Professional development in self-regulated learning: effects of a workshop on teacher knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy, and the development of a coaching framework

A review of the existing literature indicates a lack of high quality quantitative and qualitative research in the field of teacher professional development (PD), as well as a disconnect between teachers’ PD needs and their actual experiences. This is particularly apparent in the area of selfregulated learning (SRL), as such skills have been empirically linked to student learning and achievement. The current project was conducted to address two primary objectives. First, a single group pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a previously developed SRL PD workshop on three variables: (a) teacher knowledge of SRL, (b) teacher application of SRL, and (c) teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Second, qualitative data was collected through individual interviews with a small subgroup of teachers who participated in the workshop. The purpose of the interviews was to gather information regarding teachers’ reactions to and evaluations of the workshop, additional needs for implementing learned SRL strategies in the classroom, perceptions of the characteristics of a feasible and effective coaching model, and barriers to implementation. A total of nine teachers from a suburban middle school and high school participated in the three-hour workshop, and four teachers participated in the interviews. Paired-samples t-tests indicated statistically significant increases in teachers’ knowledge of SRL and application of SRL, but not in teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for using SRL strategies in the classroom, despite a measured medium effect size. Interview data was assessed using classical content analysis. It is recognized that this study was underpowered in nature and lacked a control group, and these factors impact the ability to detect significant effects, make causal attributions, and generalize results. Implications for future research include the need for larger scale studies that include the use of a control group and random assignment to evaluate of the effectiveness of PD programs on teachers’ knowledge, authentic skill implementation, and self-efficacy.Psy.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Ashley Allshous