Factors affecting the transfer of differentiated curriculum from professional development into classroom practice

Restricted until 31 July 2010. This urban district-wide study of teachers in gifted and talented programs in grades three through eight explored factors contributing to the transfer of knowledge learned in professional development into classroom practice. Evidence from a questionnaire and observations of participants provided insight into teachers' preferences for the types of professional development they received and how to maximize their learning in these settings. District-sponsored sessions were motivated primarily by the introduction of new ideas and strategies, most often matched teachers' preferences, and were the primary type of professional development that participants attended.; The results indicated that the factors related to professional development opportunities did not influence the degree to which teachers transferred depth and complexity prompts to differentiate content for gifted learners. Teachers were more successful in the isolated implementation of these prompts than in the integration of the prompts to differentiate content across subject areas. The participants indicated that professional development should include more demonstration lessons and follow-up sessions that would support the implementation of depth and complexity prompts in their classrooms.

本数据集的访问权限受限至2010年7月31日。本研究为覆盖全学区的、针对3至8年级资优英才教育项目（gifted and talented programs）教师的调研，旨在探究教师将专业发展（professional development）所学知识迁移至课堂教学实践的影响因素。通过对参与者的问卷调查与课堂观察所获取的实证数据，揭示了教师对所参与专业发展活动类型的偏好，以及如何在这类活动中最大化学习成效的相关情况。学区主办的专业发展活动，其核心初衷多为引入新理念与教学策略，且大多契合教师的偏好，同时也是参与者参与频次最高的专业发展活动类型；研究结果表明，与专业发展机会相关的各类因素，并未对教师运用深度与复杂度引导提示（depth and complexity prompts）为资优学习者差异化设计教学内容的程度产生影响。相较于在多学科领域整合运用此类提示以差异化设计教学内容，教师单独实施该类提示的效果更佳。参与本次调研的教师提出，专业发展活动应增设更多示范课与后续辅导环节，以支撑其在课堂中落实深度与复杂度引导提示的教学实践。