The Past Is Prologue: A Trend and Content Analysis of Professional Development School Dissertation Research Between 1990 and 2018

• In Event: Research in Professional Development Schools and Future Directions

Abstract

This study provides a snapshot of the nature, context, timeline, and content of 204 PDS dissertations written between 1990 and 2018. To date, there has been no comprehensive synthesis of the descriptive, logistical, and conceptual characteristics of the PDS dissertation literature. As the PDS movement is entering its 30th decade of inquiry, analyzing the corpus of PDS dissertation research primarily conducted on PDSs at research universities sheds light on what newly minted doctoral students and their advisors are seeing as important to the field. The findings provide insight the degree to which PDS scholars are building on the past to determine future PDS research agendas.

Authors

• Diane Yendol-Hoppey, University of North Florida

• Eva Belle Garin, Bowie State University

• William Silva, Miami Dade College