Title of the Study: Quantitative Study of Teacher Perceptions of Professional Learning

Communities' Context, Process, and Content (By Dariiel R. Johnson)

Brief Summary of the Study:

The purpose of this study was to research the influences of Professional Learning

Communities (PLC) as perceived by New Jersey State certified educators in three specific

areas: content, process, and context of the reform's implementation. This study used the

Standards Inventory Assessment (SAI) to evaluate the teacher perceptions as reported

anonymously through the survey instrument. The need for this specific research is evident

in the current limitation of quantitative data regarding the PLC model that is being

increasingly advocated for at the government, state, and district level. Accordingly, this

study sought to provide data to districts that were looking to implement the PLC model

regarding its effectiveness as perceived by the educators working within the model.

Methodology:

Research Design

This research was conducted utilizing a survey design. This was accomplished through the use

of a descriptive rating, Likert-type survey provided by the NSDC and EIRC, the Standards

Inventory Assessment (SAI), which was used to collect quantitative data from educators in 10

New Jersey schools. This methodology allowed for a statistical analysis of the data. The SAI also

proved to be an efficient means of gathering data without introducing threats to reliability that can

occur with other collection means The researcher utilized a survey design to collect the
quantitative data for this study.

Participants:
School-level staff was then asked to complete the SAI survey instrument. A school-level team of

4 to 5 people, including a school-level administrator, would a was asked to answer the survey.

Research Instrument:

The survey consisted of 60 multiple choice questions. The first part of the survey dealt with

teacher demographics consisted of six questions. The remaining 54 questions focused on the

standards, randomly ordered but falling under three main groupings: context, process, and

content. Respondents answered these questions using the following 5-point scale: never, seldom,

sometimes, frequently and always.

Data Collection:

The data collection came from the SAI survey. Participants in the study included the staff
members of 10 New Jersey schools. Participants were notified of the survey dates via e-mail, and

each staff member was provided with a key to sign in to the SAI in order to keep all responses

anonymous and confidential. survey results were then collected by the NSDC, and the researcher
was given a separate key to access collected data from each survey period.

Reference:

Johnson,D.,(2011). Quantitative Study of Teacher Perceptions of Professional Learning

Communities' Context, Process, and Content