PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS - CATALYSTS FOR TEACHER AND SCHOOL CHANGE

Drawing on data from questionnaires and 49 interviews with teachers an d principals, the impact of involvement in Professional Development Sc hools on teacher professional growth and school change at seven Profes sional Development School sites is explored through a cross-case analy sis. Each of the seven sites, four elementary and three secondary, ser ved five or more years as a PDS site. Program results were mixed, unde rscoring the importance of a range of context variables to program suc cess, including school district support, principal, staff and Universi ty faculty stability, student body composition, school and faculty siz e, as well as the nature of teachers' program involvement. Implication s for PDS program development and research are discussed and a range o f policy issues explored, including those associated with tensions bet ween university faculty roles and PDS responsibilities. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.