2016 Annual Conference

This session will share results from a large-scale study that explored the professional learning habits of middle and secondary mathematics teachers in the southeast. Trends in teacher learning will be shared as well as policy and programmatic issues facing the field of teacher education.

The primary audience for this session are primary and secondary education faculty, teachers, school administrators, professional development trainers, and continuing education professionals. This session will provide attendees with useful information regarding the various activities teachers engage in to improve their knowledge and skills as educators. It will emphasize how teachers prefer to learn and provide suggestions for policy and programmatic planning. A secondary audience for this presentation could be corporate curriculum developers and trainers. Although the research was based on school district professional development, some learning outcomes could also be applied to the human resource development field.

Although there is a significant amount of research on the topic of professional development, few individuals have sought to quantify the amount of formal and informal professional development teachers undertake to improve their practices as educators. Much of the existing qualitative research has focused on the informal learning activities of teachers. Most of the qualitative studies have analyzed national survey data (NAEP & SASS) to report trends in formal professional development. This is problematic as these surveys are designed to collect a wide variety of information and only a small portion is designated to collect information about professional learning. This session will share research findings from a large-scale study that sought to fill these gaps by examining the professional learning habits of middle and high school mathematics teachers in the southeast. The types and frequency of participation will be shared as well as information on the life cycle of professional development throughout a teacher's career. Discussions regarding the current state of professional development will be explored as well as suggestions for how policy and programmatic changes can be implemented to better address the various learning needs of teachers.