Sustainability of Professional Development to Enhance Student Achievement: A Shift in the Professional Development Paradigm

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the sustainability of professional development, specifically the teacher utilization of the Science-in-CTE pedagogical model and science-enhanced agricultural education lessons in curricula one year following the Science-in-CTE pilot study. This quasi- experimental study included 41 teachers (15 treatment agricultural education, 14 control agricultural education, and 12 science) who participated in seven days of professional development in the pilot study in 2009-2010. This study was a partial replication of the Math-in-CTE follow-up study and data were collected using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were obtained from online questionnaires and qualitative data were collected from personal and telephone interviews. Researchers found that a majority of the treatment agricultural education and science teachers voluntarily incorporated portions of the seven-element pedagogical model and 15 science-enhanced lessons into their curricula one year later. However, less than 30% of the control agricultural education teachers incorporated the method or materials from the pilot study into their curricula. Findings suggest that collaborative, extended professional development is sustainable and an effective method of integrating science content into agricultural education curricula to enhance student course achievement without reducing the intent of the agricultural education program.