Within the past decade, the North Dakota legislature and state government officials have taken steps to ensure equity in education between urban and rural schools, addressing funding issues and the implementation of regional education associations. This research investigated those efforts by examining professional development as one indicator of equity. This research focused on three research questions: 1. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in urban schools in North Dakota? 2. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in rural schools in North Dakota? 3. What issues of equity exist as they relate to professional development in urban and rural schools? Using a phenomenological research design, four secondary urban teachers and four secondary rural teachers were interviewed. The faculty members of both the urban and the rural schools participated in a Likert-style survey. The qualitative and the quantitative data together indicated that little difference existed between the perceptions of the urban teachers and the perceptions of the rural teachers as they pertain to professional development in their schools. Using a t-test for independent samples, no statistically significant differences existed between the responses of the urban teachers and the responses of the rural teachers regarding their perceptions of the provided professional development. Recommendations for school administrators and teachers are included, as well as discussion of the Experiential Learning theoretical framework.
","abstract_html":"<p>Within the past decade, the North Dakota legislature and state government officials have taken steps to ensure equity in education between urban and rural schools, addressing funding issues and the implementation of regional education associations. This research investigated those efforts by examining professional development as one indicator of equity. This research focused on three research questions: 1. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in urban schools in North Dakota? 2. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in rural schools in North Dakota? 3. What issues of equity exist as they relate to professional development in urban and rural schools? Using a phenomenological research design, four secondary urban teachers and four secondary rural teachers were interviewed. The faculty members of both the urban and the rural schools participated in a Likert-style survey. The qualitative and the quantitative data together indicated that little difference existed between the perceptions of the urban teachers and the perceptions of the rural teachers as they pertain to professional development in their schools. Using a t-test for independent samples, no statistically significant differences existed between the responses of the urban teachers and the responses of the rural teachers regarding their perceptions of the provided professional development. Recommendations for school administrators and teachers are included, as well as discussion of the Experiential Learning theoretical framework.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kana, Thomas Erik"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Teaching & Learning","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bonni Gourneau"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:26:30Z","subjects":["inservice, professional development, professional learning communities, rural, teacher perceptions, urban"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.und.edu/theses/1553","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bonni Gourneau"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kana, Thomas Erik"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teaching & Learning"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["inservice, professional development, professional learning communities, rural, teacher perceptions, urban"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.und.edu/theses/1553"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Within the past decade, the North Dakota legislature and state government officials have taken steps to ensure equity in education between urban and rural schools, addressing funding issues and the implementation of regional education associations. This research investigated those efforts by examining professional development as one indicator of equity. This research focused on three research questions: 1. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in urban schools in North Dakota? 2. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in rural schools in North Dakota? 3. What issues of equity exist as they relate to professional development in urban and rural schools? Using a phenomenological research design, four secondary urban teachers and four secondary rural teachers were interviewed. The faculty members of both the urban and the rural schools participated in a Likert-style survey. The qualitative and the quantitative data together indicated that little difference existed between the perceptions of the urban teachers and the perceptions of the rural teachers as they pertain to professional development in their schools. Using a t-test for independent samples, no statistically significant differences existed between the responses of the urban teachers and the responses of the rural teachers regarding their perceptions of the provided professional development. Recommendations for school administrators and teachers are included, as well as discussion of the Experiential Learning theoretical framework.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Development In Urban And Rural Schools In North Dakota"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bonni Gourneau"],"dc:creator":["Kana, Thomas Erik"],"dc:description.abstract":["Within the past decade, the North Dakota legislature and state government officials have taken steps to ensure equity in education between urban and rural schools, addressing funding issues and the implementation of regional education associations. This research investigated those efforts by examining professional development as one indicator of equity. This research focused on three research questions: 1. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in urban schools in North Dakota? 2. What are the teachers' perceptions of professional development in rural schools in North Dakota? 3. What issues of equity exist as they relate to professional development in urban and rural schools? Using a phenomenological research design, four secondary urban teachers and four secondary rural teachers were interviewed. The faculty members of both the urban and the rural schools participated in a Likert-style survey. The qualitative and the quantitative data together indicated that little difference existed between the perceptions of the urban teachers and the perceptions of the rural teachers as they pertain to professional development in their schools. Using a t-test for independent samples, no statistically significant differences existed between the responses of the urban teachers and the responses of the rural teachers regarding their perceptions of the provided professional development. Recommendations for school administrators and teachers are included, as well as discussion of the Experiential Learning theoretical framework.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.und.edu/theses/1553"],"dc:subject":["inservice, professional development, professional learning communities, rural, teacher perceptions, urban"],"dc:title":["Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Development In Urban And Rural Schools In North Dakota"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Teaching & Learning"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:26:30Z"}