Evaluation of teacher professional development is premised on the view that effective
professional development will result in changes in teachers’ classroom practice and
ultimately in student achievement. In addition, it might be expected that changes would
occur in teachers’ attitudes about the reform and their level of preparedness to implement
it. For example, Supovitz, Mayer and Kahle (2000) found that teachers who participated in
the Ohio Statewide Systemic Initiative in science and mathematics and who participated
in a minimum of 160 hours of inquiry-based professional development exhibited changed
attitudes towards inquiry-based teaching, were better prepared to implement it, and
showed greater use of such strategies in their classrooms. In the present study, the focus of
our evaluation was on the attitudes and perceived levels of preparedness of the teachers
who participated in the STEM problem-based activities, and this focus is reflected in the
research questions that guided the evaluation of the professional development program.