Comparison of professional development activities implemented by public and private school administrators in schools (Maltepe district example)

This research aims to explore the level of professional development activities implemented by the administrators of both public and private primary elementary schools. The research is a descriptive work based on scanning model, and in total 46 elementary schools administrators of whose 41 and 5 of them come from public and private schools respectively in Istanbul Maltepe District, constitute the universe of the study. All 5 public and 5 private elementary school administrators who were selected by using ?Layer Sampling Model? are included in the sample. The data that would be contributive to the study were collected through interviews. A semi-constructed questioner developed by the researcher was used as a data collecting tool. Experts contributed into the design of questioner that included 32 questions which were developed based on professional development literature. Of the data collected in schools through a semi-structured questioner, answers to the interval scaling questions were graded and transformed into a quantitative form and then they were resolved statistically. Both percentage (%) and arithmetical average (x) values were used during resolution. The data that were collected through interviews were resolved by employing a content analysis method. According to the findings of the research, private elementary school administrators take the issue of professional development activities more seriously, therefore, in private elementary schools there are more of those activities both in type and in numbers, than the public schools. In the research it is suggested that the administrators of public elementary schools should create more opportunities for professional career development in schools.