachers’ perceptions of professional development based on years of teaching experience? Secondly, are there differences in teachers’ perceptions of professional development based on grade level taught? Third, are there differences in teachers’ perceptions of professional development based on grade level taught? Data were collected through the use of a researcher-developed questionnaire based on two preexisting instruments, the Panorama Teacher Survey and the Standards Assessment Inventory. The results of the survey indicated that educators, overall, feel that they have little choice of content of opportunities, and minimal opportunities to practice skills learned. Teachers with fewer years of experience reported professional development opportunities as more useful and opportunities to develop skills learned as more prevalent.