1. A School-University Partnership's Involvement in State Mandated Reform: The Impact of a Teacher-Based Professional Development Model on Teachers, or, 'Caught in the Headlights!'
- Author
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Laguardia, Armando, Grisham, Dana, Gallucci, Chrysan, Jamison, Shelli, Brink, Beverly, and Peck, Cap
- Abstract
This study examined teachers' experiences in the Washington state-mandated educational reform process, their pedagogical responses to the reform initiatives, and the way in which these were mediated by professional development activities such as those initiated by the Goals 2000 project. Five Washington teachers participated in this case study. All teachers had taught in districts identified by a Goals 2000 grant for study and had participated in a year-long professional development series on literacy education. During the 1997-98 school year, researchers conducted systematic observations of the teachers; conducted four interviews with the teachers; interviewed classroom aides and school administrators; collected samples of classroom lessons and student assessment devices; collected student reading scores; collected teachers' concept maps of teaching; and wrote case summary reviews. Results indicated that all five teachers supported the essence of reform; the state education reforms impacted teachers' practice, but practice lagged behind knowledge of awareness; all five teachers worried about the assessment/accountability component of the reform; four teachers were resistant to top-down reform to some degree; and all five teachers valued a learner-centered professional development process. (Contains 18 references.) (SM)
- Published
- 1999