Secondary mathematics teacher inservice education: A profile of activities among selected secondary schools of Pennsylvania

This study investigated the differences in policies and practices of in-service activities of secondary mathematics teachers at certain higher achieving public schools as compared to certain lower achieving public schools of Pennsylvania.;Specifically, the study sought to answer three queries posed as research questions. (1) What differences exist between the secondary teachers of mathematics who are employed at selected high mathematics-achieving and low mathematics-achieving schools in Pennsylvania with respect to their practices of in-service education? (2) How do the secondary mathematics teachers in the selected high mathematics-achieving and low mathematics-achieving schools compare to each other with respect to teaching experience and academic preparation? (3) What differences exist between the secondary mathematics teachers in the selected high mathematics-achieving and low mathematics-achieving schools with respect to their participation in in-service education programs?;Teacher questionnaires were sent to randomly selected public secondary schools; half of the schools were high mathematics achieving and half were low mathematics achieving.;Secondary mathematics teachers in the high achieving schools attended on the average more mandatory in-service activities.;Of those activities which included no remuneration, the teachers in the high achieving schools attended on the average more such activities than their counterpart in the low achieving schools.;The teachers in the high achieving schools attended on the average more school sponsored activities that were conducted by a state agency.;Teachers in the high achieving schools had the greatest mean number of activities in attending in-service activities with general content of mathematics.;The mathematics teachers from the high achieving schools had more average years of both local and overall teaching experience.;Secondary mathematics teachers from the high achieving schools participated on the average in more in-service activities than their counterparts in the lower achieving schools.;As measured by this study, the higher achieving schools had secondary mathematics teachers whose average total time in attendance at in-service education activities was greater than the average total time of their counterpart at the low achieving schools.;The results of this study could be put into practice in hiring secondary mathematics teachers, in planning of secondary mathematics in-service programs and in some policies relating to mathematics in-service education.