Framework for Research on Professional Development Schools

The purpose of the book is to provide Professional Development School (PDS) workers with a framework for conducting research in a PDS. The book examines the history of these schools as a phenomenon, analyzes PDS research since its inception in 1986, outlines the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education's (NCATE) PDS standards, and the American Education Research Association's (AERA) recommended research methods. The result of this examination creates a framework within which researchers in schools, universities, districts, and national groups consider their developmental level. The book includes hypothetical examples of research in these schools that are approved by the AERA. In four chapters the authors investigate the active language of the NCATE / PDS standards that refer to inquiry. A summary of the standards guides the recommended research choices and the hypothetical research projects presented by Professors Jeanne Tunks and Jane Neapolitan. Articles on the PDS system that span the twenty years of its programming tell the story of the schools from multiple perspectives. This book challenges PDS workers to apply the rigor of research methods, beyond narratives, to the deeper question of the effects of Professional Development Schools on learning among all constituents.

Jeanne Tunks, Ph. D., is Associate Professor in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of North Texas. She has worked in PDS programs since 1997 and served as site coordinator in the Denton Independent School District in Denton, Texas since 2000. Jeanne was the president of the PDS Research Special Interest Group of AERA from 2000-2004. Her authorship of this book is a culmination of seven years of research on the PDS. Jane E. Neapolitan, Ed.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Instructional Leadership and Professional Development in the College of Education at Towson University, Maryland, where she serves as Chair of the Institute for Professional Development School Studies, a research and development center. She has experienced PDS work from "the inside out" as a practitioner and researcher in the development of the NCATE PDS Standards and the Maryland Standards for PDS. Her work focuses on the challenges of conducting research in partnerships and their implications for policy and practice.