Relationship of Professional Development Participation to Observed Changes in Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes
The Alliance for the Improvement of Mathematics Skills - PreK-16 (AIMS) was funded by
the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the fall of 2002 with the overarching goal to
prepare all students for college-level math courses by the time
they graduate from high school through vertical alignment, professional development,
challenging curriculum, the use of information technology, and research on strategies and
interventions. The partnership consists of two institutions of higher education
(IHE) and nine rural and suburban independent school districts (ISDs) in South
Texas. There are approximately 28,900 students in the nine districts which range
from 27.8% to 97.9% Hispanic and from 33.5% to 91.7% economically disadvantaged
status. There were 1,028 teachers who attended AIMS professional development.
Over the five years of the project, 2,854 hours of professional development were offered
covering math content, curriculum, using technology, and mentoring.
Several
studies have demonstrated a relationship between professional development and teacher
practice (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002; Guskey, 1986; Loucks-Horsley
& Matsumoto, 1999). Furthermore, extensive work supports the impact of teacher
practice on student achievement (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Donovan &
Bransford, 2005; Minstrell & van Zee, 2000).
The AIMS-sponsored professional
development was offered for PK-16 teachers, faculty, and administrative participation.
Professional development offerings of AIMS were based on Texas Teachers Empowered
for Achievement in Mathematics and Science (TEXTEAMS), a comprehensive professional
development program for math (and science) that was designed to assist educators in
understanding and implementing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) through
TEKS-based assessments and other activities based on the TEKS (Texas Education Agency,
2001). Participants attended workshops on the IHE campuses or at facilities within
the school districts. Some of the workshops during Years Four and Five were focused
on specific district and/or campus needs. During the summer of Year Five, workshops
to train teachers to be become Trainers-of-Trainers were held for four of the TEXTEAMS
modules. These participating teachers are now able to train teachers within their
home districts as well as other districts in the use of the modules for which they
received training.
At the beginning of the AIMS project, there were 796
individual teachers who taught one or more mathematics classes in the participating
districts. With teacher turnover, 1028 unduplicated mathematics teachers attended
AIMS sponsored professional development. Table 1 indicates the number of
teacher participants each year.
| Year 1 2002-2003 | Year 2 2003-2004 | Year 3 2004-2005 | Year 4 | Year 5 2006-2007 |
| # Attendees | # Attendees | # Attendees | # Attendees | # Attendees |
Elementary | 1 | 344 | 472 | 216 | 298 |
Middle School | 18 | 48 | 65 | 46 | 19 |
High School | 56 | 62 | 103 | 47 | 12 |
Alternative School | 6 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 |
Total | 81 | 458 | 648 | 312 | 333 |
Participants attended workshops on the IHE campuses or at facilities within
the ISDs. Some of the workshops during Years Four and Five were focused on specific
district and/or campus needs.
In negotiations with the NSF program officer
during start-up, the benchmark of 30+ hours a year was set as demonstrating significant,
sustained AIMS involvement for teachers in professional development activities. The
numbers of teachers meeting this benchmark of 30+ hours of professional development in a
single school year are shown on Table 2. This table does include duplicated
participants; that is, a single teacher could have participated in 30+ hours of AIMS
professional development in more than one year.
Campus Type | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 * | Year 4 * | Year 5 * |
| 2002-2003 |
2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 |
| 30 or more hrs | 30 or more hrs | 30 or more hrs | 30 or more hrs | 30 or more hrs |
Elementary | 1 | 180 | 154 | 65 | 43 |
Middle School | 10 | 33 | 38 | 22 | 6 |
High School | 16 | 24 | 43 | 8 | 3 |
Alternative | 2 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 1 |
Total | 29 | 239 | 239 | 116 | 53 |
