ERIC Number: EJ991837
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1539-1523
EISSN: N/A
Impact of Online Professional Development on Teacher Quality and Student Achievement in Fifth Grade Mathematics
Dash, Sheralyn; de Kramer, Raquel Magidin; O'Dwyer, Laura M.; Masters, Jessica; Russell, Michael
Journal of Research on Technology in Education, v45 n1 p1-26 Fall 2012
Despite the ever-increasing number of online professional development (OPD) programs, relatively few studies have been conducted to examine the efficacy of such programs for teachers and students. This manuscript presents findings from an impact study of OPD courses in fractions, algebraic thinking, and measurement on 79 fifth grade teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical practices as well as their students' mathematics achievement. The OPD courses were offered one course per semester for three semesters, and each course comprised 1 week of orientation and 6 weeks of course content. Overall, teachers participated in more than approximately 70 hours of OPD. The research findings showed that teachers who had been randomly assigned to the experimental group had significantly greater gains in scores for pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical practices than teachers in the control group. Nevertheless, the positive changes in teacher outcomes did not translate to any meaningful differences in students' mathematics achievement. (Contains 8 tables, 3 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Teacher Surveys, Student Surveys, Online Surveys, Outcome Measures, Federal Aid, Asynchronous Communication, Mathematics Achievement, Teacher Effectiveness, Program Effectiveness, Algebra, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Measurement, Partnerships in Education, Grade 5, Elementary School Teachers, Mathematics Instruction, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Inservice Teacher Education, Teacher Student Relationship, Dropouts, Educational Technology, Electronic Learning, Web Based Instruction, Instructional Effectiveness, Comparative Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Questionnaires, Pretests Posttests
International Society for Technology in Education. 180 West 8th Avenue, Suite 300, Eugene, OR 97401-2916. Tel: 800-336-5191; Tel: 541-302-3777; Fax: 541-302-3778; e-mail: iste@iste.org; Web site: http://www.iste.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 5; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Alabama; Delaware; Kentucky; Mississippi; Missouri; New Hampshire; Pennsylvania; West Virginia
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: No Child Left Behind Act 2001
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A