Staff Development and Student Achievement: Making the Connection in Georgia Schools

The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between staff development and student achievement and to develop a base of knowledge for improving staff development in Georgia. Since 1985, the state has appropriated funds for staff development under the Quality Basic Education Act, one of the most comprehensive statewide initiatives for school improvement in the United States. In fiscal year 1998, Georgia appropriated over $35 million for staff development in schools and school districts. The Georgia Department of Education has collected information about uses of resources, levels of participation, and accomplishments of effectiveness of staff development in Georgia schools have not been conducted. Indeed, evaluations of staff development programs at a state level are rare. This study provides information to policy makers about whether or not state staff development funds are used in such a way as to have an impact on student achievement. The study also provides information that can be used to help schools maximize the effectiveness of their staff development efforts.While staff development can be defined in a number of ways, for this study we used the following definition: An organized learning opportunity for teachers to acquire knowledge and skills to help them become more effective teachers. Staff development activities may consist of activities such as a single workshop, a conference, a workshop series, summer institutes, college coursework, or organized peer coaching and study group sessions. A staff development activity may be sponsored by many entities including a school, the school district, Regional Education Service Agencies, state agencies, teacher academies, colleges, or professional networks and organizations.In this study we ask the question, "Do differences in the ways schools and school districts provide staff development for their teachers account for some of the variation in student achievement across Georgia schools?" The general strategy for the investigation was to select a sample of higher and lower achieving schools across a full range of socio-economic status, to gather data on staff development in these schools, and to test the extent to which the characteristics of staff development varied in the two groups of schools. Sixty schools in 35 districts participated in the study. At each school, we interviewed school administrators, conducted a focus group discussion with six to ten teachers, and surveyed teachers in the school (1,150 teachers responded). At the district office, we interviewed the staff development coordinator, personnel director, and finance director to determine the context in which staff development occurred at the schools

Long-Standing Reform Effort Improves Schools: An Independent Evaluation of the League of Professional Schools

A long-standing school reform program in Georgia, known as the League of Professional Schools, has succeeded in improving the performance of its member schools. The League of Professional Schools is a Georgia based reform effort that emphasizes teacher participation in informed decision-making within schools. More than 100 schools throughout the state have enrolled themselves in the League. The Council for School Performance, which is housed within the Applied Research Center in the School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, found a pattern of higher performance in League elementary schools than in similar elementary schools. Using the indicators of student achievement from the Council for School Performance elementary school reports, researchers found that schools participating in the League of Professional Schools performed better on all indicators and significantly better on one-third of the indicators. The evaluation concludes that this broad-based reform effort had specific and measurable impacts on student performance

The Impact of Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship Program on High School Performance and College Enrollment

Florida\u27s Bright Futures program is one of the nation\u27s largest merit-based scholarship initiatives. This study used high school transcript and college enrollment data to examine the program\u27s impact on high school course-taking patterns, school grades, college entrance exam scores, and rates of college attendance over time. The study indicates that the program has contributed to educational improvements by encouraging high school students to take academically challenging courses and attend college in the state, with low-income and minority students showing the largest improvements

HOPE Longitudinal Study: First Year Results

The first wave of the six-year HOPE Longitudinal Study, commissioned by the Council for School Performance and partially sponsored by the Board of Regents, addresses three major questions. First, to what extent do thirteen to fifteen-year-olds and their parents know about the eligibility requirements of the HOPE Scholarship and the associated benefits? Second, what factors affect the expectations students form about attending and graduating from college? Finally, seventh and eighth graders were asked about the new PREP It Up! Program to determine how they heard about the program and to what extent they are able to recall college prep curriculum requirements.The survey was undertaken during the spring of 1997. Given that a database of students with telephone numbers is generally not available, the Applied Research Center called over 44,000 households throughout the state to locate and gain consent of 800 students and their parents to participate in the study