Date Approved

2015

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department or School

Leadership and Counseling

Committee Member

Gary Marx

Committee Member

David Anderson

Committee Member

Barbara Bleyaert

Committee Member

Nelson Maylone

Abstract

This quantitative study explored the degree to which three systems of quality professional development (PD) design synthesized from the literature contribute to teachers' perceived use of student-centered instructional practice (SCIP) in the context of Reading Apprenticeship. The three systems used to define quality PD were professional community, support system, and delivery system. The goal of this study was to determine what impact PD had on SCIP and what teacher characteristics had an impact on SCIP. Interaction effects were also explored. The study utilized survey data from teachers in Livingston and Washtenaw Counties in the State of Michigan and analysis was conducted at three levels. The first level of analysis utilized descriptive statistics of the population and sample pertaining to central tendencies and frequencies of quantitative variables. The next level of analysis was a factor analysis to assist in reducing the larger number of variables with each system to a smaller one. This analysis allowed conceptually and statistically related survey items to be grouped together. The last level of analysis was a path analysis of the sample-generated components and teacher characteristics. This study found that the core professional development practices variable has a powerful positive influence on SCIP. The proposed theoretical framework that emerged from the literature review was not supported, but a new, potentially useful framework evolved. Implications for theory, practice, and research are presented.

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