Professional evolution stories as told by secondary teachers while immersed in professional learning community collaboration

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on April 30, 2014).The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.VitaThe intent of this single bounded case study, conducted at a large Midwestern high school, was to begin to fill the knowledge gap by providing insight on the evolutionary process of teacher transformation when teachers are immersed in collaboration in a PLC setting. Using a stratified chart to purposefully select 23 participants, my study sought to understand how knowledge was generated and shared. My research did not follow a step by step process, but instead involved seeking meaning and developing interpretive explanations through a double loop feedback process. Four years of archival data were triangulated with 5 collaborative team observations and 17 face-to-face interviews. Specifically, this study sought to discover how teachers evolve. Three stages of evolution emerged from the data: a) knowledge creation, b) collaboration, and c) teacher empowerment. Results found teachers evolve to a final stage of deprivitization of practice. The author of this study was immersed in a professional learning community to design the study, collect the data, and review results obtained at the case setting. Personal experiences as a participant researcher are shared and discussed. This study adds to the body of research by providing teacher stories about their learning process when immersed in a collaborative team environment. Furthermore this research adds to the literature by discussing the factors that attribute to teacher evolution

Maintaining and Improving Academic Achievement in the Midst of Significant Demographic Change: A Case Study Analysis

The research of Mei Jiun Wu (2013) indicates that demographic change greater than 1% has significant impact on the achievement performance of school districts. This study analyzes a single district that experienced an average of 1.25% demographic change per year consisting of an increase of non-White students from 2002 to 2015. Despite this compounding change, the district was able to maintain and improve academic achievement. This study utilizes Marzano and Waters\u27 (2009) framework for school leadership as well as Lindsey, Nuri-Robins, and Terrell\u27s (2009) Framework for cultural proficiency to better understand how the district was able to maintain and improve academic achievement in the midst of significant demographic change. The study identifies the educational practices suggested by these frameworks as active within the school district and highlights the positive impact of mission oriented collaborative goal setting, data driven needs assessment with corresponding intervention services, overlapping communication structures, and a communal expectation of culturally responsive behavior

The Application of Adult Learning and Development Theory in the Undergraduate Classroom

Instructors in higher education may have a limited knowledge of ways adults learn and develop. That lack of theoretical understanding may have inhibited the pedagogical practice of faculty in the undergraduate classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore how university instructors described their understanding of adult learning and development in undergraduate settings, and to identify factors that influenced the design and implementation of instructional practice as reported by undergraduate faculty. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design. An online survey collected quantitative and qualitative data from 95 university instructors in Northeastern Massachusetts. Follow-up interviews were conducted with ten survey participants to garner additional qualitative data. Consistent with analysis procedures for phenomenological research, significant statements were extracted from surveys and interview transcripts and sorted into concept codes that were categorized and analyzed for emergent themes, resulting in six findings. These findings suggested that the majority of university instructors had minimal training in and understanding of adult learning and development theory. Instructors, however, did not identify understanding of adult learning and development theory as a requisite of effective practice. Rather, instructors were confident in their abilities to support students in learning course content and applying that content in real-world contexts. University faculty demonstrated an interest in employing instructional practices that supported students in understanding new content and concepts. Further, instructors identified experiential learning, coupled with real-world problems, as ways adults learn and develop in the undergraduate setting. Such methods were employed by faculty if they perceived themselves as effective in the implementation of those practices. Professional dialogue, critical reflection on teaching experiences, and student feedback were identified as factors that contributed to the design and implementation of lessons in the undergraduate classroom. Cultivating a professional climate of safety and trust supported adults as they fully engaged in learning experiences. Key recommendations encourage university administrators to examine professional learning structures in K-12 schools. Formalization of learning communities in higher education can support instructors in the deprivitization of practice, engagement in professional discourse, and individual and collective reflection. Investing the time and resources necessary to foster and nurture such conditions can result in institutions of higher education evolving into communities of learners

Counter-narratives and Revisionism: A Transformative Journey to Closing the Achievement Gap for Indigenous Learners through Culturally Responsive School Leadership, Equity Transformation, and Nurturing Collective Teacher Efficacy

Professional learning in the areas of Indigenous education, reconciliation, and antiracism is as much a personal journey as a professional one for educators today. At New Beginnings Middle School (NBMS, a pseudonym), Indigenous learners experience a significant academic achievement gap. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores how to cultivate teaching practices that create a more inclusive school environment and improve academic achievement for all Indigenous students. It proposes to guide educators through bias mitigation with integrated professional learning to develop culturally responsive pedagogy. Given the compelling correlation between inclusiveness and academic success, NBMS educators must work collectively to build confidence in Indigenous learners, reduce racial barriers, mitigate ignorance, and develop programming that reflects student culture. Implementation of the proposed solution is interpreted through a critical social justice lens, and it relies on transformative leadership and culturally responsive and adaptive practices. A proposed blended change implementation plan encourages teachers to listen and awaken, uncover and mobilize, reimagine and accelerate, and move and institutionalize. Measuring and monitoring the plan includes a 10-month timeline, a teacher’s cultural proficiency receptivity scale, various student agency measurement surveys, and a classroom data dashboard tool. The NBMS administration will set conditions for educators to centre Indigenous students by implementing processes to build student voice and agency as cocreators of their learning. This OIP builds collective teacher efficacy for an envisioned state of continual reflexive pedagogy in teachers specific to Indigenous students, with an end goal to close the achievement gap for these learners at NBMS

Developing a professional learning community : a first step

ix, 69 leaves ; 29 cm. --The purpose of this project was to capture a holistic picture of how one rural school community in Southern Alberta, over the course of one year, explored and experienced the journey toward becoming a Professional Learning Community (PLC). Specifically, it inquired into the critical enabling steps a professional teaching staff engaged in to support the development of a PLC. The primary focus was on school mission, vision, values, goals, level of collaboration, and orientation towards results. Data was collected through journal writing, interview, artifacts, and survey. Two factors contributed significantly to the school's development in becoming a professional learning community: first, teachers having the opportunity for regular, during-the-school-day time to meet with each other and, secondly, their use of time to focus collectively on teaching and learning in a way that develops trust but also requires accountability (goals with commitments and timelines). Other study findings indicate that establishing a PLC begins by collectively establishing a school vision, mission, and goals, followed with deliberate steps for implementation. This process also requires at least one school administrator who can facilitate and support the process by having clear vision of what it means to become a PLC

Teacher Perceptions of Professional Learning Community Maturity in Catholic Schools

Many Midwestern Catholic schools have implemented professional learning communities (PLCs) to enhance teacher quality and attain school goals. However, not all schools have aligned practices essential to increase maturity in the five PLC dimensions, as defined by Hord. Guided by Hord\u27s framework, this research study investigated teachers\u27 perceptions of PLC maturity in select Catholic schools. A convenience sample allowed an examination of schools engaged in an initiative that included PLCs. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the Professional Learning Communities Assessment - Revised was administered to 42 teachers in 4 schools. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data revealed the dimensions of shared leadership and shared vision and values were most mature in the majority of participating schools. The dimension of shared personal practice was least mature in all participating schools. Demographic data, analyzed using independent sample t tests and a series of ANOVAs, showed some demographic factors had significant findings in individual schools but no single factor had a significant finding in all schools. Results of quantitative data analysis provided direction for qualitative interviews. Four teachers participated in interviews that examined PLC practices affecting maturity. Transcribed interviews were coded and 7 themes emerged: supportive administration, teachers as leaders, shared vision, peer teaching, teacher buy in, too many meetings, and improper use of PLCs. PLC training for administrators and teachers could result in positive social change as school staffs learn to align specific instructional practices with an infrastructure that supports increasing PLC maturity. This increased PLC maturity directly determines a school\u27s ability to improve

Teacher Leadership: Emergent Leadership in a Complex System Functioning as a Professional Learning Community

The extent to which organizational, social, cultural, and leadership contexts within schools support or impede the complexity of emergent leadership as it relates to professional learning communities was investigated in this study. Through in-depth interviews exploring ways in which teacher leadership manifests itself, the ability of teachers to understand their own leadership capacity, and how their emergent leadership influences others, data from this study reshape the notion that schools do not need to reform, but need to transform from traditional schools of teaching into contemporary schools of learning, providing the type of professional knowledge needed to foster 21st century skills for students. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted With fourteen teachers from four schools designated as the highest and lowest Title I and Non-Title I schools in a large urban district based on state wide achievement scores. These interview data were analyzed to develop five thematic constructs with sixteen themes. Thematic constructs were also developed to address the four context factors that may support or impede emergent teacher leadership. The findings suggested that teacher leadership has the ability to develop through the process of collaboration which is socially constructed in the context of professional learning communities. Findings further reveal that deep considerations for the ramifications of working within such a complex system as a learning community be made. These considerations include understanding that teacher leadership leads to a shift in decision making from a hierarchical to democratic model, that collaboration builds organizational intelligence, that struggling students are motivators for reflective professional discourse, and that influential peers set the model for this type of intuitive teacher leadership. Implications for further practice and directions for future research are also discussed

A study of Reading First implementation and literacy performance of students in kindergarten through fifth grade in Lancaster School District

This study examined elementary student literacy performance in Lancaster School District in kindergarten through 5th grades for 6 elementary schools implementing the Reading First program and 6 elementary schools not implementing Reading First. Subgroup data for English Language Learners, Hispanic, and African American students was closely examined and compared with the literacy performance data of white students to determine whether implementation of the Reading First program has narrowed the achievement gap. The study also explored the relationship, if any, between the level of Reading First program implementation (RFII) and literacy achievement of students as measured by the English Language Arts (ELA) California Standards Test (CST) and the Reading First Achievement Index (RFAI). The study was quantitative in approach, multiple methods in design, and was conducted in 2 phases. Phase 1 was comparative and descriptive and explored observable trends in student achievement between Reading First and non-Reading First schools. Phase 2 was correlational and examined potential relationships between implementation of the Reading First program and student achievement. The study found that Reading First schools experienced greater growth in ELA student achievement than non-Reading First schools. In addition, the study revealed that implementation of Reading First strategies is likely to impact positively ELA CST student achievement outcomes for English Language Learners, African American, and Hispanic students in 2nd through 5th grades. The study found no correlation between the level of Reading First implementation and ELA CST student achievement based on RFII and CST data collected between 2005 and 2009. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between the level of Reading First implementation and the RFAI for the district. The study concluded that overall growth in literacy achievement of students in kindergarten through 5th grade did occur in the schools in which the essential components of the Reading First program were implemented with fidelity. It is, therefore, recommended that school districts work to develop district-wide literacy programs that utilize a comprehensive curriculum, offer coaching and structured professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators, and support student-centered collaboration that monitors student learning based on data

Elementary District-Level And Building-Level Leadership Practices That Promote And Sustain Professional Learning Communities

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between building and district level leadership in sustaining level district Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The study attempted to reveal the relationships of building level and district level leadership in sustaining level PLCs. The study also sought to determine the impact of relational trust between district-level and building-level leadership practices within professional learning communities. The Professional Learning Community Continuum (PLCC) was administered in order to identify those districts that were operating at the Sustaining Stage for PLCs. Approximately forty-six district and building level leaders participated in the study. A non- random sampling of three sustaining stage PLC districts participated in the second stage of the study. The study investigated the relationships of central office and building leadership in sustaining level PLCs, using values coding, resulting in a culture picture. The study was carried out in three phases; the first two consisted of a selection process geared towards the identification of sustaining level PLC Elementary School District in the northeastern portion of the state. The final phase III focused on a qualitative analysis of the relationships of central office and building leadership in those PLCs. In Phase I, the researcher chose to survey the districts in the Northeastern section of Illinois because more than fifty percent of the state’s elementary school districts are located four northeastern counties. The researcher surveyed nine-hundred and sixteen administrators from one-hundred and thirty-four elementary school districts. There were seven-hundred and eighty-two building administrators and one-hundred and thirty-four central office administrators. In Phase II of the study, the researcher utilized the information gathered with the PLCC. The data were used identify sustaining stage PLCs. Phase III of the study included visits and interviews of both building and district level leadership. The data gained with the visits, interviews, and document review enabled the researcher to answer the research questions. The analysis of Phase III centered upon coherence across the interviews of the three districts central office and building leadership. The study identified relational trust as a factor in sustaining level PLCs

The Relationship of Principal Leadership to Organizational Learning and Sustained Academic Achievement

Some research suggests that development of professional learning communities might be the organizational strategy that could make school reform more successful. While most schools have not institutionalized the essential components of learning organizations, studies have demonstrated that these attributes must be developed if professional staffs are to realize the full benefit of organizational learning and in the process, create a context of improvement. The primary intent of this study was to learn and understand how principal behaviors influenced the development of shared leadership, shared vision, and supportive conditions; three essential dimensions of professional learning communities. Secondly, this study investigated how these conditions differed among schools which have and have not sustained high levels of student learning. Understanding the influence of principal leadership on conditions for organizational learning can be partially understood through either quantitative or qualitative methods. From this perspective, the mixed methods design utilized in this study allowed both qualitative and quantitative data to be analyzed and interpreted as evidence in understanding the study's problem. Principal and teacher focus-group interviews were used to create a deeper understanding of how principals worked to create conditions for organizational learning. Kouzes and Posner's (2002) Leadership Practices Inventory - Self and Observer Forms were utilized to identify, describe, and measure the perceived leadership practices of principals. The findings of this investigation suggest that principal leadership is a key factor in creating conditions for organizational learning and sustaining high levels of student achievement. Principals in this study who effectively identified and modeled espoused values were perceived to be highly visionary and appeared more effective at sharing leadership, inspiring vision, and creating supportive conditions. Principals who were able to develop a shared vision among staff created strong collaborative cultures characterized by an uncompromised focus on student learning. The findings of this study also indicated that principals who effectively Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, and Enable Others to Act, distributed leadership among staff and demonstrated a systems orientation to leading