2024 Doctoral Capstone Projects

With teacher attrition and retention issues causing a nation-wide crisis of instructional vacancies in our public schools, research was conducted in a large, urban, high-need middle school in Pennsylvania to determine if a peer-led classroom management support system was effective for teachers already considering resignation. A mixed-methods, embedded design model that included a quantitative survey and a qualitative structured interview was used to determine how targeted booster professional development, peer observations, and observational feedback of professional practice impacted teachers’ retention perceptions. The intervention system focused on the evidence-based practices of Restorative Practices and Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, and it was purposefully designed to meet the professional development requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused. The designated master teachers who led the intervention system protocols were required to meet rigorous selection criteria. Results indicated that the intervention system had positive impacts due to its peer-led nature and perceived increase in skillset, support, and connectedness. The results also indicated that the classroom management support system was effective in changing most of the study participants’ retention perceptions, particularly for those who identified as female and within their first three years of teaching.

Currently, the Knoch School District lacks effective professional development opportunities for our staff and suffers from a high call-off rate on in-service days. This Capstone Research Project sets out to understand effective professional development strategies that can be implemented within the school district. This includes reviewing how the district currently provides professional development for teachers and determining which of these opportunities are effective. It sets out to answer four questions: 1) What topics does the staff believe are most important when it comes to receiving professional development? 2) What would make staff more likely to participate in professional development that is offered by the district? 3) What style of professional development opportunities do teachers believe impacted their classroom instruction? 4) How does the professional development meet the objectives of the district’s vision? Data collection tools that will be applied include surveys, feedback forms, and call-off rates on the professional development days. These tools will provide both qualitative and quantitative data for review. At least three different models of professional development will be implemented throughout the school year. After each of these, a feedback from will be completed by participants. Both the surveys and professional development feedback forms include Likert scale-type and multiple-choice questions and will allow for some open-ended responses. Moving forward, all of the data collected will be used to create a district-wide professional development plan.