The Enhancement Function of Staff Development: Organizational and Psychological Antecedents to Individual Teacher Change

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine previously unexplored relationships among the organizational contexts of schools and classrooms, teachers’ psychological states, and change in individual teacher practice through staff development unassociated with school or district innovation. A path model, based on theories of individual behavior and change within organizations, is presented and tested using a sample of teachers who voluntarily participated in a staff development program aimed solely at improving individual teacher practice. The findings from the path analysis suggest that, in the absence of organizational foci and pressures for change associated with school or district innovation, individual change is a direct function of personal teaching efficacy. The findings suggest indirect influences on individual change of teachers’ certainty about practice, the concentration of low-achieving students in teachers’ classrooms, and the interactions teachers have with their colleagues about instruction. The implications of these findings for efforts to enhance individual teachers’ practice are discussed.