Factors Associated with Teachers' Attitudes About Professional Development (Report‪)‬

Ongoing educational reform initiatives have ushered in significant changes in teacher-certification regulations. Many states no longer offer permanent certification, but instead require teachers to participate in career-long professional development (PD). In New York State, for example, teachers must complete 175 hours of PD every five years for their teaching certificates to remain valid. Requirements as such reflect the belief that teachers, as with professionals in other disciplines, should continue to enhance their skills and stay current with developments in the field (Guskey, 2000, 2002; Killion & Hirsh, 2001; Little, 1993). Accordingly, increasing attention is being paid to the effectiveness of PD initiatives, raising questions concerning how best to provide PD services for teachers--e.g., how such services should be designed, what topics they should cover, and which teachers should be served (Birman et al., 2000; Garet et al., 2001; Guskey, 2000, 2002; Killion & Hirsh, 2001; Little, 1993; Newmann, King, & Youngs, 2000; Richardson, 1994; Sparks & Richardson, 1997). Researchers have focused on investigating the conditions under which PD initiatives are most effective in enhancing teacher learning and improving classroom practice. For example, Garet and colleagues administered a survey to a nationwide sample of 1027 math and science teachers (Garet et al., 2001). The results indicated that PD was rated as most effective when it (a) was sustained and intensive rather than short-term, (b) was focused on academic subject matter with links to standards of learning, (c) provided teachers opportunities for active learning, (d) afforded opportunities for teachers to engage in leadership roles, (e) involved the collective participation of groups of teachers from the same school, and (f) was meaningfully integrated into the daily life of the school.