Characteristics of Advanced Placement environmental science reading teacher participants and their perceptions of the reading as a professional development experience

Sixty percent of American high schools offer one or more Advanced Placement courses, and several thousand Advanced Placement teachers serve as Readers or graders of Advanced Placement exams each year. This study was conducted to determine the characteristics of teachers who choose to participate in Advanced Placement Environmental Science Readings and determine how these teachers view the Reading experience as a form of professional development.; This study was conducted with teacher participants at the June 2004 Advanced Placement Environmental Science Reading. Sixty of the 114 teacher participants completed a survey regarding their education background, age, experience level, educational philosophy, involvement in professional development opportunities, perceptions of the professional benefits of the Reading, and the influence of the Reading experience on their pedagogical practices.; Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with a subset of 18 teacher participants to determine their perceptions regarding the professional benefits of the Reading experience, its potential to serve as a professional development activity, and perceived changes in their pedagogical practices resulting from participation in the Reading process.; Results indicate that APES Reading teacher participants are experienced, effective teachers from many parts of the country. These teachers participate in ongoing professional development activities, can delineate components of effective professional development, strongly believe that effective professional development occurs at the APES Reading, and report that their pedagogical practice has improved as a result of participation in the APES Reading. Considering the crucial role teachers play in the educational process, it is important to pursue this additional avenue of professional development in order to further improve APES teacher effectiveness.