Perceptions of Middle School Teachers on the Quality of Professional Development

Professional learning and professional development are the essential tools employed in schools, districts, and universities in order to increase teachers' knowledge and skills. To gain the most from professional development in middle schools, the experiences and activities must be based on standards. Few researchers explore how teachers think about the context, process, and content of current professional development at the middle school level. This dissertation examines how teacher learning is demonstrated in professional development activities and experience and assesses whether middle school teachers' perceptions of their professional development experiences is aligned to the standards of Learning Forward (2001) (formerly the National Staff Development Council), a national professional learning organization. The research study used the Standard Assessment Inventory (2003) to gather the perception of middle school teachers regarding the alignments of their professional development practices with the standards of Learning Forward. Participants were members of the Association of Illinois Middle-level Schools (AIMS), who accessed the online survey via a provided by the researcher. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the participants and analyze the standards and the dimensions of the standards. The analysis revealed that AIMS teacher members are engaged in quality professional development experiences aligned with Learning Forward standards. Interpretations drawn from this study are that middle school teachers are aware and experiencing standard based professional development and years of experience in teaching does not impact teachers' perceptions about their professional development experiences.