Learning, Arts, and the Brain: The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition

Reports findings from multiple neuroscientific studies on the impact of arts training on the enhancement of other cognitive capacities, such as reading acquisition, sequence learning, geometrical reasoning, and memory

Perceptions of High Quality Professional Development: Do Teachers and Administrators Agree?

This study used a survey research design to gather educator perceptions about a particular professional development (PD) event they deemed effective. Responses were used to measure HQPD characteristics by PD event, across roles, grade levels and the combination of roles and grade levels. Authors of Garet et. al. (2001, Winter), granted permission to use the Teacher Activity Survey (TAS), so it was modified for this study (Appendix B), mapped to the HQPD characteristics (Appendix D) and was used to collect participant responses. Work by Garet et. al. (2001, Winter) and Sappington et. al. (2012) were used to create the Structures, Processes and Features (SPF) model (Appendix A). SPF is a three-dimensional model used to display levels of duration, collaboration, and core features to identify a resultant frame classification for the PD event. Emergent themes were identified through statistical analyses that included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, ANOVA, MANOVA, correlation studies and X2 (Chi-squared) tests. Findings were reviewed to determine accuracy of the modified TAS and SPF instruments. Additionally, the impact of leadership was evaluated as one component of the core features characteristic. Finally, recommendations for improvement and further research were offered