An Empirical Study Of The Promise And Effectiveness Of Teachers From Professional Development Vs. Traditional Models Of Education

Abstract

Teacher preparatory programs need to evaluate their programs to determine if they are producing highly effective teachers. This study utilized the professional development school (PDS) program versus the traditional program to determine if there was a difference in the promise and effectiveness of pre-service teachers. The study analyzed the difference between PDS and traditional pre-service teachers utilizing descriptive statistics, t-tests for independent means, and the Fisher’s Exact Test to consider the background of pre-service teachers. Promise was assessed using t-tests for independent means focusing on the Praxis II scores. Effectiveness was evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U tests for independent means utilizing the percent of students scoring proficient on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests during the teachers’ first year teaching. Effect size and power were also calculated. The findings yielded one statistically significant difference between PDS and traditional pre-service teachers within the demographic evaluation; there were proportionately more males enrolled in the traditional program. There were no statistically significant differences found in the areas of promise and effectiveness. When measuring the effect sizes a medium –to-large difference was found showing the mean percent of proficient students in the PDS group being larger than the mean percent of proficient in the traditional group in mathematics. This result should be considered an area of further investigation. This study is recommended to be replicated on a statewide basis to include all colleges that participate in PDS programs due to the medium-to-large effect sizes found. Qualitative studies are warranted to learn more about the impact the PDS program has on pre-service teachers and the students in their future classrooms.