scholarly journals How middle school special and general educators make sense of and respond to changes in teacher evaluation policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Alisha M. B. Braun ◽  
Peter Youngs
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Student Growth ◽  
General Educators ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Sensemaking Theory ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Evaluation Policies

In this multiple case study, we apply sensemaking theory to examine and compare how middle school special and general educators perceive and respond to teacher evaluation reform, including formal classroom observations, informal walkthroughs, and student growth measures. Our findings reveal that special educators experience conflict between the policy’s main elements and their understandings of how to effectively teach students with disabilities. Furthermore, special and general educators held contrasting beliefs regarding the appropriateness of evaluation. Our findings illustrate the importance of acknowledging differences in special and general educators’ roles and responsibilities and encourage policymakers to reconsider uniform teacher evaluation policies. 

Leaders’ Negotiation of Teacher Evaluation Policy in Immigrant-Serving Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 089590482110156
Author(s):  
Reva Jaffe-Walter ◽  
Adriana Villavicencio
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Evaluation Policies

This paper examines how school leaders working within schools serving immigrant English Learners negotiate teacher evaluation policies, including how they influence compliance with mandated policies, communicate those policies to teachers, and guide implementation within their professional communities. We explore how a leader in a school with positive outcomes negotiates external policies to support authentic professional growth and maximize learning opportunities for immigrant ELs. In addition, we draw on data from a comparison school that also serves a high proportion of ELs, but where policies have been enacted in ways that focus on compliance, increase anxiety, and add little value to EL students. In doing so, we show how leaders can mitigate the unintended consequences of mandated policies by addressing teachers’ uncertainty and anxieties, while reaffirming humanizing institutional practices that honor the local knowledge of teachers and deepen teachers’ collective responsibility for immigrant youth.

Shared leadership: A comparative case study of two first year US principals’ socialization around teacher evaluation policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B Reid
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Elementary School Principals ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Evaluation Policies

New career principals are tasked with many sensemaking opportunities and often rely on their peers to assist with these sensemaking processes, engaging in a form of newcomer socialization. This study investigates how two first year elementary school principals in the US state of Michigan become socialized to their new roles as school leaders by examining how these individuals make sense of new teacher evaluation policies and systems. Findings show these principals relied on their social networks to make sense of the teacher evaluation process. These principals did so in an effort to establish positive and trusting relationships with their colleagues and in an effort to make up for a lack of initial training with these systems. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

General Educators' Attitudes Toward Students with Mild Disabilities and Their Use of Instructional Strategies

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie U. deBettencourt
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
General Educators ◽  
School Level ◽  
Mild Disabilities ◽  
Attitudes Toward Students ◽  
Education Courses ◽  
Large Repertoire

In today's schools the demands of general educators to meet the diverse needs of their students have greatly increased. General educators need to have an increasingly large repertoire of instructional strategies to effectively meet their students' needs. In this study the frequency of several instructional strategies used by general educators at the middle school level (Grades 6, 7, and 8) was investigated. The frequency of the use of these instructional strategies by middle school teachers was compared to the amount of time they spent collaborating with special educators and also to the number of courses taken related to specialized techniques. This study also examined the attitudes general educators have toward the inclusion of students with mild disabilities. Findings indicated that the number of instructional strategies general educators use increases with the number of special education courses taken and the number of hours spent with special educators. In addition, some general educators may not have a positive attitude toward including students with disabilities in their classrooms. Discussion of these findings and implications for training are provided.

Investing in Development: Six High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools Implement the Massachusetts Teacher Evaluation Policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie K. Reinhorn ◽  
Susan Moore Johnson ◽  
Nicole S. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
High Poverty Schools ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Sensemaking Theory ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Summative Ratings

We studied how six high-performing, high-poverty schools in one large Massachusetts city implemented the state’s new teacher evaluation policy. The sample includes traditional, turnaround, restart, and charter schools, each of which had received the state’s highest accountability rating. We sought to learn how these successful schools approached teacher evaluation, including classroom observations, feedback, and summative ratings. We interviewed 142 teachers and administrators and analyzed data using sensemaking theory, which considers how individuals’ knowledge and beliefs, the context in which they work, and the policy stimuli they encounter affect implementation. All schools prioritized the goal of developing their teachers over holding them accountable. The spillover effects of additional policies affected how these schools approached implementation.

scholarly journals "It's Not a Gotcha": Interpreting Teacher Evaluation Policy in Rural School District

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane F. Gilles
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
School Districts ◽  
State Level ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Rural School Districts ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Evaluation Policies

This multi-case study explored how local policy actors in rural school districts interpreted new teacher evaluation policies and how state-level policy actors influenced local policy responses. In the first phase of the study, teachers and administrators in four rural school districts in two U.S. states were interviewed about new state teacher evaluation policies and their own local efforts to meet policy demands, while the study’s second phase investigated the work of state-level policy actors. Shedding light on the realities of tackling reform mandates in rural schools, the study finds that teacher evaluation policy efforts are challenged by the tension between the formative and summative purposes of teacher evaluation, that teacher evaluation policies allowing local control in system design require a significant commitment at the local level, that local actors rely on and value the work of policy intermediaries, and that interpreting teacher evaluation policy and planning for implementation can be particularly challenging in small rural school districts.

scholarly journals Principal sensemaking and special education discipline : a multiple case study of secondary building-level administrators

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Laura Gavornik Browning
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Sensemaking Theory ◽  
Document Collection ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Building Level

This multiple case study -- utilizing an application of educational sensemaking theory -- aimed to examine how building-level administrators made sense of disciplining students with disabilities. This study collected data from seven building-level administrators over four secondary schools within one school district. A three-part, in-depth interview protocol was undertaken with each administrator in addition to document collection and analysis. The findings suggested that the building-level administrators were constrained more heavily by certain aspects of sensemaking. Specifically, they (1) did not have the background knowledge/training in special education to draw from, (2) had previous experiences that reminded them of worst-case occurrences, (3) were given high amounts of autonomy in decision making with very few opportunities to increase knowledge outside of own initiative, and (4) relied on relationships with teachers to help shape their actions. These findings uncovered gaps in how administrators ultimately perceived their roles as leaders of special education and how that impacted their sensemaking when disciplining a student with disabilities. Finally, these findings suggest that districts create practices that identify and fill administrator knowledge gaps, that principal leadership preparation programs concentrate on more special education content, and that awareness be raised that building-level leaders are leaders of special education.

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