A Correlation Study of Professional Development Perception and School Achievement in North Carolina

Adult learners have distinctly different needs and motivations compared to those of children. These needs and motivations need to be kept in mind to help ensure meaningful and successful learning experiences in professional development offered to educators. The purpose of this correlation study is to determine if the perceptions educators have of the professional development they receive had a statistically significant relationship to the school achievement within their North Carolina public schools. The educator perceptions regarding professional development were measured by using the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions (NCTWC) Survey. School achievement was measured by the school performance grade score. A random sample of 348 schools representing 116 districts in North Carolina participated in this study. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated via SPSS 23 to test the three null hypotheses in order to assess the direction and strength of any possible relationship between educator perception of professional development and school achievement. The data analysis failed to yield any statistically significant correlation between the two variables. Although this analysis did not show a significant correlation, this research adds to the present body of literature and offers ideas for future research