This is the publisher's version, also found at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002088Research suggests that traditional staff development
programs that neglect the context of the
school and the classroom have not been successful.
Failure to recognize participants' beliefs
and understandings and the influence of school
context can strongly affect the results of a staff
development program. In this article we examine
a staff development program implemented in 2
elementary schools that focused on the beliefs
and understandings about reading comprehension
instruction of 12 teachers in grades 4-6. This
staff development program attempted to shift responsibility
from the staff developers to the
teachers and incorporate teachers' beliefs, practices,
and concerns into the program content. We
describe interactions in the group-level staff development
process. Additionally, we explore
whether there were differences in the processes
in the 2 schools and whether these differences
could be attributed to differences in school culture.
Results suggested that group collaboration
and empowerment were strongly affected by the
interaction of school culture and the staff development
process involved. The effectiveness
of a staff development program may be related
to the social norms within a school that encourage
teachers to discuss their beliefs and practices.
Finally, we consider the need for an alternative
approach to staff development
