The Effects of Staff Development on Teachers’ Perceptions About Effective Teaching

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate whether teachers who receive training and then implement more effective instructional practices change in terms of the reasons they offer for their effectiveness. Comparisons were made between 46 teachers who were trained in and implemented mastery learning techniques and 50 similar teachers who could not be included in the training. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance showed that the mastery learning teachers attached increased importance to teaching practices and behaviors in explaining their effectiveness after they had implemented these techniques. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in the importance mastery learning teachers attached to personality factors. The implications of these findings for staff development are discussed.