Teachers’ Expectations Regarding the Accredited Programs for Professional Development Provided by Universities

AbstractThis research is developed as a distinct in-depth analysis phase focusing on a range of results from a national multi-dimensional survey which was performed last year. This survey provided an overall image of the teacher development programs accredited by the Romanian National Commission in charge of the evaluation/accreditation process. This comprehensive data base covers all the accredited programs implemented throughout the country for teachers who have continued their education (N=618) between January, 2009 and May, 2013, also including, the specific programs provided by universities (N=195). The survey research dimensions which are envisaged for our current analysis are: the thematic distribution of professional development programs; the program distribution based on ISCED levels; the program distribution by target population categories. The main goals of this project are: (1) the identification of teachers’ expectations regarding the specificity of professional development programs offered by universities; (2) the identification of specific differences between the teachers’ expectations development concerning university and other institutional providers’ development programs. The data recovered through the SWOT analysis and focus group interviews, are exploited in order to formulate suggestions and recommendations for university providers of continuing teacher development programs. The research results are also useful for the national evaluator experts who are interested and have accountability in up-dating and consolidating the evaluation/accreditation methodology of professional development programs