Ending Isolation: The Payoff of Teacher Teams in Successful High-Poverty Urban Schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Moore Johnson ◽  
Stefanie Reinhorn ◽  
Nicole Simon
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Urban Schools ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Group Behavior ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Wide Range

Background/Context Many urban schools today look to instructional teams as a means to decrease professional isolation, promote teachers’ ongoing development, and substantially reduce well-documented variation in teachers’ effectiveness across classrooms. Recent research finds that teams can contribute to teachers’ development and increased student achievement. However, research also suggests that teams often fail and that most schools are not organized to ensure their success. Therefore, it is important to learn more about how teams function in successful schools, how teachers experience them, and what factors contribute to their success. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Data for this article were drawn from a comparative case study focusing on the human-capital practices in six successful high-poverty, high-minority schools (traditional, turnaround, restart, and charter), all located in one Massachusetts city. Each school was affected by a distinct set of state and local policies. Here, we focus on the schools’ approaches to professional learning and collaboration among teachers. Did they rely on teams, and, if so, what purposes did the teams serve, and how were they organized? How did teachers assess their experience with teams? What role did administrators play? Were there notable school-to-school differences in how these teams were organized and managed? Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis For this qualitative, comparative case study, we conducted semistructured interviews with 142 teachers, administrators, and other staff in six elementary and middle schools. Interview protocols encouraged participants to discuss their school's approach to teachers’ professional learning and work with colleagues. During school visits, we also observed a wide range of day-to-day practices and collected documents describing school policies and practices. We coded our data with both emic and etic topical codes and used various matrices to analyze responses within and across the sites. Conclusions/Recommendations Five schools relied on teams as a central mechanism for school improvement, dedicating substantial blocks of time each week to teachers’ meetings. Teams focused on matters of content (curriculum, lesson plans, and student achievement) and the student cohort (individual progress, group behavior, and organizational culture). Teachers valued their work on teams, saying that it supported their instruction and contributed to their school's success by creating coherence across classrooms and shared responsibility for students. Factors that supported teams included having a worthy purpose in support of the school's mission; sufficient, regular time for meetings; engaged support by administrators; and facilitation by trained teacher-leaders.

scholarly journals Using citizen science data to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals: a bottom-up analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ballerini ◽  
Sylvia I. Bergh
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Science Data ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Development Goals

AbstractOfficial data are not sufficient for monitoring the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): they do not reach remote locations or marginalized populations and can be manipulated by governments. Citizen science data (CSD), defined as data that citizens voluntarily gather by employing a wide range of technologies and methodologies, could help to tackle these problems and ultimately improve SDG monitoring. However, the link between CSD and the SDGs is still understudied. This article aims to develop an empirical understanding of the CSD-SDG link by focusing on the perspective of projects which employ CSD. Specifically, the article presents primary and secondary qualitative data collected on 30 of these projects and an explorative comparative case study analysis. It finds that projects which use CSD recognize that the SDGs can provide a valuable framework and legitimacy, as well as attract funding, visibility, and partnerships. But, at the same time, the article reveals that these projects also encounter several barriers with respect to the SDGs: a widespread lack of knowledge of the goals, combined with frustration and political resistance towards the UN, may deter these projects from contributing their data to the SDG monitoring apparatus.

scholarly journals Leadership Styles of Principals and Teachers of Nigerian Unity Schools: Using School Environment as a Tool For School Achievement

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Khalil Yusuf Uthman ◽  
Yahya Bn Don ◽  
Abd Latif Kasim
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Environment ◽  
School Achievement ◽  
School Level ◽  
Learning Collaborative ◽  
The North ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Teachers And Students

Collaborative, non-traditional leadership practices have attracted little attention in research about sustainable school achievement in Nigerian unity schools.  The involvement of teachers in the administration of schools is well justified and arise from the need to boost school environment for the sake of attaining school achievement. The absence of teachers in the administration of unity schools impedes the proper attainment of school achievement. The purpose of this research is to reports on the outcomes of transformational leadership efforts in Nigerian unity schools aimed at enhancing the use of teachers in the administrative set-up.  This study was carried out in seven selected unity schools all located in the north-eastern part of Nigeria. The study used  Multifactor questionnaire 5x, School level environment questionnaire (SLEQ) and School Improvement questionnaire (SIQ) with 5 Likert-scale that involved the use of 800 questionnaires which were sent in which 790 were returned and 760 found valid for data analysis. Participants were drawn from a wide range of disciplines across the sampled schools. The establishment and operation of these school relied on a transformational leadership methodology by principals that facilitates acts of initiative, innovation, vision and courage through group interaction rather than through designated hierarchical roles. This research used the quantitative approach.  The study found out that transformational leadership approach is effective in overcoming problems associated with lack of involvement of teachers in the building of a fruitful environment capable of bringing a good school achievement through cultivating the habit of a transformational leader, the principals of unity schools enabled teachers and other stake holders to engage in peer-led professional learning, collaborative curriculum and pedagogical development, and to facilitate wider institutional change (school achievement). This paper demonstrates that the transformational leadership model for a high school achievement reported here is effective in building capacity for both teachers and students via involvement of teachers in building the environment. The model is flexible enough for a variety of institutional settings, and hence, recommends the use of teachers in secondary school’s administration.

scholarly journals Enabling Development and 'Transition' among Food-Supported Producers in Ethiopia: A Comparative Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Peter Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Instrumental Approaches

<p>Ethiopia is synonymous with protracted drought, natural resource degradation, and hunger and impoverished livelihoods among many millions of farm-based producers. Since 1971, the Government of Ethiopia and foreign donors have channelled food aid and administrative and extension support to relief and rehabilitation projects for improved natural resource management. One such intervention is MERET-PLUS (Managing Environmental Resources to Enable Transition to more sustainable livelihoods through Partnership and Land User Solidarity), a long-standing, watershed-based food-for-assets development project. In its latest form, MERET-PLUS like many similar 'new generation' food-funded natural resource management interventions has multiple positive impacts, both for targeted watershed areas, and for the inhabitants of these areas. In spite of this, successfully enabling 'transition' of participants from receiving food aid remains highly problematic. Transition has not received sufficient attention in programming or - until recently - in academic literature. Partly for this reason, such interventions often lack an agreed, coherent definition of transition, a strategy for achieving such transition, and a means of measuring progress toward transition. Recognising potential for transition to advance policy and practice for such projects, I critically evaluate transition as an inherent objective of the current phase of MERET-PLUS, through the positional lens of my internship with a major donor to the project, the World Food Programme (WFP). I use four case study woredas as talking points, and use quantitative and qualitative information gathered from extensive research from site- through to federallevel. I wish to answer two research questions about transition through this research. Firstly: to what extent has 'enabling transition' in MERET-PLUS been developed as a concept, in policy or strategy, and as an understood and measurable concept? And secondly: what place does transition have in the MERETPLUS project? In relation to the first question, this research presents four main findings. Firstly, formal strategy for transitioning MERET-PLUS beneficiaries from project support has been formed only after thirty years of continuous food support. In many ways, this reflects the legacy of continued difficulties in linking relief, rehabilitation and development - and of achieving real development and independent capacities to sustain this development - through food-supported programming. Secondly, there are currently diverse interests in transition across all levels of the MERET-PLUS project, which must be factored-in to any strategy for implementation. In sub-federal government offices for example, strategy for transition is formed by observing the particular contexts of particular successful sites within their area. By contrast, at federal level, in the WFP Country Office, strategy for transition tends to be formed as part of instrumental programming goals. Thirdly, two particular components of MERET-PLUS make it difficult to conceive of transition as inherent in programming, or as an instrument introduced from higher levels. First, the integrated nature of MERET-PLUS, with a wide range of activities for land and water-source rehabilitation and human livelihood improvement, makes it difficult to conceive of one, integrated strategy for transition. Second, the holistic, participatory approaches to targeting project assistance and planning project activities make instrumental approaches to transition inappropriate. 'Transition as inherent' and 'transition as instrumental' approaches represent unrealised potential for scalable improvements of project impacts, coupled with the challenge of building the kind of concerted confidence required among beneficiaries, planners, leaders and government agencies. Fourthly and finally, information from project beneficiaries, planning teams, and project managers at higher levels has highlighted the importance of asset-based measures of communities' and households' livelihoods in assessing readiness for transition. Communication and planning for transition with engaged beneficiaries remains an important challenge, and one which has not been sufficiently understood in the literature. The goal of 'enabling transition' in MERET-PLUS is as yet unrealised in practice and at scale. A number of factors indicate real potential for transition in case study areas, including income generation from collective farm-based activities, and more broadly, confidence and belief among beneficiaries in improving their livelihoods through available project activities. As a snapshot of potential to 'enable transition', this research contributes practice-based insights for progressively phasing out "outsiders" assistance to vulnerable communities.</p>

scholarly journals Teachers’ Beliefs about Poverty and the Impact on Learning Disabilities Identification in a Poor, Rural School District

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Chandler
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Rural School District ◽  
Discrepancy Model ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
The Impact

This qualitative case study examined a rural school district where many of the students live in poverty. The purpose of the study was to develop a deeper understanding of the learning disability (LD) identification process as implemented in a high-poverty rural setting. Analysis of the data revealed the prevalence of some stereotypical beliefs regarding poverty. In addition, the findings revealed use of a traditional, Intelligence Quotient (IQ)-Achievement discrepancy model rather than Response to Intervention (RTI). Furthermore, participants conveyed that their deliberations do not typically include the legally required consideration that other factors (such as poverty) may be the primary reason that the student is struggling. Recommendations include providing educational activities to challenge stereotypical beliefs about people living in poverty, considering socioeconomic reform in discussions about school improvement, supporting teachers in their efforts to meet the needs of all students in their classrooms, and implementing assessment methods designed to help students receive the assistance needed as early as possible.  

Establishing a Data Culture Using a Data-Driven Instructional System for School Improvement

2021 ◽  
pp. 647-661
Author(s):  
Julius N. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Instructional System ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Federal Mandates ◽  
Improve Student Achievement ◽  
Data Culture

School leaders are faced with enormous responsibilities in addressing student achievement as directed by district, state, and federal mandates. There is a need for school leaders to structure and implement how to acquire, analyze, and commit action from identified gaps in student learning using assessment data. A major part of the process is establishing how teachers use student data to improve teaching and learning opportunities. When discussing school improvement measures and initiatives, one commonly refers to observations, feedback, and professional learning communities as its core components. This chapter provides a framework using a data-driven instructional system (DDIS) as a model for school improvement in establishing a school data culture that can improve student achievement.

Joint Inquiry

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1698-1731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Leisy Stosich
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Work ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
Opportunities For Learning ◽  
Joint Examination ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Supporting Teachers

Recent research on the relationship between standards and teachers’ practice suggests that teachers are unlikely to make changes to practice without extensive opportunities for learning about standards with colleagues. This article extends this line of research, using a comparative case study of three high-poverty urban schools to examine the nature of teachers’ collaborative work around the Common Core State Standards and the conditions that support this work. It argues that collaborative practices that encourage joint examination of instruction and student learning against standards support teachers in noticing and attending to differences between their current practice and standards. In addition, it examines the role of teachers’ instructional knowledge and principals’ leadership in supporting teachers’ collaboration around standards.

scholarly journals “Doing” Sustainability Assessment in Different Consumption and Production Contexts—Lessons from Case Study Comparison

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7041
Author(s):  
Tobias Engelmann ◽  
Daniel Fischer ◽  
Marianne Lörchner ◽  
Jaya Bowry ◽  
Holger Rohn
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Sustainability Assessments

Sustainability as a guiding idea for societal and economic development causes a growing need for reliable sustainability assessments (SAs). In response, a plethora of increasingly sophisticated, standardizAed, and specialized approaches have emerged. However, little attention has been paid to how applications of SAs in different contexts navigate the challenges of selecting and customizing SA approaches for their research purposes. This paper provides an exploration of the context-specific conditions of SA through a case study of three research projects. Each case study explores the different approaches, methodologies, as well as difficulties and similarities that researchers face in “doing” SA based on the research question “What are common challenges that researchers are facing in using SA approaches?” Our case study comparison follows a most different approach for covering a wide range of SA applications and is structured along with three key challenges of doing SA: (i) Deliberation, learning and assessment; (ii) normative assessment principles; (iii) feasibility, especially regarding data quality/availability. Above all, the comparative case study underlines the role and importance of reflexivity and context: We argue that a more explicit and transparent discussion of these challenges could contribute to greater awareness, and thus, to improving the ability of researchers to transparently modify and customize generic SA methodologies to their research contexts. Our findings can help researchers to more critically appraise the differences between SA approaches, as well as their normative assumptions, and guide them to assemble their SA methodology in a reflexive and case-sensitive way.

scholarly journals Communities of Practice and the Mediation ofTeachers' Responses to Standards-based Reform

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrysan Gallucci
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
High Poverty Schools ◽  
Standards Based Reform ◽  
Sociocultural Approach

This paper evaluates the usefulness of a sociocultural approach for analyzing teachers’ responses to the professional learning demands of standards-based reform policies. A policy-oriented case study of the practice of six elementary teachers who worked in two high poverty schools in a demographically changing district in the state of Washington is summarized. Key findings of that study conclude that communities of teaching practice are sites for teacher learning and are mediators of teachers’ responses to standards-based reform. Characteristics of the communities of practice, including their relative strength and openness (to learning), influence the degree to which teachers work out negotiated and thoughtful responses to policy demands. The present paper discusses the efficacy of Wenger’s (1998) theory of learning for the study of policy to practice connections.

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