Date of Award

5-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts : Education Specialist

Department

Education

First Advisor

John Dougherty

Second Advisor

Larry Matthews

Third Advisor

Ken Johnson

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine and describe teacher empowerment at McCluer High School where whole-faculty study groups are being used for sustained professional development. Whole-faculty study groups were introduced to the McCluer faculty as a means for ongoing professional development within the structure of early release days. Teachers were asked to submit topics of interest to study during each school year. Group size ranged from 4 to 12 members. Groups were composed of members within the same academic discipline or from different academic disciplines. Teacher empowerment was measured by the School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES), which considers six dimensions of empowerment: decision-making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact. Teachers rated their overall sense of empowerment at the "agree" point of the 5-point rating scale. Four dimensions on which the teachers rated their empowerment between "agree" and "strongly agree" were status (4.35), impact (4.35), self-efficacy (4.32), and professional growth (4.28). The other two dimensions, decision-making (3.16) and autonomy (3 .55), fell between the "neutral" and "agree" points. The baseline data suggests that, overall, teachers perceive the following: they have status within their school; their school provides opportunities for them to grow professionally; they possess the skills and abilities needed to help students learn; and, they have a positive effect and meaningful influence on school life. For classroom teachers to have higher scores on the SPES, the amount of time designated for teacher collaboration needs to be increased and facilitation training needs to be provided.

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