Improving teacher practices through professional development in a low-performing city school: An action research study

Professional development training raises many concerns in today's U.S. education system. Each year, education systems change. Understanding these change efforts provides school districts the opportunity to be successful in their efforts. Today's students no longer seem to benefit from one instructional approach and need an enhancement in their learning. The high number of uncertified teachers has caused ongoing teacher professional development to be embedded into schools. The purpose of this action research was to ascertain how and to what extent professional development programs enhance teaching pedagogy and practices. In this study, workshops were provided for teachers with 1 to 3 years of teaching experience. Data were collected using questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, and an observation protocol to measure teacher perceptions of professional practices and the impact of those practices prior to and during the initial phase of implementation. At the end of the study, participants were observed on how they were utilizing the practices learned in professional development programs and the participants provided their reflections on the intervention. The results from this action research study indicate that teachers' practices improved as a result of participating in ongoing professional development workshops.