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This monograph critiques professional development schools (PDSs) and their role in the renewal of urban schools. Chapter 1 clarifies what is meant by the PDS model and describes the central goals of PDS initiatives. Chapter 2 critically assesses the value of PDSs to school renewal and the preparation of teachers for effective work in diverse urban schools and communities. It addresses the question of why the PDS framework is insufficient for effective, quality educational practice in diverse urban communities and critically reinterprets the notion of the PDS in light of the critical knowledge required for successful work in diverse urban contexts. A summary of problems related to applying the PDS framework to work in urban schools is included. This includes political status quo regarding problems of urban schooling, people being excluded from the PDS, organization of the PDS, and inadequacy of PDS theory. Chapter 3 explores alternative approaches for collaborative teacher preparation, professional development, and school renewal in diverse urban settings. The monograph concludes with a conceptual framework summarizing the features required for an equity-minded, urban-focused, and diversity-responsive type of collaborative approach to university-school partnerships. (Contains approximately 85 references.) (SM)
The focus of this research study was to better understand the development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) culture within an urban middle school campus and to analyze if the intervention, intended to develop a campus PLC culture, had any positive or negative impact on student achievement. This mixed-methods research study utilized pre and post surveys and interviews with campus educators to delve into the perceptions of the development of a PLC culture within the middle school campus. Furthermore, student academic performance was explored through the analysis of state academic performance reports.The first significant finding of this study was that the results of the concurrent method of data analysis affirmed that, potentially because of this intervention during the 2018-2019 academic school year, the middle school of this study did commence the development of a professional learning community culture. The second significant finding was that based on the data analyzed of student performance for the three previous academic years, student achievement did increase academically when accounting all students and all contents. Furthermore, both math and English language arts had the lowest percentage of students not meeting grade level standards since 2016. Finally, the largest subpopulation within the school campus, English Learner students, demonstrated large gains at 23 percentage points over the last three years in the academic performance tier of approaching grade level or above. This increase in academic performance by the students did ultimately lead to the campus performance rating to increase positively, as measured by the state of Texas.