Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Education (Ph.D)

Department

Administrative and Instructional Leadership

First Advisor

Anthony Annunziato

Second Advisor

Ann Macaluso

Third Advisor

Catherine DiMartino

Abstract

Over the past two decades legislators have made two significant attempts to reform the field of education by placing more emphasis on assessments and accountability. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and during Barack Obama’s presidency the Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant was initiated. The NCLB Act and the RTTT initiatives focused on increasing rigor in the classroom, the development of standardized expectations and assessments, and building the capacity of teachers. These historic acts led to an emphasis on professional development (PD) as the vehicle used to bring about educational reform throughout the country.

The purpose of the qualitative case study was to identify the perspectives of teachers and administrators regarding the impact of PD offered by the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme and their perceptions concerning the components of a successful PD program versus the PD offered by the IB Programme. The site of the study was a Long Island school district that was in the process of implementing the IB Programme in each grade of the district. The study was conducted with a purposeful sampling of 21 individuals that consisted of tenured teachers and administrators that had all participated in PD offered by the IB Programme. The researcher made a concerted effort to include an equal number of male and female participants in the study. Data was generated from one-to-one interviews, focus groups, and collected documents that outlined the PD process associated with the implementation of the IB Programme. The information obtained from the data collection methods was analyzed utilizing NVivo coding software to identify patterns and themes that emerged as a result of the study.

There is a significant amount of research that has been conducted regarding the link between professional development and student achievement, but there is little research concerning the PD associated with the IB Programme and its relationship to increasing student achievement. The purpose of this research was to contribute to the lack of literature on the topic. This information will assist districts in the development of meaningful PD experiences.

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