Summer Treatment Program Professional Development: Impact of a Professional Learning Community

Abstract

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience significantly elevated rates of peer rejection and social difficulty compared to typically developing peers, yet the majority of affected youth receive no behavioral treatment, a gap compounded by access barriers that disproportionately burden marginalized families. Summer Treatment Programs (STPs) represent one of the most comprehensive evidence-based behavioral interventions for children with ADHD and related neurodevelopmental disorders, producing reliable gains in prosocial behavior, peer relationships, and intervention adherence. However, despite staff serving as the primary mechanism through which STP outcomes are delivered, no studies to date have systematically examined how structured in-program professional development influences staff implementation quality or youth social outcomes. The present research examined the impact of integrating a structured Professional Learning Community (PLC) into an STP as an in-program professional development practice, using a convergent mixed methods design to evaluate effects on staff perceptions, staff outcomes, and youth social experiences. Quantitative data were collected via staff surveys at three timepoints, structured staff observations, and weekly student surveys assessing social functioning. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured post-program interviews with a stratified random sample of 12 staff members. Desimone's Core Conceptual Framework guided both the PLC design and the outcome measurement framework. Findings indicated that PLC participation was associated with significant growth in staff knowledge and skills, application of learned skills, and observed implementation fidelity, while professional attitudes remained high and stable, with qualitative data suggesting the PLC sustained and deepened pre-existing professional dispositions rather than transforming them. PLC group membership emerged as the most consequential moderator of outcomes, and observed implementation fidelity, not staff self-report, was the most proximal cross-level link between staff professional learning and student social outcomes, with mutual peer relationships increasing across all groups and belongingness trajectories diverging meaningfully by group. Implications for PLC design, STP professional development practice, and future research are discussed.