Case Study of Professional Development Expenditures at a Restructured High School

Abstract

This article is an analysis of professional development spending in a recently restructured urban high school. This study describes the school's restructuring effort, the ways in which professional development in the school supports the effort, and the ways in which the school reallocated resources to create funds for professional development spending. We then apply the framework of professional development costs proposed by Odden, Archibald, Fermanich and Gallagher (forthcoming) to the professional development expenditures in the school. Information regarding professional development expenditures was obtained from budget and planning documents as well as interviews with school and district personnel. These data revealed that teachers in this school on average received $9,711 of professional development resources with 98% of the spending on teacher time and training or coaching.