Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2016

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed. D.

Department

Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development

Degree Program

Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, EDD

Committee Chair

Immekus, Jason

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Ingle, William

Committee Member

Ingle, William

Committee Member

Munoz, Marco

Committee Member

Ansman, John

Author's Keywords

JCPS; Professional Development; Colucci; Reform Style; Common Core

Abstract

The adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics represents a challenge for public educators due to the broad scope of required instructional change. This quantitative study investigated the implementation of a reform style professional development program in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), a large urban school district in Kentucky. The research questions included in the study are: (a) Is reform style professional development positively associated with students’ mathematics achievement? and (b) What are teacher’s perceptions of reform style professional development’s effectiveness on their instructional practices and student achievement? Student achievement was measured using norm-referenced mathematics scores from the Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP), the state assessment for Kentucky. A hierarchical linear multiple regression model was used, controlling for student variables in block 1, prior year test scores in block 2, and teacher participating in reform style professional development in block 3. Findings suggest there is a positive and significant difference in student mathematics achievement in classrooms where teachers partially participate or fully participate in reform style professional development. This study may benefit educational leaders by providing data surrounding an effective professional development model, which has a positive relationship with student achievement.

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