The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of middle school math teachers, as captured by survey ratings, of the frequency and quality of professional development programs. The study further examined the relationship of these perceptions to the degree to which professional development increased self-efficacy and social connections. Rural schools in North Carolina serve a significant proportion of public-school students and face unique challenges that require flexible policy support from the North Carolina General Assembly and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to overcome geographic challenges and socioeconomic restraints caused by generational poverty. Providing high quality professional learning opportunities for mathematics educators may positively impact teacher retention and quality, thereby enhancing student learning. The study took place in southeastern North Carolina within seven of the region's twelve school districts. Middle school mathematics teachers were emailed an electronic survey invitation over a three-week period of data collection. Responses were completely voluntary and after incomplete responses were removed, 48 responses were analyzed to produce study results. The study addressed six research questions. Each research question was answered with results from descriptive and inferential statistics as appropriate for the scope of that question. The quantitative analyses indicated that while there is not a statistically significant relationship between quality and frequency of professional learning between urban and rural school districts, there are several factors that do have a statistically significant relationship with the quality rankings of professional learning. Self-regulation, self-efficacy, online networks, and community connections all showed a moderate positive relationship with the rating of high-quality professional learning (p<0.05). In terms of frequency and quality of professional learning, participants in this study reported more professional learning opportunities in rural districts, but the overall quality of sessions was rated lower in rural districts than in urban districts, albeit this difference was not statistically significant. Findings for each research question were discussed and implications for policy, practice, and future research, were noted. Professional learning provides an opportunity for enrichment of the current teacher workforce as a strategy to increase student achievement in mathematics. However, that success is dependent on support from state policymakers through the provision of funding and on district staff through oversight of training. This study suggests that district staff should collect regular perception data from educators and plan professional learning for mathematics that is based on sound pedagogical practices that increase self-efficacy, self-regulation, community connections, and utilize online networks. Future research should continue to study the needs of rural school districts and further study the role of online networks within professional learning for mathematics educators as part of an ongoing school reform effort. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]