| Professional development has been deemed ineffective for several decades. This ineffectiveness could stem from the one-size-fits-all professional development designs, and the inconsistencies and contradictions pointed out in professional development research (which is used to create these designs). Investigating how subject taught (STEM and non-STEM), Title I status of the school (Title I and non-Title I), and grade level of instruction (elementary, middle and high) could influence teachers' preferences regarding components included in an effective design is a step toward resolving some of these inconsistencies. The research design was an embedded mixed method -- an overall causal-comparative design embedded with interviews. Interviews determined teachers' perceptions of an effective professional development design. The survey investigated preferences for nine components: content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, active learning, duration, alignment with goals and policies, follow-up, collaboration, support, and resources (tangible and intangible).;In the interviews, teachers communicated a need for differentiation based on grade level of instruction, Tittle I status of the school, and subject taught, with high percentages of agreement with the final questions of the survey. The ordinal logistic regression indicated that subject taught and Title I status of the school did not have a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable. Breaking up participants according to grade level of instruction (elementary versus secondary) had a statistically significant effect on teachers' preferences regarding the components included in an effective professional development design. This indicated that professional development should be differentiated based on elementary and secondary instruction.;When the researcher reviewed the components, some showed that the independent variables, Title I status of the school and grade level of instruction had a statistically significant effect. Although the ordinal logistic regression revealed a lack of statistical significance, percent differences indicated that factors such as subject taught, Title I status of the school, and grade level of instruction influenced teachers' preferences regarding specific components in an effective professional development design. These findings illustrate promise that in a larger study, statistical significance might be present. Thus, professional development should be differentiated based on subject taught, Title I status of the school, and grade level of instruction. |
