This qualitative, interview-based study examined the experiences of 14 teachers with their professional development. The research was conducted to understand teacher perspective of professional development. Many billions of federal dollars have been spent on teacher professional development, and there has been neither a dramatic increase in quality teachers nor a closed gap of the inequities in education. Instead, we have many overworked and frustrated teachers. Teacher quality has been shown to be the single most important quality in student learning, and professional development has been shown to be capable of improving teacher quality. The guiding research question for this study was, 'What is the lived experience of teachers with professional development?' For its ability to simultaneously consider numerous perspectives at one time, Cultural Historical Activity Theory was employed. The findings offered evidence that teachers continue to receive poor professional development. Teacher learning does not appear to be valued enough and it is at the mercy of school leadership, which can change without notice. Another finding was that teachers recognize and appreciate effective professional development. The views of the teachers in this study about quality professional development coincided with existing literature. The researcher recommends (1) educating policymakers, districts, schools, and the public about the value of teacher intellectuality, (2) guiding teacher leaders in the process of quality adult learning, (3) minimizing changes in school leadership, (4) selecting school leadership judiciously, and (5) prioritizing urban schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]