School Capacity and Implementation of Professional Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluating Professional Development, Teaching Practices, and Teacher Advancement

Abstract

This study investigates the impacts of a large-scale randomized trial of inquiry-based science professional development for elementary school teachers in the LAUSD. Although teachers intend to implement key principles of effective professional development, implementation gaps undermined and contradicted these efforts. This study defines the implementation gap between what this professional development intended to change and what actually has been accomplished. Given potential challenges school reformers may face, teachers’ roles in both transmitting school culture and reconstructing what they understood are critical to improving quality of policy implementation and teacher practices. The research questions of this study are, how can we measure targeted effects of professional development on teacher practices and what support system moderates impacts of inquiry-based science professional development?

Author

• Sun Young Yoon, New York University