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Research at PDS

NEA Professional Development School Research Project

• Teacher Retention Study - PDS and non-PDS graduates are being surveyed to determine the numbers who are still teaching, to ascertain their perceptions of their preparation, and to assess their involvement in their schools as beginning teachers. This year principals are being surveyed to determine PDS and non-PDS graduates levels of competence. To date, findings reveal no differences in teacher retention. However, PDS graduates are more involved in professional development and leadership activities than non-PDS graduates.
• Student Achievement Study - Student standardized test scores were used to compare four PDSs with matched control schools. Only one of the four schools showed a consistent pattern of improvement in test scores as compared to the control school. This was the only school that had a consistent Mason faculty member present in the school over an extended period of time. The other three schools attributed their up-and-down pattern of student achievement to changes in student demographics. The next round of studies will look at student learning within individual PDS sites.
• Teacher Quality Study - PDS and non-PDS students are being compared on various measures of teacher quality including PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II, student teaching evaluations, portfolio evaluations, and work sampling scores. Additional performance assessment measures are being developed and scores for PDS and non-PDS students will be compared. These data are still being collected and have not yet been analyzed.

National Center for School Improvement

• PDS Self Study - Mason's six PDS sites are currently undergoing a modified version of the NCATE PDS Self Study process using the PDS standards and developmental continuum. This will result in a PDS action plan for each school and school-based action research projects.

School Based Research

• Randolph Elementary School is currently studying the effect of backwards design planning on students' knowledge of Jamestown. Interviews were conducted with students who studied Jamestown under the previous unit and students who studied Jamestown under the revised unit. Student responses are being compared on content knowledge and conceptual understanding.