Principals’ Perceptions of Professional Development in High- and Low-Performing High-Poverty Schools

Abstract

This is the second part of a two-part study examining issues related to professional development in high-poverty schools. The findings from the initial study indicated that principals in high-poverty, high-performing schools perceived higher levels of implementation of quality professional development standards in their schools than did principals of high-poverty, low-performing schools. This study was conducted to determine whether these principals faced similar or dissimilar barriers in implementing high-quality professional development standards and whether they had similar factors in place to facilitate the use of such standards. While the barriers appeared to be quite similar, there were wide differences in the facilitative factors present in the two types of schools. Principals in high-performing schools appeared to be aware of and able to use facilitative factors to foster high-quality professional development practices, while principals in low-performing schools are not. Implications of these findings are discussed.