Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Assignments: How They Influence Teachers' Professional Development Choices
In school years 06-07 and 07-08 just under 60% of all science course sections were taught by a teacher with a relevant license. About 30% were taught by teachers with a non-relevant license. Student populations most frequently taught by teachers with a non-relevant license were SPED and ESL students. The science subject most frequently taught by teachers with relevant licenses was biology. Of all the science subjects, physics and unified science were least likely to be taught by a teacher with a relevant license. A conservative estimate of fluctuations in teaching assignments suggests that at least 20% of teachers of science experience a shift in their course assignments from one year to the next. Teachers most often had little or no voice in the assignments they were given. When assigned outside their licensure, teachers with 6 or more years of experience were more likely to report being challenged by lack of content knowledge compared to teachers with fewer years of experience. Moreover, some experienced teachers reported that, in looking back, they realized how overconfident they had been, and realized where their instruction could have been more effective.
Interview data suggests that teachers value most highly those professional development experiences that will help them address their immediate instructional needs, rather than longer-term issues or interests. Teachers with 5 years of experience or less valued professional development that emphasized pedagogy foremost; followed next by professional development that emphasized content knowledge. In contrast, teachers with 6 years of experience or more valued professional development that emphasized content knowledge more highly than pedagogy. The degree to which these teachers' values are evident in their participation in BSP's CCCs and CCLS cycles will be examined in the session, as will the participation patterns of all BSP participants over the course of the project.