Page 117 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

The Role of Teacher Leadership for Promoting Professional Development Practices

not be limited to a administrator directed process, as all teachers should be given the opportunity to lead.
MBAMP is based on the teachers’ desire to receive the benefits that come from being an MBAMP teacher
leader. As a result of the teacher leadership opportunity MBAMP participants gain districts and schools
are utilizing the leadership of these participants to support and train other teachers at their respective
school site. Districts are funding teacher participants to attend MBAMP summer institutes so they can
reap the benefit of having their teachers engage in year long professional development that impacts not
only the participants classroom but their colleagues as well.

CONTEXT, RESEARCH DESIGN, AND MODES OF INQUIRY

Context

This research project took place over the course of one year examining the profile of participants who
are involved with a university based mathematics professional development program in Northern Cali-
fornia of the United States. The University based professional development program is one of 19 sites
supported by the state of California and residing in a public university to support K-12 mathematics
initiatives. The program offers year round professional development and support to teachers of students
in grades K-12 through a variety of events including summer institutes, consulting services with local
school districts, independent study programs and weekend seminars.

Research Design and Modes of Inquiry

Participants Survey: A total of ten participants responded to this survey. Survey questions were cre-
ated based on the existing literature of professional development practices and teacher leadership and
included both closed-ended and open-ended questions that allowed participants to share their beliefs,
knowledge and experiences. A sample of an open-ended question is “How did your participation in the
Teacher Leader team shape your classroom instruction?” Survey Monkey, an online web survey tool
was used and a link was emailed to all participants of the University project. The survey had five parts:
demographic information, reasons and motivations for working with MBAMP, qualities of the director,
type of participation, and benefits of participation.
In-depth Interview: The director of the program was interviewed four times throughout the school
year to understand how she develops and grows her professional development community. Multiple inter-
views were conducted to examine how her practices might change throughout the school year. Questions
were asked to understand the processes to organize and structure mathematics professional development
events, as well as establishing a professional development community that is teacher-driven and focused
on the collective strengths of teacher leaders.
Analyzing Documents: In order to understand the history and context of the professional development
organization as well as the growth and development over the last ten years meeting notes and documents
from event planning as well as research grants were analyzed. Content analysis was conducted to inter-
pret the various types of communication within the organization as well as the structure and process for
developing professional development.

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