For many professional educators, effective professional development must be at the center of any educational reform (Dilworth & Imig, 1995). Moreover, while many studies have provided documentation describing effective models of professional development, currently very few school districts are using these models. The purpose of this study was to uncover the barriers that special education directors would identify that would impede their implementation of the Wisconsin Personnel Development Model (WPDM), a research based effective professional development delivery model. The 5 special education directors that participated in this study were able to identify barriers that exist within the steps of the WPDM in addition to system barriers that would be present in implementing any effective professional development model. [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.]