Questioning teacher goals in professional development: do goals really make a difference?

This study reports empirical evidence on a common principle of effective professional development dealing with teachers’ involvement in their own learning. The data used were collected during a five-day mathematics institute involving 51 teachers in grades three through eight. Questions of how participants’ goals influence their satisfaction, perceptions, and learning were examined. Surprisingly, the alignment of the participants’ goals with the institute’s goals did not effect satisfaction, perceptions, or learning.