Your search found 36 results.

Descriptors:
Social Justice; Teaching (Occupation); Figurative Language; Accountability; Educational Opportunities; Public Policy; Minority Group Teachers; Beginning Teachers; Scores; Teachers

Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to examine how and to what extent schools' responses to accountability policies in the United States influence the ability of new teachers of color to draw on their own and their students' cultural resources to engage in culturally responsive teaching. A 5-year study of 17 new teachers of color reveals that these teachers identified three principal tensions which correspond to the three dimensions of culturally responsive teaching: (a) cultural and linguistic relevance versus standardization, (b) community of learners versus teacher transmission, and (c) social justice versus enhanced test scores. The teachers also described two mechanisms by which accountability-based programs and policies were enforced: fear of monitoring and internalizing the link between testing and educational opportunity. We applied the metaphor of "double bind" to explain the tensions and enforcement mechanisms encountered by these teachers. The "double bind" forced the new teachers of color to enact contradictory systemic demands promoted by government policy and the teaching profession and exacted an individual toll. We conclude with implications for policy, practice, and research. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Urban Schools; Minority Group Teachers; Beginning Teachers; Urban Teaching; Role Models; Change Agents; Culturally Relevant Education; Educational Environment; Educational Change

Abstract:
This book examines both the promise and complexity of diversifying today's teaching profession. Drawing from a 5-year study of 21 new teachers of color working in urban, hard-to-staff schools, this book uncovers a systemic paradox that the teachers confront. They are committed to improving educational opportunities for students of color by acting as role models, culturally/linguistically responsive teachers, and change agents. The teaching profession encouraged such commitments and some teachers acted with support from individual, organizational, and community-based sponsors. However, many of these new teachers work in schools that are culturally subtractive and have restrictive accountability policies that challenge their ability to perform cultural/professional roles to which they are committed. Many teachers internalize the contradiction, resulting in their becoming changed agents within the educational system they sought to change. This book on educational diversity is essential reading for educators, leaders, and policymakers. This book features: (1) Richly textured vignettes of new teachers of color committed to serving culturally and linguistically diverse youth in urban schools; (2) Descriptions of school conditions that both support and inhibit new teachers of color in their attempt to enact cultural/professional roles; and (3) Analyses of culturally subtractive schooling and a systemic double-bind experienced by new teachers with implications for practice, policy, and research. [Foreword by Ana Maria Villegas.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Urban Schools; Diversity (Faculty); Teacher Persistence; Student Diversity; Minority Group Teachers; Labor Turnover; Beginning Teachers; School Policy; Teaching Conditions; At Risk Students; Disadvantaged Youth; Teacher Competencies; Teacher Qualifications; Teacher Supply and Demand; Literature Reviews; Student Characteristics; Institutional Characteristics; Teacher Background; Educational Environment; Human Capital; Social Capital; Educational Finance; Power Structure

Abstract:
Given calls to diversify the teaching workforce, this review examines research on retention and turnover of teachers of color, focusing on new teachers because they leave at disproportionately high rates. Reviewing 70 studies, the authors found that (a) recent national studies identify turnover rates for teachers of color are now higher than those for White teachers; (b) policy-amenable school-level conditions related to financial, human, social, and cultural capital can affect retention; (c) teachers of color are more likely than Whites to work and remain in "hard-to-staff" urban schools with high proportions of students from low-income and nondominant racial and cultural communities; and (d) factors affecting the retention of teachers of color can contribute to staffing urban schools with quality teachers, including teachers' humanistic commitments, innovative approaches in the professional preparation of teachers of color, and the presence of multicultural capital in schools. (Contains 5 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Science Teaching Centers; Science Education; Educational Change; Educational History; Educational Innovation; Institutional Administration; Organizational Theories; Influences; Government (Administrative Body); Public Education; Mass Media Effects; Museums; Scientists; Administrators; Adjustment (to Environment)

Abstract:
This study examines the historical conditions that fostered significant reform in science education. To understand these conditions, we employ a framework drawn from the new institutionalism in organization theory to study the founding and early development of the Exploratorium--a prominent science center that greatly impacted the field of science education. We examine how the Exploratorium employed institutional resources that were available in its environment to develop a new type of organization: an interactive science center. Our findings reveal that the Exploratorium was shaped by the state, which includes all levels of government; the mass media; and the professions, including science, education, and museums. In addition, we explore the pivotal role an individual, Frank Oppenheimer, played in leveraging the institutional environment in which an organization was developing. Our findings suggest that (a) reform in science education may be more profoundly advanced by the development of a new type of organization than by "tinkering" with an existing type of organization such as schools, and (b) that interactive science centers should exercise caution in navigating the changing seas of science education by maintaining their core mission and collaborating with new types of organizations that arise in response to the changing environment. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Constructivism (Learning); Organizational Theories; Research Methodology; Organizations (Groups); Researchers; Social Environment; Models

Abstract:
This article is intended to spark a discussion between two research communities--scholars who study learning and scholars who study educational organizations. A secondary purpose is to encourage researchers to look beyond schools to examine learning in other types of educational organizations. The authors outline a framework to guide research on the relationship between learning and the social contexts afforded by formal organizations. The framework combines elements of cultural historical activity theory, a sociocultural theory of learning, and institutional theory, which is a constructivist theory of organization. The authors employ preliminary findings from research and secondary historical accounts to illustrate the potential of the framework for guiding research that ties learning to contexts in formal organizations. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Faculty Mobility; Professional Isolation; Literacy; Educational Change; Resistance to Change; Beginning Teachers; Educational Policy; Case Studies; Creativity; Ethics

Abstract:
In this article, Betty Achinstein and Rodney Ogawa examine the experiences of two new teachers who resisted mandated "fidelity" to Open Court literacy instruction in California. These two case studies challenge the portrayal of teacher resistance as driven by psychological deficiency and propose instead that teachers engage in "principled resistance" informed by professional principles. They document that within prescriptive instructional programs and control-oriented educational policies, teachers have a limited ability to implement professional principles, including diversified instruction, high expectations, and creativity. In this environment, teachers who resist experience professional isolation and schools experience teacher attrition. Through these two cases, Achinstein and Ogawa express concern about the negative impact of educational reforms that are guided by technical and moralistic control. (Contains 4 endnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Educational Research; Context Effect; Business; Educational Policy; Contract Training; School Business Relationship; Corporate Support; Partnerships in Education; Private Financial Support; Organizational Climate; Social Theories; Outcomes of Education; Competition; School Funds; Resource Allocation

Abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the relationship between business and education and thereby offer a research agenda for examining the influence of business on education. Educational research has given relatively limited attention to the impact of business on education. Design/methodology/approach: This paper describes a theoretical framework drawn from organization theory that identifies five types of influence of business on education. The emerging literature on business-school relations is accessed not to present a comprehensive review of research on the impact of business on education, but rather to identify issues regarding the impact of business on education that bear the scrutiny of researchers and educational and business leaders and policy makers. Findings: The types of influence include business consuming the outputs of schools, supplying inputs to schools, competing with public schools for students and state funding, shaping educational policy at various levels, and distributing wealth in ways that indirectly affects education. Originality/value: This paper identifies an issue that requires further research and policy attention and offers a conceptual framework and research agenda. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Teacher Characteristics; Teacher Recruitment; Socialization; Academic Achievement; Teacher Attitudes; Educational Policy; Educational Change; Beginning Teachers; Inservice Teacher Education; Accountability

Abstract:
This article explores the possibility that state educational policies, involving accountability and instructional reform, and local district and school conditions interact with teachers' personal and professional backgrounds to shape two tracks of new teachers that reinforce existing educational inequities. The present 2-year study incorporated mixed methods and a multilevel design that included state policy, local conditions, and teachers' beliefs and practices, highlighting two cases from a larger database. The authors report how differences in district capital shape responses to state policy, influence teacher recruitment, interact with teacher characteristics, and create learning opportunities for new teachers that suggest the creation of two classes of teachers for two classes of students. While previous researchers have identified student tracking as reproducing inequities, this article examines the largely unexplored terrain of new teacher tracking: the sorting and socialization of novices. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Ability; Educational Opportunities; Academic Achievement; State Standards; Educational Change; Teaching Methods; School Districts

Abstract:
In response to the establishment of standards by states and professional organizations, many local school districts have adopted a standards-based curriculum. The expressed purpose of standards is to improve student academic performance by providing teachers with a common sequence of targets at which to aim instruction. In this study, we examine unintended consequences of a school district's standards-based reform effort. Though the district intended to enhance student achievement and equalize educational opportunities for students, it instead caused the evolution of what can be called standards gaps, which resulted in differentiated curriculum and instruction along lines of students' academic ability. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Curriculum; Educational Change; Educational Philosophy; Elementary Secondary Education; Program Implementation; School Districts; Standards

Abstract:
Examined one school district's efforts to develop and implement a standards-based curriculum using rational and institutional perspectives. Findings show that the district took an expressly rationalistic approach in using standards, but lacking a clear instructional philosophy, the district also took an institutional approach. (SLD)

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