The effect of classroom implementation of prescriptive staff development on the mathematics achievement of secondary school students

The need for on-going professional development and support of teachers is an area that educators at all levels acknowledge, but never more so than recently. New learning theories and advanced technologies have emerged creating a need for teachers to rethink their teaching strategies. Professional development that causes change in the classroom and improves student achievement is more important than ever.;The purpose of the study was to describe the effect of a prescriptive professional development model---a model designed to encourage changes in classroom practices and including a strong implementation component---on mathematics achievement. The prescriptive professional development model required that the teacher demonstrate implementation of the knowledge and skills emphasized in the professional development activities. A teacher who participated in the professional development activities received compensation only after he or she demonstrated that implementation had taken place in his or her classroom. Evidence of implementation included teacher personal reflections, student work samples reflective of the professional development, and administrator or peer observations.;Four groups of teachers were studied: the first group received training and immediately demonstrated implementation of the knowledge and skills taught, the second group received training and subsequently demonstrated implementation of the knowledge and skills taught, the third group received training but did not demonstrate implementation of the knowledge and skills taught, and the fourth group received no training. The study tested a series of research hypotheses that compared the mathematics achievement, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and the Algebra I End-of-Course Examination of secondary school students who have been taught by the teachers in these four groups.;A posttest only control group research design was used to test those research hypotheses. The independent variable was the type of training experienced by the teacher and the dependent variable was mathematics achievement. Mathematics achievement data from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and Algebra I students were analyzed using one-way analyses of variance followed by the Tukey gap test where warranted. The ninety-five percent confidence level (p < .05) was used as the criterion level for determining statistical significance.;Conclusions included: (1) the mathematics achievement on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills of students taught by teachers who participated in the prescriptive staff development was statistically significantly higher than the mathematics achievement of students whose teachers did not; and (2) the mathematics achievement on Algebra I End-of-Course Examination of students taught by teachers who participated in the prescriptive staff development was statistically significantly higher than the mathematics achievement of students whose teachers did not. Obtained effect sizes indicated that these statistically significant differences were also educationally meaningful.