This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the perceptions of northeast Tennessee principals as they compared their system's professional development plans to Learning Forward's, formerly the National Staff Development Council, recently revised definition of professional development. The theoretical frameworks for this study lay in the recent works of Schlechty (2009) on transforming schools into learning organizations, and Senge (2006), who provided the essential principles of learning organizations.
Data were collected from 124 principals in 19 school systems in northeast Tennessee, using a 4-point Internet based survey created by Learning Forward to evaluate perceptions of how well professional development programs address the individual components of Learning Forward's revised definition of professional development.
Findings included no statistical significance between the size of the school and perception of how comprehensive, sustained, and intensive the professional development plan was or the method used to implement the professional development plan. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the perceptions of comprehensive, sustained, and intensive professional development and the method used to implement the professional development plan. Elementary school principals believed that their professional development plans were more comprehensive, sustained, and intensive than did their secondary school principal colleagues. However, there was no significant difference between their perceptions of methods for implementing professional development plans.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the perceptions of northeast Tennessee principals as they compared their system's professional development plans to Learning Forward's, formerly the National Staff Development Council, recently revised definition of professional development. The theoretical frameworks for this study lay in the recent works of Schlechty (2009) on transforming schools into learning organizations, and Senge (2006), who provided the essential principles of learning organizations.</p><p>Data were collected from 124 principals in 19 school systems in northeast Tennessee, using a 4-point Internet based survey created by Learning Forward to evaluate perceptions of how well professional development programs address the individual components of Learning Forward's revised definition of professional development.</p><p>Findings included no statistical significance between the size of the school and perception of how comprehensive, sustained, and intensive the professional development plan was or the method used to implement the professional development plan. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the perceptions of comprehensive, sustained, and intensive professional development and the method used to implement the professional development plan. Elementary school principals believed that their professional development plans were more comprehensive, sustained, and intensive than did their secondary school principal colleagues. However, there was no significant difference between their perceptions of methods for implementing professional development plans.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Starnes, Scott A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"EdD (Doctor of Education)","degree_level":"Dissertation - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-17T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-08-17T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:14Z","subjects":["Keywords: Professional Development","Professional Learning","Principal","Education","Reform","Educational Sociology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Sociology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1333","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Starnes, Scott A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1990-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2011-08-17T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["EdD (Doctor of Education)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Keywords: Professional Development","Professional Learning","Principal","Education","Reform","Educational Sociology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Sociology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2524/viewcontent/StarnesS070811f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1333"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the perceptions of northeast Tennessee principals as they compared their system's professional development plans to Learning Forward's, formerly the National Staff Development Council, recently revised definition of professional development. The theoretical frameworks for this study lay in the recent works of Schlechty (2009) on transforming schools into learning organizations, and Senge (2006), who provided the essential principles of learning organizations.
Data were collected from 124 principals in 19 school systems in northeast Tennessee, using a 4-point Internet based survey created by Learning Forward to evaluate perceptions of how well professional development programs address the individual components of Learning Forward's revised definition of professional development.
Findings included no statistical significance between the size of the school and perception of how comprehensive, sustained, and intensive the professional development plan was or the method used to implement the professional development plan. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the perceptions of comprehensive, sustained, and intensive professional development and the method used to implement the professional development plan. Elementary school principals believed that their professional development plans were more comprehensive, sustained, and intensive than did their secondary school principal colleagues. However, there was no significant difference between their perceptions of methods for implementing professional development plans.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Professional Development for Teachers: Perceptions of Northeast Tennessee Principals."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Starnes, Scott A."],"dc:date.available":["1990-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2011-08-17T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the perceptions of northeast Tennessee principals as they compared their system's professional development plans to Learning Forward's, formerly the National Staff Development Council, recently revised definition of professional development. The theoretical frameworks for this study lay in the recent works of Schlechty (2009) on transforming schools into learning organizations, and Senge (2006), who provided the essential principles of learning organizations.
Data were collected from 124 principals in 19 school systems in northeast Tennessee, using a 4-point Internet based survey created by Learning Forward to evaluate perceptions of how well professional development programs address the individual components of Learning Forward's revised definition of professional development.
Findings included no statistical significance between the size of the school and perception of how comprehensive, sustained, and intensive the professional development plan was or the method used to implement the professional development plan. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the perceptions of comprehensive, sustained, and intensive professional development and the method used to implement the professional development plan. Elementary school principals believed that their professional development plans were more comprehensive, sustained, and intensive than did their secondary school principal colleagues. However, there was no significant difference between their perceptions of methods for implementing professional development plans.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2524/viewcontent/StarnesS070811f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1333"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["Keywords: Professional Development","Professional Learning","Principal","Education","Reform","Educational Sociology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Sociology"],"dc:title":["Professional Development for Teachers: Perceptions of Northeast Tennessee Principals."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["EdD (Doctor of Education)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:14Z"}