Limitations of the Study
The research focused on one specific school system, with an extreme emphasis on
a Southwestern Pennsylvania public high school. Therefore, the study could be hindered
by the limited scope of the participants. Every state has various grants and legislative
mandates that drive school vision and reform initiatives. Therefore, Pennsylvania’s
emphasis on 21 st century skills and learning may be a factor in the study’s findings.
Because 21 st century educational programs require the dedication of monetary resources,
the study is easily limited if the school chosen for the case study is financially stretched
with other initiatives or has an abundant budget to finance educational programs. Further,
the study asked educational leaders and teachers about their truthful perceptions
regarding 21 st century learning. Educators merely self-reporting is not an accurate method
of evidence gathering due to administrators or teachers embellishing their perceptions of
topics for the sake of their status or position or to provide what the researcher expects
(Cook and Campbell, 1979; Judson, 2006). Therefore, interviews were not the only
means of acquiring information for the qualitative study. Multiple formal classroom
observations were conducted to elicit a broader understanding.
Another limitation regarding the data collection was with the three teacher
participants. Firstly, they varied in experience levels; Teacher 1 (T1) has been teaching
science at the high school for 14 years, Teacher 2 (T2) has been teaching social studies at
the high school for 7 years and Teacher 3 (T3) has been teaching mathematics at the high
school for three years. With varied levels of experience, their responses and teaching
capabilities may be at different levels of performance with the school’s expectations and
vision. Secondly, all of the teacher participants attest that their primary professional