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- All Subjects: professional learning
- Creators: Adams, Alaina
- Creators: Wetzel, Keith
Description
This mixed methods participatory action research study explored how an instructional coach influenced a state mandated curriculum adoption at a Title 1 urban middle school. The purpose of this study was to identify ways in which an instructional coach supported a veteran staff during the adoption of new curriculum standards. The instructional coach/action researcher employed a three pronged coaching approach that incorporated individual and team coaching sessions and increased networking to encourage and support the development of social capital. This study was informed using Vygotsky's Social Learning Theory, Wenger's Communities of Practice, Coleman's Social Capital Theory, and Hall and Horde's Concerns-Based Adoption Model. The study is heavily weighted in favor of qualitative data which includes participant reflections, coach individual session and team session reflections, field-notes, team meeting videos, and exit interviews. Several themes emerged supporting the use of a differentiated coaching approach, the promotion of social capital, and the identification of initiative overload as a barrier to curriculum adoption. The quantitative data analysis, pre and post study Stages of Concern Questionnaires, produced evidence that participants experienced minor shifts in their concerns relating to the adoption of Common Core State Standards. Results were used to inform coaching decisions based on individual participant needs as well as to augment the qualitative findings. Ideas for further research are discussed.
ContributorsSchwarting, Joann (Author) / Wetzel, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Ewbank, Ann (Thesis advisor) / Johnson, Lynda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Though National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in Arizona have been identified as leaders on a national level, they do not have comparable opportunities to lead within their local contexts or engage in leadership and collaboration activities that align with Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Standard 10. The purpose of this sequential, mixed-methods study was to explore how the development of a teacher leadership community of practice for NBCTs might influence their perceptions of themselves as leaders. Social constructionism, action research, and communities of practice guided the innovation and a mixed-methods approach was used for data collection and analysis. Data illustrated NBCTs’ dichotomous feelings about leadership on local and national levels. Findings revealed that NBCTs need continued professional learning opportunities, beyond National Board Certification, to resolve feelings of isolation and fully meet all of the leadership and collaboration indicators for InTASC Standard 10. Participating in a teacher leadership community of practice (a) provided a professional learning opportunity for NBCTs, (b) improved NBCTs’ perceptions of teacher leadership and helped them define it as an active process of learning, reflection, and action, and (c) increased NBCTs’ readiness to take action as teacher leaders within their local contexts to evoke positive change.
ContributorsAdams, Alaina (Author) / Marley, Scott C. (Thesis advisor) / Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka (Committee member) / Allen, Althe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016