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Improving professional learning for teachers
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Content
IMPROVING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR TEACHERS
By
Michelle America Bonilla
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSTY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2014
Copyright 2014
Michelle America Bonilla
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 4
Background of the Problem 5
Statement of Problem 7
Purpose of the Study 8
Importance of Study 9
Limitations 9
Delimitations 10
Definition of Terms 11
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13
Teacher Beliefs toward Professional Development 14
Professional Learning 17
Professional Learning Models 18
Instructional Rounds 19
School-Based Inquiry Teams 25
Inquiry as Stance 27
Empirical Studies on the Impact of Professional Development 31
Leadership Styles 36
Distributive Leadership 37
Implementing Distributed Leadership 37
Instructional Leadership 38
Implementing Instructional Leadership 38
Transformational Leadership 39
Implementing Transformational Leadership 39
Conceptual Framework 40
Changing Teacher Beliefs 41
Professional Learning Models 42
Inquiry Based Teams 43
Leadership Qualities to Promote Practice Change 45
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 49
Research Design 49
Sample and Population Size 50
Site Selection Criteria 51
Participants 52
Principal Selection Criteria 52
Teacher Criteria 53
Data Collection 53
Interviews 54
Analysis 55
Validity and Reliability 56
Conclusion 56
3
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 58
Mountain View Elementary 58
Interviewed Participants 59
Participant Background 60
Research Question # 1 64
Research Question #2 67
Summary 74
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECCOMENDATIONS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 76
Summary of Findings 76
Implications for Practice 80
Recommendations for Further Study 80
REFERENCES 82
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Teacher Informed Consent 86
Appendix B: Interview Questions 89
4
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The persistent disparity in student achievement between White and minority
children in K-12 education has focused attention on the low quality of instruction
provided to minority students (Hoy, 2006). Research has shown that irrespective of
student socioeconomic status, improving teaching by developing teacher knowledge can
improve student learning (Hoy, 2006). One strategy aimed at improving teacher learning
is creating professional learning opportunities that will successfully generate teacher
engagement, collaboration, and pedagogical relevance. Effective professional
development enhances, maintains, and provides teachers with high-quality practices that
are evidence-based and efficient (Darling-Hammond, 2009). Schools leaders should aim
at building teacher capacity and generating higher levels of thinking by promoting
learning that encourages teacher collaboration and relevant instructional strategies.
Collaboration allows teachers opportunities to converse knowledgeably about methods,
theories, and process of teaching and learning, consequently improving teacher practice
(Hausman & Goldring, 2001). It is leadership’s responsibility to nurture and support
teacher learning by facilitating and implementing strategies that will sustain an
environment for learning (Watkins, 2005). Principals need to routinely manage resources,
provide direction, and implement the necessary tools required in an organization that
promotes a community of learners (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008).
The remainder of this chapter presents the background of the problem, the
statement of the problem, the purpose and importance of the study, the limitations and
delimitations of the study, as well as definition of terms.
5
Background of the Problem
Professional learning models being implemented in schools today lack effective
learning strategies for improved teacher practice (Darling-Hammond, 2009). For
example, the lack of time to plan and implement learning, relevance to classroom
instruction, accountability, and didactic approach are often barriers that impede
successful professional development (Darling-Hammond, 2009). The primary problems
cited with implementing successful professional learning are the inability to provide
sufficient facilitated time and meaningful connection between theory and practice. Many
models of professional learning are episodic and didactic in delivery (Darling-Hammond,
2009), causing many teachers to question their validity and purpose. Teachers often
receive information in isolation where the focus is still on delivering, content without
direct alignment to school goals, and a lack of focus on enhancing learning (Darling-
Hammond, 2009). Insufficient funding for continuous professional learning also
contributes to the lack of conceptualized learning and teacher engagement that is
necessary to sustain successful professional learning (Darling-Hammond, 2009).
Teachers are not provided with facilitated time to implement what they have learned into
their daily curriculum or collectively assess their instructional needs (Darling-Hammond,
2009). Many professional learning models do not provide key elements that include:
coaching, observations, feedback, reflection, collaboration and sharing best practices
(Darling-Hammond, 2009).
Professional learning has also been the cause of resistance and tension among
many teachers (Horn & Little, 2010). Teachers often relate conflicting opinions and
disinterest as a source of negativity towards professional learning. Many professional
6
learning models do not include applications that involve teachers’ planning and
instruction. For example, on average, teachers in the U.S. only receive 3-5 hours of
collective planning time during a semester compared to the 15-20 hours provided in high-
achieving schools across the nation (Darling-Hammond, 2009). As a result, teachers have
little to no meaningful connection with professional learning and continue to participate
with limited engagement and interest (Darling-Hammond, 2009). The lack of hands-on
involvement and inquiry-based facilitated professional learning has resulted in
disconnected instruction and an unwillingness to develop working relationships or
collective problem solving strategies (Darling-Hammond, 2009).
Goddard (2007) argues that in order to increase student achievement it is
important to build and sustain teacher collaboration models that facilitate professional
learning. Many teacher collaboration models that are able to sustain successful
organizational change for improved teacher knowledge, confidence, motivation, and trust
do so by empowering teachers with active involvement in decision-making (Hoy, 2006).
However, many school leaders lack time or skills in building professional learning
models that will encourage teacher inquiry and collaborative learning (Horn & Little,
2010).
For teachers to collectively engage in inquiry and increase or deepen their
knowledge, school leaders must have key traits that will enable them to build and sustain
learning models, teacher autonomy, and accountability. School leaders continuously
struggle with providing teachers with time to engage with frequency, depth, and inquiry
that generates insights into teaching dilemmas or fosters instructional innovation (Horn &
Little, 2010). Most principals lack the strategic leadership characteristics such as:
7
research-based instructional knowledge, management skills, knowledge of how to foster
teacher autonomy, and ability to implement accountability measures (Hoy, 2006).
Many school leaders find themselves fixed in a managerial role where daily
practices consist of: managing resources, planning schedules, organizing meetings,
implementing district policies, state mandates, and balancing budgets. Although these
elements are important in maintaining functional schools, they are time-consuming tasks
that often impede principals in providing teachers with critical professional learning that
can propel schools into 21
st
century content knowledge and skills (Mullen & Hutinger,
2008). Lack of time keeps principals from providing essential instructional assessments
that address professional learning needs. For example, not having time to observe
classrooms for successful student engagement and inquiry skills, conversing with
teachers about essential curriculum resources, providing mentoring partnerships among
teachers, facilitating modeling opportunities for increased teacher knowledge, or
monitoring teacher collaboration through documentation and agreements. Principals who
lack the ability to develop successful practices struggle with implementing strategies for
improved teacher learning, (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008).
Statement of the Problem
The problem seen in many school organizations is the ineffective implementation
of professional learning models, teacher collaboration, and leadership strategies. The
absence of these factors reduces the opportunity for teachers to learn and improve their
practice. As a result, teachers are more likely to be unprepared to reach higher levels of
instruction and therefore have less impact or influence on student learning in their
classroom. Research has found that half the teachers in the United States are in some
8
form dissatisfied with current learning models in their schools (Darling-Hammond,
2009). In addition, many school leaders struggle to find time to facilitate collaborative
learning models that engage in inquiry and active teacher participation.
Research has found many current professional learning models offer a didactic
approach that offers little teacher engagement or authentic work experiences (Darling-
Hammond, 2009). This delivery system limits the conceptualization of knowledge and
experience of learning for teachers. Teacher motivation and engagement has therefore
decreased as a result of poor and ineffective professional learning models (Darling-
Hammond, 2009). According to Goddard (2007) collaboration improves teacher learning.
Unfortunately, time constraints, lack of resources, and leadership’s inability to monitor
and manage creates inconsistency in meeting the requirements for successful professional
learning (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008).
In sum, significant research has examined the constructs for defining and
analyzing successful teacher learning (Hoy, 2006), collaboration that drives inquiry
(Goddard, 2007), and a leadership style that will encourage active learning and
accountability (Watkins, 2005). However, there is insufficient information in the
research literature regarding the extent to which these factors are all interdependent.
Given these shortcomings, the purpose of the study will be outlined in the next section.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to examine a successful professional learning
strategies/model that demonstrated teacher collaboration in a high achieving elementary
school and that was effectively facilitated by leadership. The study aimed to examine the
presence of professional learning elements that increased teacher knowledge,
9
collaborative models that allowed for teacher discourse, and leadership skills that
facilitated and supported these factors. Through the facilitation of successful professional
learning and collaboration teachers would improve their skills by adopting effective
research-based strategies. The goal of focusing on these factors was to examine elements
that increase teacher capacity and practices.
The qualitative study was guided by the following research questions:
1. Research Question #1: What are teachers’ perceptions regarding professional
development at their school site?
2. Research Question#2: What do teachers perceive to be the principal’s role in
supporting their learning?
Importance of the Study
Elmore (2002) emphasizes the significant connection between improving teacher
knowledge of skills and practice with student outcomes. According to Elmore (2002)
student learning and capacity increases when teachers engage in improving their own
instructional practices. This study examined factors that impacted teacher learning in a
school that had achieved high student performance outcomes. Examining the areas of
professional development, collaboration, and leadership provided insight as to whether
teachers at Mountain View Elementary were engaging in successful professional learning
practices.
Limitations
Presented are limitations that were identified within the study. These limitations
were outside of the control of the researcher and might have impacted the outcomes of
the study:
10
1. Participant Sincerity: It is always possible that respondents have not been
completely truthful during their interviews or that they chose to represent
themselves in their best lights. This limitation was addressed during the interview
and analysis process. First, I followed Merriam’s (2009) recommendation to
follow up any answer provided by respondents with clarifying questions to rule
out misinterpreting any responses. I also validated their answers throughout the
course of the interviews process.
2. Personal Bias: The researcher examined and interpreted participant responses as
accurately as possible, but interpretations can be subjective based on the
researcher’s inferences. As someone who had recently stepped into a new role
after having been in the classroom for eight years, my point of view was still
geared from a teacher standpoint and might have affect the approach I used in
collecting data and analysis. In order to combat my biases I examined the data
looking for counter-evidence, evidence that contradicted the conclusions I came
to through my analysis. Also, as suggested by Merriam (2009), I triangulated
across data sources I followed up any answer provided by respondents with
clarifying respondent validation to rule out misinterpreting any responses.
Delimitations
The study presents delimitations that are within the control of the researcher. The
delimitations may affect the results of the study:
1. School site selection: The study only represents one school site. Findings
cannot be generalized to other sites. While the study initially set out to
examine a high functioning school implementing a model of professional
11
learning likely to support teacher learning and practice change, the school was
chosen solely based on the API scores of the school and no efforts were made
to ensure that the school had a professional learning model was in place at the
school or that the principal was leading an effort to improve instruction.
Teacher selection: Teachers were asked to volunteer to participate in the study
whether or not they were from the same grade level or participating in a
professional learning process aligned to the research questions for the study.
2. Timeline: Due to scheduling constraints, the duration of the study included
limited one on one interviews with each teacher. Interviews occurred at the
convenience of staff, as a result timeline of participant interviews might not
have been optimal or sufficient. Similarly, there was not sufficient time or
opportunity to observe teachers during professional learning opportunities,
thus data were limited to interviews only.
3. Instrumentation: The process of using interview protocols in the study may
not report accurate or ample findings to fully answer the research question.
4. Generalizability: Due to limited number of participants, it is not appropriate to
generalizing the study’s findings to other school sites or to teachers beyond
those who participated in the study.
Definition of Terms
Professional Learning– Improving teacher knowledge in instruction and best practices
through sustained meaningful teacher inquiry and engagement Darling-Hammond, 2009).
12
School-Based Inquiry– Learning teams as teachers who engage in instructional inquiry
in order to make causal connections between practice and student learning (Gallimore,
Ermeling, Saunders & Goldenberg, 2009).
Inquiry as Stance–A practitioner learning approach that requires continual process of
questioning educational practices, policy and the way in which practice is constructed,
evaluated, and implemented (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2010).
Distributed Leadership– The principal’s leadership responsibilities being shared or
delegated to members of the school organization (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008).
Instructional Leadership– Leadership as leaders who focus their attention on the
behavior of teachers during activity engagement that directly affects student learning
(Leithwood, Jantzi & Steinbach, 1999).
Transformational Leadership–Having the ability to influence others to want to change,
strive for improvement, and be led by a leader (Hall, Johnson, Wysoki, & Kepner, 2008).
13
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
The following literature review presents relevant information that provides insight
into the concepts within my research questions and the methods I considered as I
answered my research questions. The following research questions are the focus of the
study: What are teachers’ perceptions regarding professional development at their school
site? What do teachers perceive to be the principal’s role in supporting their learning?
The literature review offers insight into the essential components that develop teacher
learning and leadership’s supportive role. The literature review offers an understanding of
the following topics: teacher beliefs towards professional development, effective
elements of professional development and professional learning models and leadership
styles. I have chosen to include these bodies of literature because I assert that increased
teacher learning is influenced by professional development that includes effective teacher
engagement strategies and curricular relevance that impact teacher beliefs, as well as
supportive leadership that facilitates the implementation of theory into practice.
Professional development that encourages hands on activities, teacher collaboration,
accountability, and leadership support provides teachers with effective learning elements.
Thus, first I will present the relevant literature on teacher beliefs about professional
development and move on to professional learning elements and learning models. Next, I
offer literature related to leadership styles and the impact they have on teacher learning.
The Chapter concludes with a presentation of my conceptual framework. The conceptual
framework informs Chapter 3.
14
Teacher Beliefs towards Professional Development
Guskey (2002) describes professional development as a systematic program
intended to improve practices in the classroom, change teacher attitudes and beliefs, and
student outcomes. Guskey (2002) also points out that most professional development
programs prove to be unsuccessful because they lack two very important factors: 1) what
motivates teachers to engage in professional development, and 2) the method by which
teachers change beliefs and practice. Although most teachers generally state that they see
professional development as a means to improve their overall knowledge and practice,
most fail to meet those needs (Guskey, 2002). Teachers find that professional
development does not provide concrete ideas and information that directly relate to the
day-to-day operation of their classrooms (Guskey, 2002). Therefore, teacher beliefs and
attitudes towards professional development are often negative.
In order for teacher beliefs to change, school leaders must provide teachers with
significant evidence that new ideas or strategies result in improvements in student
learning and opportunities to see the new curricula or instructional approach work in a
class setting (Guskey, 2002). Guskey (2002) argues that changing teacher beliefs and
attitudes is primarily tied to the idea the learning is an experientially process for teachers.
Teachers abandon ideas that do not work and embrace a commitment for teaching those
that demonstrate student impact. Guskey (2002) emphasizes that any professional
development that aims to enhance student learning and build teacher capacity requires
time for teachers to embrace and implement. The role of school leaders also directly
impacts the successful implementation and facilitation of professional development.
15
Guskey (2002) explains the role of leadership as a critical one that requires support,
accountability, and consistent feedback for teachers.
According to Kent (2004), successful innovation of new instructional strategies
and practices first requires teachers to have an inner desire to learn. This followed by
intensive support systems, such as leadership and effective elements of professional
development to help encourage continual teacher change. The greatest impact to
classroom instruction, teacher practices, and learning progression all stem from teacher
beliefs (Brody, 1998). Brody (1998) define teacher belief as conceptual representations
that signify a reality to its holder and rely on that reality to guide personal thought and
action. Teachers use beliefs to make sense of the various roles that they are required to
take on and as a guide for teaching. Brody (1998) argue that teacher beliefs don’t
necessarily change because of new evidence, but is most likely the result of whole shift.
Teachers, as well as school leaders who are introducing new innovations, need to make
their beliefs explicit to themselves in order to reduce pushback. Otherwise, the result can
cause contradictions and difficulties in the learning process (Brody, 1998).
Beliefs help shape how teachers approach certain learning models, such as
implementing a model of cooperative learning. For many teachers to participate and be
open to cooperative learning without contradiction, it would have to coincide with their
beliefs. Brody (1998) states, for school-level decisions to be successfully implemented,
school leaders must take into account teacher knowledge and beliefs in order to avoid
resistance and problems. Brody (1998) incorporated Miller and Seller’s (1985)
curriculum schema to help teachers recognize the assumptions involved in models such
16
as cooperative learning. The framework involves reflecting on how power is allocated,
decision-making, and understanding multiple perspectives.
So how are teachers most likely to change their beliefs? Ertmer (2005) suggests
using the following three strategies: 1) personal experiences, 2) vicarious experiences,
and 3) social-cultural influences.
Because beliefs are partly formed from personal experiences, Ertmer (2005)
argues that new experiences can alter existing beliefs. As stated above by Guskey (1986),
change in teacher beliefs follows successful practice rather than precedes it. School
leaders who can effectively implement practice change that is successful can alter teacher
beliefs and negative assumptions. Change in teacher beliefs occurs in smaller
instructional attempts than larger ones (Ertmer, 2005). Ertmer (2005) emphasizes that
instructional change doesn't require abandoning personal beliefs, but instead slowly
changing them.
Vicarious experiences provide teachers’ confidence, knowledge, and motivational
elements that are necessary in changing teacher beliefs. According to Ertmer (2005)
vicarious experiences are vital to teacher learning because they model specific classroom
strategies and increase the likelihood that the observer will generate the same behavior.
Providing teachers with a myriad of models has the ability to increase knowledge and the
probability that the observer will relate and adapt at least one of the models. Teachers are
more likely to learn from seeing instructional practices in action rather than listening to a
facilitator during a professional development. Witnessing success in others makes change
for teachers more possible (Ertmer, 2005). Support from various sources for continuous
learning follows with support systems that allow teachers to try new strategies and
17
possibly fail. These adaptations must therefore be meet before teachers begin to change
their beliefs.
Social-cultural influences greatly shape and influence teacher beliefs and
practices (Ertmer, 2005). Ertmer (2005) states, social-cultural influences include: teacher
experiences, opinions that others around share, and expectations of other people. When
teachers are provided with a professional learning community that facilitates new shared
ideas, curriculum, strategies, and support for risk taking a change in practice is more
likely to occur.
Professional Learning
The role of professional development is to facilitate teacher learning in an
environment in which teacher enthusiasm, self-confidence, and classroom life is
consistently changing (Day, 1999). According to Day (1999), teacher perceptions and
actions drive current teacher professional development. Teachers’ views on how students
learn and their own motivation for learning are important elements to consider when
implementing professional development strategies (Day, 1999). If teachers’ views do not
encompass motivation and commitment to learn, it is unlikely that teacher practices and
professional learning elements will have significant impact on classroom practices.
Attention must paid to a teacher’s individual needs and support must be provided in
addition to the development of knowledge and skills (Day, 1999). Day (1999) argues the
answer to successful teaching is building teacher knowledge along with the development
and maintenance of a teacher’s desire to learn.
Many districts continue to provide professional development without considering
teacher engagement and learning content. Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson,
18
and Orphanos (2009) emphasize the importance of including cooperative teacher
engagement and collaboration for successful professional learning. It is important that
districts consider the ways in which they provide professional learning opportunities to
encourage a teacher’s desire to engage in professional learning. A key of professional
development is to change teachers’ skills as well as their attitudes (Desimone, 2009).
Day (1999) states that teacher negative perceptions about professional
development stem from a decline in teacher autonomy. For many this negative impact is
a direct result of increased accountability and managerialism in professional
development. School leaders need to implement key elements within the process of
professional development in order to successfully regain teacher confidence and buy-in.
Day (1999) suggests considering the following elements: 1) Increase teacher
collaboration, 2) Embed teacher reflection, 3) Develop inquiry based practitioners,
4) Acknowledge the difficultness of change, 5) Recognize the different stages of teachers
development, and 6) Create a culture of learning.
Professional Learning Models
As this study examines the relationship and impact that quality professional
development and school leadership have on increased teacher learning, it is important to
study the professional learning models that support and promote improved knowledge
and instructional skills. For example, professional learning models that offer
opportunities for meaningful collaborative teacher inquiry and engagement have the
ability to increase a teacher’s belief in his/her capacity to effectively take on challenges
and successfully accomplish tasks. Providing professional development that incorporates
collaborative learning and allows colleagues to successfully engage in teacher discourse
19
builds trust and motivation (Darling-Hammond, 2003). Therefore, this section of the
literature review focuses on various models of professional learning that facilitates
teacher collaboration.
A significant amount of research supports the utilization of professional
development to improve teacher practice; however, a considerable number of studies also
demonstrate that many school organizations do not employ the necessary professional
development strategies that promote professional learning (Darling-Hammond, 2003).
Understanding how professionals learn is the first step in implementing successful
professional learning strategies. To effectively implement professional learning it must
first be supported and sustained through facilitated time, teacher autonomy, and
mentoring (Darling-Hammond, 2009). The following professional learning models
presented embed elements described by Darling-Hammond (2009) and other researchers
as essential for teacher learning to take place, as well as strategies for collaborative
learning: (1) instructional rounds, (2) school-based inquiry teams and (3) inquiry as
stance. I offer these models from the perspective of those researchers who proposed them
as approaches to improving instruction through professional development. I also offer
two empirical studies in which professional development has been shown to impact
teacher learning and practice.
Instructional Rounds. City, Elmore, Fiarman, and Teitel (2009) developed and
implemented the concept of instructional rounds. They define instructional rounds as an
explicit practice intended to promote dialogue of instruction directly into the process of
school improvement. City et al. (2009) describe the term practice as the protocols and
processes for observing, evaluating, discussing, and understanding instruction for
20
improved student learning. The idea for instructional rounds is an adaptation of the
medical rounds model that builds norms of practice. In education, the instructional rounds
model relies on teachers working collaboratively to solve problems and improve practice
through modeled experiences (City et al., 2009).
According to City et al. (2009) instructional rounds work because they allow
teachers to strive for a common goal through a common discipline. Instructional rounds
utilize facilitators to implement the rounds model and support teacher learning.
Facilitators are responsible for providing teachers with support, monitoring and
accelerating their learning (City et al., 2009). Instructional rounds build and enhance
teacher learning through the following process: targeted professional development,
careful planning, listening and guiding, and cultivating the organization (City et al.,
2009).
Facilitators in targeted professional development seek to build knowledge and
skills through: (1) problem of practice, (2) observation of practice, (3) observation
debrief, (4) next level of work. City et al. (2009) define problems of practice during
instructional rounds as: (a) focus on the instructional core, (b) directly observable, (c)
actionable, (d) connects to a broader strategy of improvement, and (e) high-leverage
(meaning it would make a great impact to student learning). In problem of practice
teachers learn how to approach and solve instructional problems as a whole group and
with one-on-one support from a facilitator. City et al. (2009) states that practice will
improve when teachers regularly collaboratively reflect on the problems of practice and
on the effectiveness of the process of instructional rounds itself. In one case conducted,
21
City et al. (2009) found that reflection led teachers to define what good practice meant
and what successful practice looked like in the classroom.
In observation of practice, City et al. (2009) emphasize the importance of taking
notes effectively when observing practice in classrooms and reflecting on them. The
purpose of debriefing after observations is to allow teachers an opportunity to reflect and
provide insight into classroom practice for improvement. Facilitators offer teachers
successful note-taking skills by modeling examples and emphasizing the great detail
recorded (City et al., 2009). The facilitator offers several modes of successful note-
taking approaches in effort to demonstrate more than one right way. According to City et
al. (2009) the note-taking process is just as important as the debriefing component in
which teachers have opportunity to share their perspectives and thoughts on the same
observation.
City et al. (2009) suggest the facilitator consider the following questions during
the debriefing process as a starting point: What kinds of evidence further the group’s
learning? What kinds of evidence are less helpful? According to City et al. (2009) these
questions could be answered through formal methods, such as building a rubric, or
through informal conversation. The next level of work in the debriefing process requires
teachers to provide comments in regards to the additional support they feel they should
receive from administrators in order to improve practice. City et al. (2009) emphasizes
the importance of providing teachers with research-based strategies and articles in which
a deeper understanding of instruction would be increased.
City et al. (2009) state that the instructional rounds process requires good
planning. Good planning is defined as providing teachers sufficient time, collaborative
22
discussion and input, and appropriate use and management of resources (City et al.,
2009). According to City et al. (2009) the facilitator’s responsibility is significant in
improving teacher learning. The facilitator may be required to provide teachers with
relevant literature, meaningful discourse, designing activities, and brainstorm lesson
plans and refocus their learning.
Providing time to accomplish these activities is a critical component that must be
managed carefully. City et al. (2009) suggest facilitators consider the following
questions: What do we want teachers to understand at the end of the meeting? What is
most essential for teachers’ learning? What activities or tasks can we get rid of? How are
all of the tasks or activities connected or linked? Is there any opportunity for depth over
breadth? City et al. (2009) emphasize the difficulty of work involved in instructional
rounds and stresses the importance of encouraging continual group interaction.
City et al. (2009) state that physical energy is also essential for teacher
engagement. It is important to allow teachers to “walk and talk” outside, take short breaks
every 90 minutes, share ideas and create group interaction with various colleagues. City
et al. (2009) stress building accountability and support for teachers within these activities.
Providing teachers with responsibilities and charting down work can generate
productivity.
Successful facilitators are continuously collecting teacher feedback regarding
what they want to learn and professional learning improvement (City et al., 2009). City et
al. (2009) provide suggestions for collecting teacher feedback: (1) plus/delta chart, (2)
think tank, (3) Surveys, (4) “parking lot,” and (5) individual follow-up.
23
According to City et al. (2009) the plus/delta chart is a reflection chart that is set-
up like a T-chart. It has plus sign in the left-hand side and on the right-hand side is has a
delta sign, which is a sign for change. City et al. (2009) state the importance of receiving
and recording suggestions for improvement from teachers in order provide the facilitator
with valuable insight for improved technique and practice. The most effective strategy in
ensuring teachers’ trust the activity is by having the facilitator act on the suggestions
quickly (City et al., 2009).
City et al. (2009) find think tanks to be a beneficial strategy in building sessions
for open communication between teachers and facilitators. According to City et al. (2009)
think tanks are opportunities for a small group of teachers to meet and share out ideas and
concerns. Think tank members should be a representative member for the larger group
and should be willing to be an active leader. City et al. (2009) stress the purpose of think
tanks is to also improve the instructional rounds process. Think tanks offer teachers a
forum to provide critical feedback and construct a depth of knowledge regarding the
planning that is entailed in instructional rounds (City et al., 2009).
City et al. (2009) suggest using surveys as a method for generating a quick
assessment for components of the instructional rounds process. Surveys help collect
teacher responses regarding what they would like to learn, when they want to meet, etc.
The “parking lot” is another method suggested by City et al. (2009) that requires the
facilitator to post a chart where teachers can write comments or ideas that may or may not
be pertinent to the discussion. The purpose of “parking lot” charts is to provide the group
a place to record ideas and address them at a later time if needed.
24
Lastly, City et al. (2009) emphasizes the use of following-up individually with
teachers for additional input and feedback. City et al. (2009) stress that teachers who are
skeptical or frustrated with the process offer important information and insight for
improvement. Through individual follow-up facilitators can clarify misunderstandings
and foster an environment of trust (City et al., 2009).
City et al. (2009) stress the challenges in building and sustaining a learning
network built on trust, lateral accountability and group responsibility. The most
challenging aspect of instructional rounds is building trust. Trust takes time but there are
several ways to nurture trust: (1) model safe risk taking when it comes to taking on
individual learning challenges, (2) recognize and publicly praise teacher who take risks
and are honest about collaboration challenges, (3) facilitate social time to genuinely
generate a collaborative group of teachers who know each other in a personal capacity
(City et al., 2009).
According to City et al. (2009) over time the facilitator in instructional rounds
should be simply a “critical friend” who supports learning rather than directing it. Lateral
accountability requires teachers to hold each other responsible to group norms and
agreements (City et al., 2009). City et al. (2009) find that revisiting norms periodically
can help groups take ownership for their group and sustain high level of expectations.
City et al. (2009) find that instructional rounds is a model of practice that is only
successful if the whole organization is unified in what successful instruction looks like,
has a collaborative learning culture, and a knowledgeable leadership that understands
system wide improvement strategies. Research by City et al. (2009) shows instructional
rounds to cultivate a strong community of collaborative learners with shared views of
25
successful instruction. They advocate that instructional rounds have the ability to move
education into a practice of shared ideas, collective knowledge and a set of mutual
agreements and commitments.
School-Based Inquiry Teams. Gallimore, Ermeling, Saunders, and Goldenberg
(2009) argue that professional development in education has fallen short of generating
robust knowledge for teachers. According to Gallimore et al. (2009) professional learning
would benefit by linking efforts closer to school-based efforts to improve teacher
practice. According to Gallimore et al. (2009) schools must build a setting that fosters
teacher-learning teams for improved practice through inquiry. Gallimore et al. (2009)
define learning teams as teachers who engage in instructional inquiry in order to make
causal connections between practice and student learning. Gallimore et al. (2009) suggest
four operational features that are crucial to sustaining and improving instructional
inquiry: (1) job-alike teams, (2) trained peer-facilitators, (3) inquiry-focused protocols,
and (4) stable settings.
Gallimore et al. (2009) describe “job-alike teams” as learning teams that are
focused on shared goals and inquire into practice that is applicable to teachers’
classrooms. Learning teams are composed of three to seven teachers who all share similar
grade levels and subjects (Gallimore et al., 2009). They also suggest assigning a team
facilitator who will sustain high level of inquiry. The facilitator is a fellow colleague who
is selected and trained to assist the team in managing discourse. The facilitator is a role
that is also rotated in order to allow other teachers a leadership role within the team
(Gallimore et al., 2009).
26
Gallimore et al. (2009) found that peer facilitators were more effective than
administrators because they have the time to stick it out with the team, frame the work as
an investigation and guide the process of inquiry while still being a full participant.
Gallimore et al. (2009) state that peer facilitators have opportunities to assess lessons in
teachers’ classrooms and offer feedback. They also argue that through the consistent
support of facilitators teachers are more likely to sustain a learning role that is inquisitive
and keep from reverting to a traditional passive role. The presence facilitators also allows
administrators and coaches more time to focus on their role as a knowledgeable resource,
which is valuable in providing teachers with research-based information. Gallimore et al.
(2009) stresses the importance of administrative buy-in, support and accountability to
sustain successful learning teams.
Gallimore et al. (2009) found that research also suggests the importance of
articulating and defining a protocol with specific inquiry functions. According to
Gallimore et al. (2009) a successful inquiry-focused protocol includes: goals for student
learning, appropriate assessment tools, research-based resources and expert colleagues,
planning curriculum, and facilitated opportunities to reflect on classroom instruction and
next steps. Lastly, Gallimore et al. (2009) stress that a stable setting for implementing and
facilitating learning teams is crucial to its success and longevity. They find that a stable
setting is the key factor in failing to successfully implement learning teams (Gallimore et
al., 2009). Gallimore et al. (2009) suggest that schools with continuous achievement
gains struggle to maintain stable settings, but are committed to learning teams.
Gallimore et al. (2009) stress the importance of utilizing a school-based inquiry
model within schools that are able to facilitate teachers’ time and opportunity to
27
collaborate, communicate continuously, and share a strong common vision of teacher
practices. Schools must also have knowledgeable teachers who can provide support and
instructional direction for colleagues. A school-based inquiry team is a model that rest
solely on a schools ability to maintain a stable learning environment with continuous high
levels of teacher inquiry.
Inquiry as Stance. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2010) define inquiry as stance as a
practitioner learning approach that requires continual process of questioning educational
practices, policy, and the way in which practice is constructed, evaluated, and
implemented. An inquiry stance has a powerful effect on teacher practice and
development. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2010) introduce practitioner research
(previously referred to as teacher research) as an inquiry stance framework for change;
helping practitioners continuously reframe their understanding and knowledge of
practice. Cochran-Smith and Demers (2010) provide three examples to demonstrate
inquiry as stance and help identify teacher roles and collective roles to bring about
change: (1) understanding the complicated and in-depth outcomes of teaching and teacher
education, (2) using multiple perspectives to gain knowledge, reflect on one’s current
knowledge, and question individual beliefs, and (3) committing in providing an
environment of improving teacher knowledge and practice facilitates teachers with
appropriate opportunities for learning.
In an inquiry as stance approach, teachers question and examine the various
perspectives by how researchers’ frame questions, observations, and interpret data
(Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010). Inquiry communities of teachers search to find a
relationship between knowledge and practice. The idea of “stance” has to do with how
28
teachers see themselves as practitioners and where they stand (Cochran-Smith & Demers,
2010). Working within a framework of inquiry as stance to understand the complexities
and outcomes of teaching and growing as practitioners teachers pose questions, use
small-scale investigations, study the classroom, school, curricula, professional
development, and/or individual students (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010).
An integral part of evaluating and analyzing teacher practice is data collection.
Cochran-Smith and Demers (2010) suggest documenting and analyzing instructional
practices and the learning that occurs between teachers. Another outcome of inquiry as
stance is for practitioners to become advocates for equity and justice for all families and
students. Equity and access to all students is a subject that emphasizes that people live
and work in a democratic society (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010).
Inquiry stance compels teachers to search more deeply for evidence of learning
and success, instead of solely relying on teacher and student test scores (Cochran-Smith
& Demers, 2010). Outcomes for learning are understood in a more comprehensive way
and multiple indicators of learning are examined, such as: examining how students speak,
write, question, draw, respond, make sense of materials and activities, problem solve,
interact with others, and use evidence to draw conclusions (Cochran-Smith & Demers,
2010). Teachers understand that taking an inquiry stance approach requires questioning
assumptions about using common school evaluations and measurements to determine
success.
Cochran-Smith and Demers (2010) provide an example of a teacher who
demonstrated inquiry through self-reflection about what teaching means and what counts
as learning.
29
A novice high school teacher documents student learning through multiple
indicators of subject matter knowledge. The teacher began by sharing nontraditional
practices with her colleagues, and noted that almost every teacher she spoke with had a
resounding response of low expectations and skepticism towards student abilities.
Cochran-Smith and Demers (2010) note that these negative beliefs, attitudes, and
assumptions create a lack of enthusiasm for other teachers in the field. The new teacher
now sought to test these practices with students and record responses. The teacher
prompted the students to role-play and participate in group activities and panel
discussions. How did students react? How would students see this new approach to
learning? The result led to higher level thinking for students. During and after the
activity, the teacher observed students becoming inquisitive about learning and
challenging other perspectives and beliefs. According to Cochran-Smith and Demers
(2010) this approach to learning is not common in many urban schools. It is the
responsibility of educators to challenge “pedagogy of poverty” in which teachers utilize
lower level order skills, worksheets, and few opportunities to read and connect
challenging texts (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010). Teachers must develop an
understanding that inquiry stance requires the challenge of assumption in education that
have long been accepted.
However, utilizing multiple perspectives to understand and generate knowledge
can create challenges and cause turmoil within an organization. Cochran-Smith and
Demers (2010) emphasize that an inquiry stance requires practitioners to question the
status quo in order to drive learning and practice forward. School leaders who wish to
30
improve teacher practice must also be ready to meet new challenges and create change
that is beneficial to teacher learning.
A vital component of teacher learning, from an inquiry stance perspective, is
learning collectively with other colleagues and mentors (Cochran-Smith & Demers,
2010). Learning is optimal when veteran and new teachers can collaborate and share
ideas, experiences, and opinions. In an inquiry community everyone is a learner and
researcher who poses questions, seeks advice, gathers data, evaluates assessments, and
makes decisions about practice (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010). Learning communities
rely on shared ideas and common goals. Everyone within the learning community is
expected to participate in improve student learning and acknowledging difficult issues of
student equity, access, and diversity.
Engaging practitioners to challenge perspectives and participate in discourse that
requires multiple, professional, and personal opinions, the probability of turmoil rises.
The key is to recognize that collective discourse, however uncomfortable, leads to
practice innovations that can only occur through questioning and challenging of the status
quo (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010).
Inquiry as stance is a model that places the practitioner in the role of the
researcher for improved practice. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2010) emphasize the
importance of having motivated teachers who are willing to collect and analyze data, self-
reflect on practices, demonstrate commitment to student equity, and be continuous
lifelong learners. Inquiry as stance generates new and progressive practices for
instruction through in-depth understanding of teacher practices, teacher collaboration,
and a school commitment to facilitate teachers with time and opportunity to build
31
knowledge collaboratively (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2010). Inquiry as stance model
has the ability to create self-sufficient teachers who can sustain a learning environment
for improved teacher practices.
Empirical Studies on the Impact of Professional Development
In a study conducted by Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001), the
effects of professional learning characteristics on teacher learning were compared and
measured. The results yielded three core professional development elements as having
significant positive effects in increasing teacher knowledge and practice: 1) professional
learning that focuses on content knowledge, 2) opportunity for active teacher learning,
and 3) connection to other professional learning (Garet et al., 2001).
Garet et al. (2001) used a Teacher Activity Survey to conduct the study, which
was part of the evaluation for the Eisenhower Professional Development Program. The
Eisenhower program is the largest federally funded program that focuses on increasing
teacher knowledge and skills in the classroom. The study used a sample of over 1,000
science and math teachers across the country. The survey was only given to school
districts that were receiving Eisenhower funds. Garet et al. (2001) reached out to over
358 districts and received a 72% response rate. Teachers were asked to provide detailed
information about the professional development activities that had been provided by
Eisenhower funds. Teacher responses were given based on personal experiences and
behavior.
Based on research findings of high-quality professional development, Garet et al.
(2001) utilized structural and core features of professional development to analyze
effective professional learning among teachers. Garet et al. (2001) focused on three
32
structural features of professional development to measure the positive effects of
professional learning: 1) the form of the activity (how the learning approach was set up,
such as workshop, conference, etc.), 2) the duration of the activity (total hours that
teachers spent on the activity), and 3) the collective participation opportunity provided by
the activity (time facilitated to work with colleagues). Garet et al. (2001) also examined
three core features of professional development that centered around the substance of
professional development: 1) the content (the depth the activity focused on improving
teacher knowledge), 2) Active learning (meaningful analysis, and 3) promoting coherence
(activities that are aligned to teacher goals).
Garet et al. (2001) found that the professional development activity type had an
important effect on duration. Those activities that offered a longer duration were
“reform” types of professional development that involved study groups, mentoring and
coaching (Garet et al., 2001). Reform activities also indicated that teacher knowledge and
skills also increased when compared to traditional professional development activities
(Garet et al., 2001). Duration played a key role on the success of high-quality
professional development. Results indicated that duration of activities and opportunities
to collaborate had a significant influence on active learning and coherence (Garet et al.,
2001). Providing teachers more opportunity to actively engage in activities enabled
teachers to plan curriculum, observe teaching skills, provide demonstrations, and analyze
student outcomes (Garet et al., 2001). Garet et al. (2001) emphasized that longer hours
also provided stronger correlation to teacher goals and standards based instruction.
The study also found that focusing on content specific professional development,
active learning, and coherence provided teachers with increased knowledge and
33
instructional skills (Garet et al., 2001). Garet et al. (2001) argued that professional
development that is better aligned with previous activities offered teachers with
considerable more opportunities to improve practice. Teachers reported that being able to
gain an increase in knowledge through professional development that provided coherence
motivated them to change their current practices (Garet et al., 2001). Professional
development that enabled opportunities to increase knowledge and skills, had a
significant influence on a teacher’s willingness to change practices in the classroom
(Garet et al., 2001).
Garet et al. (2001) however, did not completely dismiss the use of traditional
professional development models. Garet et al. (2001) noted that some traditional
professional development was significantly longer than reform activities and offered
teachers with a variety of more active learning. Garet et al. (2001) suggested not focusing
so much on whether professional development was traditional or reform, instead focusing
on the structure and core features of the provided professional development.
Ingvarson, Meiers, and Beavis (2005) conducted a study that examined the effects
of professional development programs on improved teacher knowledge, teacher practice,
and efficacy. Ingvarson et al. (2005) argued that professional development programs need
to be further evaluated and examined with more sophisticated methods. Ingvarson et al.
(2005) utilized a blockwise regression analysis to test the theoretical model on the impact
professional programs have on teacher learning. The theoretical model included several
contextual factors, structural features, process features, a mediating variable, and four
outcomes measures (Ingvarson et al., 2005). The study was based on four evaluation
studies completed under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme
34
(AGQTP) between 2001 to 2003. Although Ingvarson et al. (2005) utilized data from
these four studies; the purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness and quality
of the professional development provided.
Ingvarson et al. (2005) gathered survey data taken through the Australian
Government Quality Teacher Programme, which included 3,250 teachers. Teachers in the
study were participants in over 80 professional development activities and completed the
survey three months after completing professional development activities. The study
further took into account teacher gender, years of experience, school site, and support for
professional development (Ingvarson et al., 2005). The model developed by Ingvarson et
al. (2005) focused on school support, duration of professional development activities,
content focus, active learning, and teacher outcomes.
Ingvarson et al. (2005) conceptualized and identified professional development
outcomes based on research-based standards for effective teaching. Ingvarson et al.
(2005) argued that professional development programs should be measured in terms of
impact it had on teacher improved practice. The four outcomes of impact selected were:
impact on teachers’ knowledge, teachers’ practice, student learning outcomes, and
teachers’ beliefs.
Assessing whether there had been an impact on teachers knowledge was
examined through a four-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. This scale
was used to measure all outcomes of impact mentioned. Teachers responded to several
statements in regards to the impact the recent professional development had in increasing
their knowledge: improving student learning strategies, differentiating effective
instruction, learning content specific skills, building and aligning assessments effectively,
35
and classroom management. Statements also focused on being able to increase student
learning: actively engaging students, enhanced learning outcomes, students learning
purposefully, and student comprehension. Lastly, teachers’ beliefs were measured
through several statements regarding a teacher’s ability to meet a students learning needs
and increased teacher confidence.
Ingvarson et al. (2005) reported replications of the same four studies with greater
confidence. Consolidating all four studies allowed Ingvarson et al. (2005) to test their
conceptual model of professional development factors that affect the impact of teacher
practice, student learning, and teacher beliefs. The findings revealed that outcomes of
professional development varied depending on the opportunity for teachers to learn
information provided (Ingvarson et al., 2005).
For example, teachers reported a large influence for increased teacher knowledge
was due to content focus (Ingvarson et al., 2005). Professional development that offered
content, specific to teacher goals and classroom objectives, yielded significant increases
in teacher knowledge (Ingvarson et al., 2005). Opportunities for active learning were also
reported in three of the four studies as being important contributors to increased teacher
knowledge (Ingvarson et al., 2005).
According to Ingvarson et al. (2005) teacher practice was impacted by
opportunities for teachers to collaborate. Findings demonstrated that teachers who
developed professional communities at their school site had more success in improving
practice. Teachers conveyed in their responses how teacher collaboration allowed them
opportunity to share ideas, have conversations about instructional practices, and student
learning (Ingvarson et al., 2005).
36
Lastly, results of the studies also show that active learning was strongly related to
teacher beliefs (Ingvarson et al., 2005). Providing teachers the ability to collaborate
offered significant influence on teacher confidence over other outcomes of professional
development. According to Ingvarson et al. (2005) increasing teacher confidence gave
teachers the assurance to meet student needs and make changes in practice.
Findings from this study offer important professional development features that
have significant effects on teacher knowledge, student learning, and increased teacher
beliefs. Ingvarson et al. (2005) emphasized that studies continue to indicate a strong
correlation in increasing teacher knowledge and practice to the duration of a professional
development program.
Leadership Styles
Watkins (2005) defines leadership as the work of influencing and mobilizing
others within the organization to achieve the school’s shared vision and goals. Leadership
styles can be carried out in various ways, depending on the goals of the school.
Leadership has the ability to implement and sustain successful professional learning
opportunities through collaborative teacher inquiry and engagement (Mullen & Hutinger,
2008). Therefore, the literature presents three leadership styles and discusses how they
are present in school organizations today: (1) distributive leadership, (2) instructional
leadership and (3) transformational leadership. Each of these has attributes that lend
themselves to fostering professional learning environments that are most likely to support
teacher learning and engagement.
37
Distributed Leadership
Distributed leadership is defined as the principal’s leadership responsibilities
being shared or delegated to members of the school organization (Mullen & Hutinger,
2008). The distributed leadership style works well in encouraging collective action
because decision-making is governed by interaction of individuals rather than by the
direction of one person (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008). Mullen and Hutinger (2008) describe
the distributed leadership process as a fluid property in which principals understand
leadership as a dynamic organizational entity that encompasses lateral leadership. This
key process is described as a critical feature for encouraging and supporting opportunities
for collective action by faculty. According to Harris (2008) distributed leadership
philosophy overlaps considerably with collective, shared, democratic and participative
leadership concepts. In this leadership style teachers have the potential to exercise
leadership roles while leadership facilitates and supports their faculty (Harris, 2008).
Implementing Distributed Leadership. Harris (2008) explains how distributed
leadership is not restricted to any specific pattern and cannot be scripted in advance.
Instead, distributed leadership emerges from within the needs of the organization in order
to resolve challenges or take action (Harris, 2008). School improvement is achieved
through cooperative teamwork and collaborative decision-making (Harris, 2008).
According to Harris (2008) an increasing body of evidence identifies the importance of
capacity building in an organization for sustained improvement (Harris, 2008).
Unfortunately distributed leadership encompasses several challenges that may
impede successful leadership. Harris (2008) describes these contributing inefficiencies as:
38
conflicting priorities, school targets, timelines, and competency issues within leadership
to successfully manage and support faculty.
Instructional Leadership
Leithwood, Jantzi, and Steinbach (1999) define instructional leadership as leaders
who focus their attention on the behavior of teachers during activity engagement that
directly affects student learning. According to Leithwood et al. (1999) instructional
leadership consists of two variants: (1) a narrow focus on teacher behavior that promotes
student learning and (2) a broader view that additionally focuses on other organizational
components such as school culture that has a direct influence on teacher behavior.
Leithwood et al. (1999) note that school leaders alone cannot successfully implement or
sustain instructional leadership.
Blasé and Blasé (1998) identify effective instructional leadership in practice as
talking with teachers, encouraging and supporting professional improvement and
fostering teacher reflection. School leaders who are actively visible and provided regular
praise and autonomy for their teachers directly influence teacher behavior, and indirectly
affect student learning (Blasé & Blasé, 1998). According to Blasé and Blasé (1998)
instructional leaders recognize that most teachers only seek professional improvement
with strategic support and guidance. Blasé and Blasé (1998) however also note that
successfully implemented instructional leadership requires a range of leader expertise,
from teacher accountability, data gathering, to understanding teachers’ stage of
development and reflective communication skills.
Implementing Instructional Leadership. Because instructional leadership seeks
to create and foster learning communities, Southworth (2002) stresses the importance for
39
leaders to encompass a comprehensive understanding of curriculum, pedagogy, and
teacher and student learning. According to Southworth (2002) leaders learn successful
instructional leadership skills through opportunities to discuss and reflect on their own
work for improved knowledge. School leaders are relied upon to provide teachers with
current research-based knowledge for improved practice and student learning.
Southworth (1998) states that because the central focus of instructional leadership is to
provide teachers with professional growth, leaders must provide teachers with improved
instructional skills and knowledge through successful professional development. The
school must maintain a school culture of frequent teaching and learning. Successfully
integrating a school culture of learning requires the following features from leaders: (1) a
culture of teacher collaboration, (2) inquiry of student perspectives on their own learning,
(3) teacher mentoring or coaching opportunities, (4) continual assessment of teacher
knowledge based for teacher strengths, needs and skills.
Transformational Leadership
Hall, Johnson, Wysocki, and Kepner (2008) define transformational leadership as
having the ability to influence others to want to change, strive for improvement, and be
led by a leader. Transformational leaders instill teacher value, motivation, and satisfy the
needs of their organization (Hall et al., 2008).
Implementing Transformational Leadership. Hall et al. (2008) define four
essential characteristics that drive transformational leadership:
Idealized influence: leaders are role models in the organization and gain
respect and trust of others. Strong role model with high values.
40
Inspirational motivation: leaders motivate organization to commit to the goals.
Provides autonomy and empowers others to do what is best for the
organization.
Intellectual stimulation: leaders promote critical thinking and problem solving
by challenging normal beliefs and views. Supports teacher collaboration to
provoke and listen to all viewpoints.
Individual consideration: leaders are coaches that provide others the ability to
meet the goals through encouragement and support. The leader helps the
organization by helping others contribute to the organization. (p. 2)
Transformational leaders, unlike other forms of leadership style, share
responsibilities and build their organizations bottom-up with multiple sources of
leadership (Hallinger, 2003). Leithwood and Jintz (2005) argue the strong relationship
between principal effects through transformational leadership and school culture.
Creating an organization that promotes desired behavior, intellectual stimulation, and
professional development must be achieved through fostering group goals. According to
Leithwood and Jintz (2005transformational leadership impacts professional learning,
teachers’ commitment to change, and teachers’ perception of school conditions.
Conceptual Framework
Presented above is a literature review regarding teacher beliefs towards
professional development, professional learning models, and leadership styles. The
conceptual framework for this study describes the relationship between teacher beliefs
towards professional development, models of professional learning and leadership’s role
in supporting and facilitating successful elements of professional learning for teachers.
41
More specifically, the framework proposes that there are professional development
elements that, when successfully facilitated and supported by a leader, increases teacher
knowledge and encourages teachers to become active participants in their own learning
by changing their beliefs and attitudes towards professional development. Building
teacher knowledge and changing teacher beliefs through their experiences with
professional development plays a fundamental role in improving instructional practices
and impacting student achievement. Professional development is a component that is
highly dependant on successful learning elements and effective leadership skills. This
framework is presented below.
Changing Teacher Beliefs
The first step in building teacher knowledge and engaging teachers to participate
in professional development is to first address a need to change teacher beliefs and
attitudes towards new learning. Teachers need to experience and observe a successful
model of instruction before it is embraced (Guskey, 2002). Guskey (2002) points out
three critical elements that requires leadership to provide in order to build and sustain
effective change in teacher attitudes: support teachers through difficult processes,
accountability for those who challenge change, and feedback that provides teachers
confidence and encouragement.
Support for teachers requires leaders to consistently reinforce modeling of
successful implemented instruction, acceptance to fail, and the reduction of anxiety
among teachers (Guskey, 2002). Leaders often neglect the need to continually reinforce
aspects of professional development. Change can only be maintained through continuous
teacher practice and accountability. New innovations must become second nature to
42
teachers and must push teachers out of their comfort zone. Diligence is required of
leaders who struggle to change teacher attitudes. Providing a platform in which teachers
learn from others and observe failures can encourage more participation.
Leaders also must provide teachers with substantial feedback that acknowledges
their classroom practice, effectiveness of new learning strategies, and evidence that
illustrates improved student learning. Accountability for student learning is an important
factor that informs teachers about their current practices and effectiveness in
implementation.
Professional Learning Models
Incorporating professional development opportunities for teachers requires school
sites to effectively implement professional learning characteristics that will allow for
active teacher collaboration, relevant content knowledge, and significant duration of time.
Studies such as Ingvarson et al. (2005) argue that teachers are most likely to change
practice when they gain confidence that will directly impact student learning. This gain in
confidence comes through increased knowledge and collaborative teacher learning.
Implementing professional learning opportunities that will foster and facilitate an
environment in which teacher learning can be developed will create increased teacher
capacity in classrooms. As Ingvarson et al. (2005) emphasize, school sites that provide
professional development that offers teachers adequate time, active engagement, and
content specific knowledge will generate increased teacher leaning and motivation.
Significant research demonstrates that school leaders must refrain from implementing a
professional development model that provides teachers with isolated, inconsistent, and
arbitrary topics that lacks meaningful classroom connections for teachers (Darling-
43
Hammond, 2009). A successful professional learning model incorporates a collaborative,
inquisitive, and hands-on approach that is followed with fidelity by teachers and
administrators throughout the school year. Inquiry as stance model and school-based
inquiry teams both offer key elements and theories that increase opportunities for
building teacher learning through engaging learning strategies.
Inquiry-Based Learning. I define inquiry as stance as a learning model that
requires teachers to continually question, evaluate and challenge curriculum and
instructional methods for the purpose of improving practice for increased student
learning. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2010) introduced inquiry as stance as a probing
approach for professional learning that requires teachers to become active researchers in
their field. I characterize inquiry as stance as the overarching learning concept that must
be infused into any successful learning model in order to begin to change teacher
perception regarding their vigorous role as continual learners. Expectations for inquiry as
stance entail elements of critical thinking and in-depth reflection as part of the process for
practice improvement. Therefore, a collaborative inquiry model that incorporates
analytical discussions, pedagogical analysis, reflection of lessons, and classroom
observations would best meet the principles of inquiry as stance. The school-based
inquiry teams learning model offers a stable structure in which teachers can
collaboratively research and investigate efforts closer to school-based needs. The school-
based inquiry teams provide opportunities for teachers to successfully collaborate and
break away from isolation that hinders professional learning and teacher growth (Darling-
Hammond, 2009).
44
A school-based inquiry team is defined as a collaborative learning model that
makes connections between teacher practice and student learning by providing peer
facilitators and inquiry-focused protocols. School-based inquiry teams build their
learning foundation on the premise that practitioners must be motivated to collectively
reflect and examine their own depth of knowledge and instructional capacity. Therefore,
school-based inquiry teams aim at increasing and sustaining teacher learning through
interdependent peer learning and hands-on practices that build capacity. Teachers should
be allowed to collaboratively analyze instructional lessons, student data, learning
environments, student engagement, curriculum resources, direct instruction, and student
intervention support. School-based inquiry teams also provide peer facilitators at various
developmental stages. As Darling-Hammond (2009) note, successful professional
learning must entail mentoring for teacher support, professional development that is
based on school need, and a structure for facilitating time and accountability. Peer
facilitators, offered in school based-inquiry teams, create opportunities for guidance by
offering access to observe classroom lessons, obtain instructional feedback, and work
consistently with grade level colleagues. Peer facilitators have a greater impact on
building and sustaining successful professional learning because they often have the time
to mentor colleagues leaving coaches and administrators time to focus solely on making
research-based information available; a valuable resource in improving instructional
skills.
Professional learning that seeks to promote practice change through teacher action
must incorporate elements that will build teacher engagement and leadership qualities
that nurture an environment of learning. Building teacher engagement is a critical
45
component that sustains successful professional learning and provides important teacher
and student outcomes. Professional learning features that offer an environment in which
teachers can actively engage in building knowledge through direct support and active
collaboration, as well as provide leadership qualities that increase instructional support
and encouragement will generate an intrinsic motivation within teachers to willingly
improve practice.
For the purpose of this study I gathered data from various teachers regarding their
perception about how professional learning opportunities shaped their attitude towards
professional development and ability to improve practice. One-on-one interviews took
place from teachers at various grade levels. Data through interviews informed how
teachers perceive leadership support in reference to implementing professional learning
opportunities and its effectiveness to increase teacher capacity.
Leadership Qualities to Promote Practice Change
In defining leadership I use key elements from Watkins (2005) in stating that a
leader sets a nurturing environment that generates school wide discourse regarding school
goals and cohesive teaching and learning. There are elements from both transformational
and instructional leadership styles that I have chosen to focus on for the purpose of this
study. I argue that these, leadership qualities and characteristics will facilitate, encourage,
and sustain meaningful collaborative learning models that will increase teacher
engagement and knowledge in order to generate practice change. The two leadership
elements focused on for the purpose of this study are: 1) a leader who implements and
supports a professional learning community, and 2) a leader who can promote increased
teacher capacity and motivation. These two elements are significant in building teacher
46
knowledge and engagement, which are necessary elements for teachers to willingly
improve practices.
Successful leadership begins with someone who promotes and implements a
professional learning community within their school in order to support improved teacher
practice. School leaders must facilitate meaningful professional learning opportunities
that include processing time, active learning, and teacher collaboration. A strong leader
implements and sustains teacher learning by increase teacher knowledge through teacher
needs. As stressed by Ingvarson et al. (2005) teachers require content specific knowledge
during professional learning opportunities. A school leader learns to examine the needs of
teachers and subsets those needs through professional learning opportunities that will
allow them to participate and collaborate with other teachers. Teachers can gain capacity
through consistent active learning; professional learning that is structured with
documentation; collaborating with norms in place that generate constructive outcomes,
and data analysis to drive instruction. As a result, leaders must also be strong
instructional leaders who focus on two necessary elements: teacher active learning and
awareness of a teacher’s stage of development. Leaders who understand teachers’
instructional developmental needs can alter teacher attitude toward improving practice by
facilitating learning opportunities, open communication, and teacher collaboration.
Although there is no step-by step manual on how leaders create or develop
teacher commitment and capacity (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000), another method in
inspiring motivation and encouraging practice change is by developing teachers as
leaders though continuous leadership support and encouragement. Leadership involves
developing role models among their teachers to build inner confidence for teachers who
47
struggle or are reluctant to change. Role models are responsible for offering colleagues
with successful instructional strategies, individual support, curriculum development
examples, student learning skills, and individualized strategic support. Role models or
peer facilitators, as mentioned in school-based inquiry models (Darling-Hammond,
2009), assist in alleviating teacher stress and anxiety that hinders teacher practice change.
Teachers who observe this exemplar behavior are more likely to belief that they too have
the abilities to succeed in tasks. Role models offer strategic support specific to the
developmental stages of a teacher. Role models in the classroom demonstrate successful
lessons that generate student inquiry and engagement. Lessons involve student interaction
through group or classroom discussion, teacher led direct instruction that builds
conceptual learning, quick student assessments, student visual and language support,
among other elements that school leaders define as successful practices. Principals must
also take a direct role in providing facilitated collaborative meetings or observed
classroom time that would allow teachers opportunities to discuss clear learning
outcomes.
For the purpose of this study I gathered data that informed on a leader’s actions
concerning school-wide instructional practices, implementation of professional learning
models and opportunities, and teachers’ attitude to engage in professional development.
The data was gathered from one-on-one interviews with teachers at the elementary level.
I discuss my methodology further in Chapter 3. Collecting data from interviews provided
rich information that was valuable in gathering insight to teachers’ perception and beliefs
in regards to available professional learning and leadership qualities for improved teacher
practice.
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Implementing a model of professional development that builds successful teacher
knowledge and capacity begins with changing teacher beliefs towards the process of
learning. Many teachers have difficulties embracing new instructional strategies and
curricula because of the anxiety and fear that it creates to their practice. Imbedded beliefs
and assumptions regarding existing professional development approaches causes teachers
to shut down and struggle with new knowledge. School leaders must therefore address
the need to change teacher beliefs towards professional development before they can
expect teachers to accept new challenges. The vast majority of professional learning
literature addresses the successful elements required within professional development,
but few concentrate on the need to acknowledge and change teacher beliefs and the
critical role leadership plays in facilitating effective professional development.
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CHAPTER 3: METHODS
The following chapter reviews the study’s research design, school site and
participant selection, instrumentation, process for data collection and approach for
analysis.
Research Design
The questions in this study ask: What are teachers’ perceptions regarding
professional development at their school site? and What do teachers perceive to be the
principal’s role in supporting their learning? Qualitative methods were chosen to answer
these questions because they allowed me to gather rich descriptive data related to
teachers’ perceptions, beliefs, and opinions regarding their experiences with professional
development and the role their principal played in supporting and facilitating their
learning opportunities. Interviews allowed me the opportunity to gather personal stories,
experiences, and background information insight into how these teachers experienced
professional development, whether they believed it enabled them to improve their
practice, and whether their principal supported opportunities for learning at their school
site. Unlike quantitative methods, qualitative approach allows for an inductive approach
to discovering people’s perceptions and beliefs. Qualitative methods also enabled me to
capture thoughts and beliefs from participants that are not always captured through
quantitative approach. Using an inductive approach allowed me the opportunity to gather
data and build theories by triangulating various forms of data collection such as
interviews (Merriam, 2009).
This study followed a qualitative case study approach. Merriam (2009) defined a
case study approach as an in-depth description and examination of a bounded
organization. Qualitative measures provided a snapshot of teachers’ beliefs, attitudes
50
(Tschannen-Moran, Hoy, & Hoy, 1998, and behavior surrounding their experiences with
professional development at their site and the approach that leadership had in extending
their experiences with collaboration, relevant content, facilitated time, and accountability.
In performing a qualitative study, I gained insight into the events and influences that
teachers attributed to shaping the development of their learning. This in-depth insight
could only be achieved through qualitative research (Tschannen-Moran, Hoy, & Hoy,
1998).
Through interviews I made connections regarding the impact that leadership traits
have on professional learning and the impact the absence of key professional
development elements have on teachers’ attitudes to be active participants in their
learning.
Sample and Population Size
The purpose of this study was to examine professional learning elements present
at a school site that influence and shape teacher beliefs and attitudes towards professional
development and the capacity leadership has in facilitating and supporting successful
learning environment. Evidence of professional development elements was analyzed, as
well as the impact that the principal has in shaping the overall success for teacher
professional development opportunities. Selection for the school site was intended to
include: professional learning opportunities for teachers, principal multiple years of
experience at the site, and teachers selected must have been in a teaching position at the
site for a minimum of 3 years. The site was selected based on the premise that based on
their previous Star (CST) test scores the school might have effective professional
development elements in place.
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Site Selection Criteria
The following elements were intended to be non-negotiable for the purpose of this
study but were not ultimately part of the selection process:
1. An implemented professional learning model or elements that facilitate teacher
learning in a collaborative approach. Professional learning model or elements
must have been in place for more than three years to show greater likelihood of
school achievement.
2. High-performing elementary school (based on API scores reported on California
State Test which measures school growth). The API scale ranges from 200 to
1,000 with a score of 800 considered proficient. API range of 800 or above will
be used for this study. The elementary school studied will also be a public school.
3. Principal must have been at the school site for at least five years. Five years or
more will demonstrate a higher likelihood that leadership support and
implemented vision had an influence on teacher beliefs.
Due to self-imposed limitations, a convenience sampling approach was used in order to
examine and analyze teachers’ perceptions of their professional development
opportunities and the way the principal’s leadership shaped their learning opportunities.
The school selected was contacted via phone for permission to perform a brief study. The
school’s office directed me to contact teachers through email. A group of teachers
volunteered to participate and offered several available days for interviews. This school
was readily available to participate in the study, and with several teachers willing to
participate, this school was chosen. Thus, although essential criteria had been identified
in the proposal stage, they were not adhered to for the purposes of conducting the study.
52
Participants
This study was intended to focus on teachers who participated in professional
learning opportunities and engage in facilitated collaborative time. For the purposes of
understanding the elements of professional learning that influence teacher attitudes
towards professional development, teachers selected were required to be teaching at the
school site for at least three years. Teachers’ years of experience were not factored into
the study; therefore they could have been at various developmental levels. The study also
included at least four teachers to gain in depth understanding of the effects external
factors have on teacher beliefs and actions. The principal at the school site demonstrated
at least five years of experience at the school site and successful school growth in areas
such as ELA and other subgroups, such as English Language Learners. The role of the
principal in the study was strictly examined through teachers’ perceptions and attitudes.
Through teacher interviews the principal’s leadership style was analyzed for elements
that contributed to a successful learning environment.
Principal Selection Criteria
Although the principal was not interviewed, leadership criteria was identified to
make any connection between successful implemented practices of professional learning
to current administration.
1. A principal who facilitates a school plan that incorporates a professional learning
model or elements.
a. Provides structured collaboration time among teachers for at least some period
throughout the school year.
b. Principal who encourages building teacher knowledge and instructional skills.
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c. Has at least five years of successful student growth at the school site.
d. Allows teachers opportunities for teacher autonomy.
The extent to which the principal’s leadership style reflected any or all of the criteria
above, according to teacher perceptions, was assessed in determining current teacher
attitudes towards professional development and learning outcomes.
Teacher Criteria
Teachers volunteered to participate in the study. Teachers who participated had
the following characteristics:
1. Teachers who work at the school and were from a variety of grade levels. Only
five teachers were willing to participate in the study.
2. Teachers had more than three-year experience at the current school site. Grade
level experience varied due to assignment changes.
Data Collection
I served as the primary source for data collection. I conducted interviews with the
selected teachers. I also identified how elements of professional learning and leadership
affected a teacher’s ability to gain new knowledge and support for learning. Leadership
qualities were also analyzed and factored into the data in order to assess qualities that
teachers deem engaging or supportive in advancing or prohibiting their professional
learning. Feelings of teacher engagement and support with participation in professional
development will be gathered through personal accounts and teacher experiences.
The methods for my data collection were primarily interviews. Tschannen-Moran,
Hoy, and Hoy (1998) argue that producing more useful and in-depth answers concerning
links that facilitate or impede improvement of instructional practices, can only be gained
54
through qualitative questioning. The interviews were conducted individually with
teachers over several days. Interviews allowed for behavior observations, gauging
opinions and teacher perceptions, as well as inferences oh how teachers view specific
items such as professional learning, leadership, and colleagues (Merriam, 2009).
Interviews
Interviews provide researchers with rich information about people’s thoughts and
feelings (Merriam, 2009). Gaining an understanding into teachers’ feelings and thoughts
are items that are not tangible through observations and Likert scales. Conducting
interviews provide valuable insight and data collection that expand our knowledge
regarding how teachers gain and perceive learning experiences and the role that
leadership plays in supporting and facilitating learning opportunities. Interviews were
semi structured in order to allow flexibility of questions. Interviews posed questions
regarding leadership actions and characteristics that facilitate professional learning and
elements in professional development that increase teacher learning and engagement. I
conducted two interview sessions with most participants, which took place over several
days. Each session consisted of an hour session or longer. Questions posed gaged
teachers’ personal competence, instructional strengths and weaknesses, perceptions
regarding professional learning at their site level, administrative support, resource
constraints, and factors that impede or enable successful professional learning elements
such as teacher collaboration.
Interview questions (See Appendix B) discussed with teachers provided in-depth
information regarding teacher attitudes and capacity to learn through available
administered professional development, their ability to work collectively, and
55
leadership’s ability to improve teacher practice. Interviews were recorded and
transcribed; handwritten notes were also be utilized during interviews.
Analysis
The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the influences that external
factors, such as professional learning models, leadership characteristics, and collaboration
have on a teacher’s ability to engage and acquire knowledge. The analysis involved
probing into teacher beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and experiences with these elements. In
order to assess successful elements of professional development and leadership support,
interview questions were directed towards teacher experience with current learning
models and the principal’s role in implementing learning opportunities.
After interviews were conducted, the responses were transcribed by the use of
written notes and recorder used during each session. Notes of interviews and complete
transcription were typed and filed with school-collected documents. Following
suggestions from Bogdan and Bicklen (2007) for data analysis I followed the following
steps: (1) focus solely on the purpose of my study, (2) planned interview sessions
accordingly and followed-up with pertinent questions when necessary, (3) wrote themes
and ideas out after interviews to detect connections or patterns. After interviews were
transcribed I consolidated, reduced, and interpreted (Merriam, 2009) the information
from the interviews to make meaning and find connections to my study in conjunction
with the concepts from my conceptual framework. As I began to analyze the data I coded
the information to pull out relevant data. After data was coded I sorted and categorize
themes. As themes arose I analyzed teacher responses and found connections across
interviews. I examined these themes for connections to my conceptual framework.
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Analysis of data demonstrated strong connections between teachers’ inability to engage
in successful learning opportunities and their feeling towards the inability for leadership
to implement effective learning models.
Validity and Reliability
To increase and assure that validity of the study Merriam (2009) suggest
triangulation of data. Ensuring that the outcomes and data analysis matched the
information gathered from interviews. Data was crosschecked several times throughout
the interview process and coding of data. Referring to hand written notes and taped
sessions, I was able to ensure that data was not being misinterpreted. Secondly, I
followed up any answer provided by respondents with clarifying respondent validation to
rule out misinterpreting any responses (Merriam, 2009). Respondent validation took
place throughout the course of the interviews process or analysis. This process ensured
that validity was properly followed.
Reliability requires that the data results be consistent with the data collected
(Merriam, 2009). Therefore, I made certain that my results were concrete, consistent, and
dependable. The study offered in-depth details of the data collection process, audit trail,
and explaining how the findings were concluded from the collected data to provide
possible transferability. Being able to duplicate the study would provide further reliability
for both internal and external validity.
Conclusion
This study focused on the influence current professional development has on
developing teacher knowledge and engagement for learning. It also examined the
influence that leadership has on impacting learning models for success. Teacher
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perceptions and attitudes drove the final analysis and findings on the effectiveness of
current professional development and leadership models at their site. The conceptual
framework presented in Chapter 2 guided the study.
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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS
The purpose of the study was to examine elements of professional development
that influence and generate teacher engagement and increased knowledge. The study
investigated several existing factors at a school site that would influence teacher learning:
teacher attitudes towards professional development and leadership’s ability to facilitate
successful professional development. The study’s findings were drawn from an analysis
of interview data. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted; teachers selected held
various years of experience as well as background and skills. A concise description of the
school site and the participants is provided below in order to provide context for the
study. Findings will then be presented by research questions and themes. The two
research questions addressed in this study were: 1) What are teachers’ perceptions
regarding professional development at their school site? 2) What do teachers perceive to
be the principal’s role in supporting their learning? For the first research question, teacher
attitudes and perception about current professional development were compared to
research-based elements of professional learning. Similarly, the role of cooperative and
quality teacher collaboration was examined in relation to increasing teacher knowledge
and skills. With respect to the second question, the role of leadership was explored in
relation to creating opportunities for quality teacher collaboration and relevant
professional development opportunities from the perspective of teachers.
Mountain View Elementary School
Mountain View Elementary
1
is a K-6 elementary school located in Southern
California. The principal has been the school administrator for eight years. Mountain
1
The school name and the names of the study participants are pseudonyms.
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View serves over 700 students with the following student demographics: 1% Black, 12%
Asian, 39% Hispanic, 40% White, 1% American Indian, and 7% other races. Students
who attend the school fall into the following categories: socioeconomically
disadvantaged students (27%), English Language Learners (16%) and students with
disabilities (10%). While the school serves a relatively diverse student population, the
school is also more affluent than many of the schools in Southern California, with only
27% of the student population qualifying for free/reduced lunch. Similarly, the school
serves a smaller English learner population than many schools in the state. Mountain
View Elementary has a general education staff of 23 teachers and 7 special education
teachers. Mountain View, over the last few years, has achieved an API score well over
850, with their most current score of 890 in 2013. Student subgroup performance:
Hispanic/Latino 844, White 906, Socially Disadvantaged Students 828, English Learners
862, and Asian 967. Thus the school is also a very high performing elementary school.
Mountain View also offers students a vast range of opportunities to excel academically
and artistically, such as musical performances, short skits through Readers’ Theatre,
recreating both classical and modern art, and lastly incorporating technology (iPods and
laptops) into daily student curriculum.
Interview Participants
Five teachers volunteered and participated in the interviews, four female teachers
and one male. The participants have a variety of teaching experience and educational
backgrounds. All participants are Caucasian and most are parents themselves. Three of
the teachers teach in the kindergarten through third grade levels and two are teaching
fourth through sixth grade. Teaching experience varies among the group, anywhere from
60
10 years to 30 years. Some of the teachers also have experience teaching at several grade
levels from kindergarten through sixth, while others have only taught in one grade level
their entire teaching career.
Participant Background
Melanie: Melanie is a veteran teacher with more than 30 years of experience, 20
of which have been at Mountain View Elementary. She has taught almost every
elementary grade level. Melanie currently teaches a primary grade level, which she has
been at for almost four years. Melanie’s educational philosophy is to provide students
with life skills necessary to succeed in life. She believes in instilling students with
problem solving skills necessary for real world problems. Melanie exudes self-confidence
in her abilities as a teacher. She believes her experience has provided her with valuable
knowledge and skills to help students reach their potential. Melanie’s opinion of
leadership, however, is full of frustration and discontent. She feels administration has
problems with teacher accountability, school direction, and follow-through. She also has
limited meaningful collaboration with her grade level due to time restraints. Melanie
states that most collaboration is expected to be carried out during professional
development opportunities; yet professional development trainings have a reputation by
most teachers as being irrelevant and inconsistent. Melanie experiences professional
development as lacking time to examine and revisit information, insufficient content
specific information relevant to the classroom, and administrative follow-through.
Although Melanie does not feel that areas such as collaboration and professional
development have been successfully implemented, she understands the great value and
impact it could have on her skills as a teacher.
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Allan: Allan has been teaching for over 10 years; all of his teaching experience
has been at Mountain View Elementary and at the same grade level. Allan’s educational
philosophy is to challenge students and make them inquisitive leaders who can think
outside the box. Allan is driven by his philosophy and continually seeks to improve his
skills and knowledge by reading through research-based journals in the area of writing.
Allan has a strong commitment in continually enriching his classroom with innovative
writing curriculum that includes research-based projects and collaborative learning. Allan
not only believes in his confidence to implement his own writing program, but he also
shows commitment as a learner himself by building a writing program that incorporates
an in-depth inquiry teaching approach. Unfortunately, although Allan demonstrates a
dedication to continually grow as a teacher, there is insufficient evidence that true teacher
collaboration and elements of professional development are taking place..
In regards to leadership, Allan believes his principal struggles with accountability.
He explains how the principal has little understanding of what happens in most
classrooms in terms of practices used and teacher collaboration. Allan does not feel
current professional development is valued. Allan would like to see more challenging and
relevant professional development trainings that would provide him with tangible ideas
that he can implement in his class.
Terri: Terri has almost 20 years of experience as a primary teacher and has been
at Mountain View for over 10 years in a primary grade level. Terri’s philosophy is to
create a loving, stress free environment for all students. She feels all students have the
right to learn in a safe environment in which they can be nurtured. Terri’s extensive years
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as an educator have provided her with the confidence that she can provide students with
quality instruction.
Terri has a positive attitude about her principal in regards to his character as a
person. Terri states that the principal is a caring person who has many times provided
personal support for many teachers. However, she quickly notes that as an administrator
he is still learning how to be assertive and provide teachers with a school vision.
In regards to professional development, Terri argues that she does not value
school-mandated trainings because of the inadequate content, delivery, and application.
She states that having her principal provide her grade level with the flexibility to attend
conferences and adopt curriculum more suited for their grade level needs is of great
value. Terri also explains how collaboration is fractured in her grade level. There are
teachers who share ideas and others who choose to work alone. Collaboration is
something that the administration says is expected but it is not supported by
administration through its actions.
Ava: Ava has been a teacher at Mountain View for just under 10 years, with 2
additional years at a different district. Ava has taught the same primary grade level for
over 5 years and has district training in technology. Ava is very committed to being a
continual learner, building her instructional strategies and skills. Her philosophy is, “I
don’t have to know all the answers, but I know where to find the answers.” Ava believes
she has strong interpersonal skills and can effectively communicate with colleagues,
parents, and students.
Ava has a very positive perception when it comes to her principal. She respects
him highly as a person who cares for others and tries to develop friendships with teachers
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and parents. She does, however say that the principal has been at times too passive with
decision-making and teacher accountability. For example, the principal strategically
assigns grade level assignments to improve collaboration among teachers; yet Ava
notices a trend in which the principal only reassigns teachers who willingly collaborate
without confronting the teachers who refuse to collaborate in order to avoid
confrontations. Ava also states that professional development is more like busy work. She
describes how district professional development has been unreliable, sporadic, and
discouraging.
Lauren: Lauren has been a teacher for over 10 years total, and has been at
Mountain View for over 5 years teaching upper grades. Lauren’s philosophy to teaching
has changed through out the years. As a novice teacher she focused on following a
standards-based pacing guide and implementing strict student discipline. Now, Lauren is
focused on taking care of students’ academic needs, as well as their social needs. She
believes that teaching is about being flexible, asking ones’ self what every student needs,
ensuring that every student feels cared for, and putting the students’ well-being first.
Lauren believes in her ability of providing students with the tools necessary to be well
rounded. Lauren is also committed to bringing more technology into her classroom. She
has received a technology grant through her district, which has provided her class with
iPods.
Lauren also holds the principal in high esteem as person, but struggles to
understand his school vision and passive attitude as an administrator. According to
Lauren, the reason teachers have not excelled in areas such as collaboration is due to the
principal’s inability to have difficult conversations with teachers regarding their behavior
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and demonstrate more accountability. In regards to professional development, Lauren
understands that it is critical for teacher growth, but professional development that is
presented at the school site is not clear, motivating, or valued by many teachers at the
school.
Research Question#1: What are teachers’ perceptions regarding professional
development at their school site?
I argued in my conceptual framework that teachers increase knowledge when
successful elements of professional development are implemented and successful
leadership fosters a professional learning model that supports and changes teacher beliefs
in order to participate in collaboration. Under these circumstances teachers build capacity
and commitment to improving their practice. Through my interviews with these five
teachers I discovered that most teachers at Mountain View Elementary have not been
engaging in successful professional learning and collaboration. For example, Allan
stated, “We only meet to make our grade level leader happy. I really don’t use any
lessons that my colleagues offer.” Although all participants stated that the principal’s
intentions have been to create optimal conditions that will allow for successful
implementation of professional development and collaboration, Allan argues that the
principal does not have the necessary skills to make this possible. Ultimately, the poor
implementation of teacher collaboration and professional learning has led to a lack of
teacher learning and collaboration, which has resulted in the absence of engagement and
participation during professional development.
Improving teacher learning is an important element in motivating teachers to
improve practices and engage in their own learning (Ingvarson et al., 2005). Facilitating
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and implementing successful collaboration requires key elements that influence
successful teacher learning (Darling-Hammond, 2009). These elements include sustained
time, leadership support, accountability, and critical thinking (Darling-Hammond, 2009).
According to participants, the current school attitude regarding collaboration is one of
compliance over teacher willingness to participate. All teachers describe collaboration as
being disjointed within each grade level; every grade level functions independently of
each other with their own objectives and procedures. According to participants, the
inefficient direction and accountability from leadership has led teachers to develop and
manage their own structures for collaboration. As a result, evidence demonstrates teacher
collaboration is lacking meaningful teacher discourse and sufficient time.
According to Melanie, a set of norms for collaboration that ensures teacher
engagement in critical thinking and teacher output is nonexistent in their grade level. As
Melanie states, “Leadership has very little control over collaboration…the principal is a
little over his head. He’s torn in so many directions, but doesn't follow-through on most
of them. He’s a nice guy, but the school suffers because of it.” Melanie’s statement
suggests the principal has not successfully set a structure for grade level collaboration
goals, teacher output, or facilitated time. All teachers voiced the same concern as Melanie
in regards to the lack of effective leadership for collaboration. Allan adds, “Our meeting
times are off and on and right now we have low motivation [for collaboration].” Based on
teacher responses, the principal’s ineffective management of collaboration has created an
unorganized low-valued attitude towards collaboration. Allan states, “I haven’t gained
much from grade level collaboration because our students are different. We’re not doing
a good job overall. I don’t hear much positive from about it, other than we want to do it. I
66
hear a lot how we want to work together, but how it’s done is not working great.” It is
important that leadership set a structure that nurtures and sustains discussion about
teaching and learning (Watkins, 2005). Teacher collaboration requires leadership to
manage resources for learning, instructional direction, and exert appropriate
accountability to achieve goals and mediate teacher dynamics (DuFour, 2006). Without a
leader to implement, facilitate, and oversee critical elements of collaboration teachers
lose focus, eagerness, and opportunities for critical thinking that can lead to valuable
improved practices.
Every teacher interviewed also stated a critical problem with insufficient time to
collaborate and a lack of accountability. As Goddard (2007) states, teacher collaboration
carries an enormous value in promoting instructional improvement through the shared
experiences and knowledge that teachers share. Terri explains how time to collaborate is
scarce and meetings lack structured meeting days and accountability; “We have one
Wednesday each month for teacher planning. Everything else [collaboration time] is just
here and there. We also have PE time, but mostly we don’t meet during PE. I think he
[principal] should make us meet because that's why he got PE for us. That goes back to
making us do stuff, we’re kind of like bad children.” This statement shows how teachers
have inconsistent collaboration, partially due to leadership’s inability to enforce grade
level meeting days. Meaningful collaboration can only takes place with sustained
facilitated time in which teachers participate in critical thinking, teacher reflection, and
relevant discourse (City, Elmore, Fiarman & Teitel, 2009). All participants used words
like “sharing ideas” and “creating lessons” to describe their collaboration time, which
lacks depth and value. As Garet, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001) state, successful
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professional learning requires content specific information, an active learning approach,
and most importantly consistency. For teachers to take risks in their practice there must
be meaningful and continual collaboration, which has a higher likelihood of enabling
teachers to challenge current practices for new innovative ideas.
I found that teachers at Mountain View Elementary had imbedded beliefs towards
professional development that were deterring them from engaging in new opportunities
for learning. Most of this was the direct result of the ineffective facilitation of
professional development and the perceived inability from teachers for leadership to
successfully provide instruction that was relevant for classrooms. Teachers’ experiences
with professional development did not acknowledge a need to address teacher beliefs or
change their existing attitudes in order to accept new learning models. Teachers found
that leadership lacked support for teachers, accountability to maintain any relevant
learning, and feedback was nonexistent due to sporadic opportunities for professional
development.
Research Question#2: What do teachers perceive to be the principal’s role in
supporting their learning?
This research question sought to provide insight into the ways in which a
principal intentionally or inadvertently creates conditions that foster professional learning
opportunities for teachers. As Watkins (2005) suggests, leadership’s role in building a
community of learners begins by developing an environment that encourages teacher
autonomy and nurtures and develops teacher learning. Leadership that successfully
implements teacher collaboration and learning creates a foundation necessary for
improved teacher practice (Watkins, 2005).
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Through the analysis of collected interview data, several themes arose regarding
the beliefs that teachers have about the principal’s role in ineffectively facilitating and
supporting professional development and teacher collaboration opportunities. Although
all teachers agree that the principal’s intentions and actions are always based on the
expectation of promoting and encouraging teacher growth, his strategies and skills are not
successful or motivating for teachers. Evidence gathered from teacher perceptions
suggest that Mountain View’s principal lacks two essential elements that research deems
critical for leaders who strive to stimulate teacher practice change: (1) Lack of
expectations and accountability has created unsuccessful collaboration; instead there is a
lack of teacher trust and increased animosity among staff; and (2) Teacher learning
requires time and support that is not effectively facilitated by the principal. Research
reinforces the critical role that leadership plays in providing a successful learning
environment for teacher growth and practice change.
According to participants, teacher accountability has become a challenge for the
principal. All participants stated that the principal is someone who is highly respected as
an individual who exhibits moral fiber; however as a leader, teachers describe the
principal as someone who lacks assertiveness, follow-through, and “Likes to avoid
problems.” Although teachers agree that the principal’s intention is to facilitate
collaboration and improve teacher learning, the lack of teacher accountability is causing
inconsistencies in collaboration and productivity within grade levels. As a
transformational leader, supporting teachers through innovative ideas and empowering
others to do what is best for the school requires shared responsibilities between principal
69
and teachers (Leithwood & Jintz, 2005). If the principal struggles to implement group
goals, the impact to school culture can be minimal to nonexistent.
According to Lauren, the principal has been unable to make significant changes to
improve instruction and collaboration due to his unwillingness to rotate assignments for
uncooperative teachers and hold them accountable. She states, “There is a perception of
compartmentalization; teacher assignments have been stagnant.” Lauren explains how
the principal rotates teachers who are willing to work with others; yet holds difficult
teachers in the same grade in order to avoid conflict. Melanie agrees that the principal has
not moved the school forward due to his lack of leadership skills to hold teachers
accountable, “The principal would rather avoid problems than hold people accountable
and actually have follow-through. The principal is over his head.” This evidence suggests
the principal is unwilling to confront teachers who will challenge his authority. With a
lack of accountability from leadership, teachers will continue to contest collaboration,
grade level changes, and lack buy-in for professional learning. Developing buy-in from
teachers is a critical element for principals. Buy-in from staff allows principals to create a
strong influence towards generating motivation and commitment to goals (Hall, Johnson,
Wysocki, & Kepner, 2008). Terri explains, “He needs to be a stronger leader. He’s a
sweetheart and doesn’t want to get people mad. I love the man, I do. He doesn’t like
conflict… there are teachers who have posted inappropriate things on Facebook and have
not been dealt with…teachers are getting tired of it.” The principal’s inability to
demonstrate accountability for inappropriate teacher behavior continues to demoralize
teachers who want to work in an environment built with trust.
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All teachers do, however, agree that the principal does want to facilitate
collaboration successfully. Lauren explains, “He [the principal] wants that [collaboration]
to happen, but he just doesn’t know how to confront the people who aren’t willing to do it
to so that the rest of the people who are wiling to do it can move forward.” Lauren’s
statement suggests that the principal refuses to be more assertive with teachers who are
not willing to meet, share ideas, engage in honest discourse, put time and effort in
reviewing curriculum, and set grade level goals. Terri shares how in her grade level,
“One teacher does [collaborate] and the other one doesn’t…she’s a very harsh person and
gets mad.” Although Terri’s grade level has asked the principal to move this teacher to a
different grade because of the working conditions, Terri states that the principal refuses to
speak with the teacher or make any moves that would causes friction. Terri notes, “He
[the principal] is afraid of her too, he told me.” The principal’s statement to Terri that he
is afraid of confronting another teacher only provides more evidence that teachers in this
study believe the principal is unable to hold teachers accountable for refusing to
collaborate effectively. Teachers expect the principal to hold teachers accountable by
writing teachers up, working more closely with uncooperative teachers, and placing
structures in place that obligate teacher output. Leaders who strive to improve instruction
and instill capacity building require trust and respect from teachers (Hall, Johnson,
Wysocki & Kepner, 2008). Without accountability from leadership, participating teachers
have continued to work in isolation or create a work environment that is argumentative
and ineffective for the grade level. Leadership must encompass accountability for
teachers who are not committed to goals in order to stimulate collaboration that will
improve the organization (Hall, Johnson, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2008). Due to a lack of
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accountability from leadership, teachers have inconsistent expectations of collaboration
and some are exhibiting low effort to improve practice.
A critical element involved in cultivating and motivating genuine teacher
collaboration is trust (Hoy, 2006). Trust is something that is a reciprocal process and
begins with the principal’s actions, such as clear communication and following-through
on commitments (Tschannen-Moran, 2000). Unfortunately all teachers interviewed
voiced the same concern regarding the superficial level of collaboration that is
implemented due to a lack of trust among teachers. Collaboration that is intended to
improve teacher practice is a struggle for teachers at Mountain View Elementary who do
not have goals set for collaboration, sincerely value other opinions, or believe teachers
keep conversations private. According to teachers, a major cause for this fracture in
collaboration is the result of the principal’s inability to build a structured community of
collaboration that obligates authentic teacher discourse, accountability, and trust.
For example, Lauren describes how tension and lack of trust has grown between
teachers because she believes the principal has not been able to skillfully communicate
information with staff, “There’s tension right now because other grade levels do not have
[equipment that we have received] and we didn't make that decision, it was an
administrative decision, but we are blamed for it.” Lauren states that although the
principal’s has positive intentions, actions such as this inadvertently create increased
animosity at the school, resulting in lack of trust among teachers. Melanie, a primary
teacher states, “It seems like there’s a secret about who’s getting what and why…and its
almost like were pinning the upper grade teacher against the primary teachers and I don't
think he [the principal] does it intentionally. He just isn’t paying attention.” This
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evidence suggests that teachers perceive the principal not being forthcoming and
transparent about some actions he has taken, and this lack of information and disconnect
is causing misplaced friction among teachers. The animosity that teachers are feeling
toward this particular grade level has created distrust and as teachers “talk” it has affected
interpersonal relationships and genuine collaboration. It is the role of leadership to create
strong relationships built on trust and respect for increased teacher commitment and
motivation towards learning (Hall, Johnson, Wysocki, & Kepner, 2008). Trust in
collaboration is necessary in allowing teachers to be comfortable and invest their energies
as being contributors rather than being guarded (Tschannen-Moran, 2000). The loss of
trust among teachers has hindered genuine teacher discourse and therefore efforts to
engage and learn from effective professional learning models that incorporate teacher
collaboration is unsuccessful.
Three out of the five teachers also described how the principal has lost staff trust
for his failure to follow-through on concerns over items such as parent-teacher
boundaries. Eva noted, “He’s [the principal] getting better at it, but he says we [the
school] don’t take parent request [assigned student classrooms], but then we go to the
meeting where we make the classes, and he brings his stack of parent request.” Eva
explains how the principal provides reasons for his actions but states, “If you’re not going
to take them then why are we having this conversation. He doesn’t back-up what he
says.” This is a sentiment that Eva declares is felt by many teachers at the school. The
fact that the principal fails to follow-through with his promises has caused teachers to
loose trust in the principal. The principal’s attempt to avoid conflict with parents has
impacted his ability to be perceived as trustworthy. Losing trust in an organization affects
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a group’s ability to effectively work through problems (Tschannen-Moran, 2000).
Although parent conflict is not directly tied to improved teacher practice, teachers
correlate incidents such as this to the principal’s ability to be trusted.
Benny also communicated the same concerns about his perception towards the
principal’s inability to successfully implement a professional learning model, “Overall
we [the school] are not doing a good job,” he describes the disconnect in collaboration, “I
may have found one out of 10 lessons useful from my grade level. We only meet because
we want to make our grade level leader happy.” Benny explains how he has voiced
concern to the principal over using collaboration time more effectively so that he comes
away with constructive information, however the principal’s inability to communicate his
intent and purpose for collaboration has caused teachers to also loose trust in the
principal’s ability to provide structure and goals for collaboration, “This has caused
teachers to step up and make a vision happen,” as Benny states, “but teachers don't’
always agree [during collaboration meetings] and so it can be messy.” Benny explains
how teachers have various ideas about what the grade level should be doing during
collaboration; this generates disagreements and confusion. Benny’s statement suggests
teachers no longer trust the principal to take action and implement structure for learning.
Leaders who cannot build goals for learning are unable to create teacher commitment to
do what is best for the organization (Hall et al., 2008). Teachers feel they are solely
responsible for facilitating some semblance of collaborative learning. It is the
responsibility of the principal to construct the collaboration process through his/her
expertise and build teacher discourse that generates valuable collaborative decision-
making (Tschannen-Moran, 2000). Cultivating trustworthiness among teachers requires
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the principal to keep commitments, be transparent about goals, and be reliable
(Tschannen-Moran, 2000). Only through trust can teachers be willing to become more
active participants in learning.
Summary
Themes that continually surfaced were ineffective elements of professional
learning, leadership, and collaboration; research argues these elements are necessary for
improved teacher practice. With the absence of these components at Mountain View
Elementary, successful elements of professional development and leadership
characteristics were not present, resulting in conditions that were not conducive for
teacher learning. Although leadership communicated an eagerness to implement
structures that promote professional learning, leadership and teachers were not equipped
with resources and support that would allow for relevant and improved learning.
Evidence from participants demonstrates that some teachers believe current learning
practices are superficial and not optimal. These findings have a critical impact on not
only teacher learning for improved practice, but student outcomes as well. Students learn
through systematic, organized, and efficient instructional approaches that are well-
designed by a knowledgeable teacher (Kent, 2004). Teacher beliefs that are not addressed
prior to implementing new innovative practices will most likely fail to be successful
(Guskey, 2002). In order for leaders to engage teachers in new learning, teachers must be
willing to participate and embrace new instruction. Teacher attitudes often change
through new experiences and opportunities to observe evidence of student learning
(Guskey, 2002). Teacher collaboration also lacks fundamental elements to promote and
encourage teacher commitment to engage in learning, such as: trust, accountability, time,
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relevant teacher discourse, teacher reflection, high levels of critical thinking, and
alignment of goals. All participants agree, their perceptions about the principal’s lack of
direction and structure in facilitating professional learning directly impact efforts for
teacher growth. As a result, evidence demonstrates that teachers believe current teacher
collaboration and participation in professional learning does not enable them to gain
knowledge or gather support from colleagues and leadership.
Findings revealed that most teachers at Mountain View do not feel successfully
supported in these areas. Teachers find the principal willing to support teacher
collaboration, however his inability to successfully implement effective collaboration has
led to a lack of respect from staff. Teachers have concerns with inefficient time and
structure for collaboration, ineffective professional development, and low teacher
accountability. Teachers found the lack of continuity and purpose for professional
development an impediment in increasing teacher learning. The principal’s failure to
adequately organize and put structures in place that allow teachers to enhance learning
has caused confusion and misdirection. Ultimately, there was no evidence of successful
professional development or learning models; teachers are putting forth effort to provide
quality instruction in their classrooms, but are implementing general district based
curriculum. This finding is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5.
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CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
This study analyzed how leadership, professional development, and teacher
collaboration influence teachers’ ability to successfully engage in professional
development opportunities. Each component, when executed successfully and cohesively,
is considered by researchers to be critical for improving teacher practice and increasing
teacher commitment to participate in professional learning. Any component in isolation
does not have the ability of increasing teacher knowledge. The study utilized a qualitative
case study methodology to answer the following research questions, 1) What are
teachers’ perceptions regarding professional development at their school site? 2) What do
teachers perceive to be the principal’s role in supporting their learning? To help answer
the question five teachers were interviewed and all data was transcribed with pseudonyms
to protect the anonymity of teachers. Data was coded in relation to the conceptual
framework to find themes present in the research. Themes were evaluated based on the
discussed interconnected relationships that each element shares in the conceptual
framework. The following includes a summary of the findings, implications for teacher-
improved practice, and recommendations for further research.
Summary of Findings
Mountain View is a successful high achieving school that has experienced
continual student growth and climbing test scores. Interviews revealed the following
findings.
All teachers communicated a desire to grow professionally and change current
practices for themselves, as a grade level, and as a school. Teachers voiced content in
their teaching abilities, but do state a desire to engage in learning that can improve
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instructional practices. Professional learning and its implementation is the primary
concern for all teachers. Teachers stated that current professional development practices
implemented by the principal are not relevant to current practices, lack focus with poor
delivery, and is inconsistently offered throughout the school year. Current professional
learning consist of scarce meetings, inconsistency in connecting theory into practice, and
lack of teacher accountability and follow-through necessary to sustain successful
professional learning elements.
Participants perceived leadership at the school as ineffective with zero teacher
buy-in; professional development that is inadequate and poorly coordinated;
collaboration is inconsistent, superficial and ineffective. As a result of these inadequacies,
there was an absence of successful professional development that would allow for
teachers to engage in meaningful collaboration and learning outcomes. Unfortunately,
impediments such as lack of frequency to engage collaboratively, professional learning
that lacks relevance, and poor facilitation of instructional innovation are often the
primary factors in the implementing effective professional development (Horn & Little,
2010). Therefore, the first research questions demonstrated significant findings that
teachers were not participating in professional learning that embodied elements of
successful professional development. Building teacher knowledge is something that is
largely dependent on leadership’s ability to facilitate and implement successful elements.
Leaders who lack teacher accountability and management skills find it impossible to
effectively impact and create learning opportunities for teachers.
Successful professional development elements, such as connecting theory into
practice, are vital elements that seem to be absent from Mountain View. According to
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teachers, the principal has ineffectively provided professional learning for teachers. Just
this past year, the principal requested feedback from teachers in regards to current
instructional practices, so teachers are hopeful that their concerns have been heard and
change is on its way. Teachers believe the lack of innovative thinking and change in
practice is a clear result of leadership’s inability to successfully facilitate learning
opportunities for teachers.
Findings also revealed the absence of successful teacher collaboration practices.
This determination is based on current practices found during facilitated teacher
collaboration time and professional learning opportunities. Teachers unanimously voiced
concern for the inadequate and fractured collaboration that often takes place within their
grade levels. According to research, collaboration is effective when it is cohesive; team
members are driven by similar goals, and leadership implements structure and
accountability. Teacher collaboration at Mountain View is described by participants as
superficial, inconsistent, and unstructured with zero accountability.
Successful collaboration requires facilitated time, accountability, teacher
discourse that is meaningful to pedagogy and student outcomes, teacher reflection,
consistent meetings, and assessments to drive instruction (Hausman & Goldring, 2001).
Although most teachers found time to facilitate some collaboration, such as sharing of
ideas and projects, research considers this level of collaboration superficial and
ineffective. As a result, teachers have been unable to successfully improve practices and
gain mastery. Mountain View lacks the fundamental elements necessary to increase
teacher knowledge and improve practices. During interviews, participants did not
reference the analysis of any student assessments, challenging current
79
practices/curriculum, reflecting on instruction, or successful teacher accountability. All
teachers communicated that collaboration for them involved meeting whenever possible
and mostly covering “housekeeping” topics, such as fieldtrips, parent meetings, student
activities, and testing dates. Because collaboration time was limited, teachers voiced
concern for the lack of depth and support that colleagues offered. Teachers understand
that collaboration meetings could be improved and more needs to be done in order to be
more productive. When teachers meet they have no set objectives, long-term
expectations, or set roles for the contributions that each teacher makes. Grade levels
across the school have no cohesiveness in their meetings. Some groups meet about
logistics and others without their entire grade level. Although half the teachers
interviewed seemed complacent with the grade level team they collaborate with, it was
evident that collaboration was not optimal or effective for teacher growth.
All teachers agree that leadership’s role in facilitating successful collaboration is
absent. Teachers communicated their eagerness for meaningful teacher discourse with set
norms for everyone. Effective collaboration requires a facilitator that will implement
consistent roles and a system that drives in depth practices during meetings. Teachers
noted that more teacher knowledge could be built if there was more consistent focus on
instruction, time, responsibility, and facilitator.
According to all participants leadership’s role in facilitating and implementing
learning opportunities for teachers is almost nonexistent. All teachers confirmed that the
principal has little involvement in coordinating any professional development or
structuring teacher collaboration. Many teachers believe that the principal lacks
experience and skills in supporting these areas. Successfully sustained professional
80
development requires leadership to provide coaching, application of knowledge, and
teacher collaboration (Darling-Hammond, 2009). It is clear that current teacher attitudes
towards professional development and leadership skills are low in relevance and value.
Implications for Practice
The implication for practice that emerged from data findings suggest that teachers
have not been able to engage and participate in professional development. According to
teachers, leadership has been unsuccessful in facilitating and supporting professional
learning that encompasses critical elements of professional development. Teachers
emphasize the desire to grow and increase their instructional knowledge and capacity.
Leadership becomes a critical factor that facilitates and implements these elements
successfully. Without critical leadership elements to help support, motivate, and build
teacher capacity professional development and collaboration areas fail to function
effectively. Although teachers exhibited eagerness to increase their level of knowledge,
current practices reflect a superficial level of learning that is not sufficient for building
successful learning opportunities and support.
Recommendations for Further Study
This dissertation conducted a small study based on theories and research from
existing literature: leadership, professional development, and collaboration. This study
provides data and findings that propose further longitudinal studies be conducted in order
to substantiate ideas presented in the Conceptual Framework. Although the dissertation
study was limited in time and participants it did present evidence that supported the
importance of facilitating effective professional development and collaborative
opportunities for teachers for improved practice. Furthermore, findings also suggest that
81
leadership plays a critical role in supporting the successful implementation of these areas.
Professional development, collaboration, and leadership are interdependent of each
other’s effective implementation, which significantly influence a teacher’s ability to gain
mastery and improve practices.
Considering that this dissertation did not include interviews from the principal’s
perspective, further research is necessary in the area of leadership. It would be beneficial
to gather insight into leadership barriers and struggles that impede their abilities to
successfully facilitate areas of professional development and teacher collaboration. Other
studies might demonstrate that leadership has restraints that impede their capacity to
implement certain agendas and changes.
As curriculum shifts into Common Core with a new shift in thinking, principals
and teachers will have to keep up with new instructional strategies and collaborate to
build knowledge. Districts and principals will need to revisit and examine their current
professional development opportunities, as well as teacher collaboration goals and
objectives. Increasing teacher knowledge, engagement and collaboration skills proves to
be an important role in promoting sustainable professional learning practices. Examining
the elements presented in this study will enable districts and leaders to successfully
transition into new shifts in thinking and school changes.
82
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APPENDIX A
University of Southern California
Michelle Bonilla
Rossier School of Education
INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
Factors that Influence a Teacher’s Willingness to Improve Instruction
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Michelle Bonilla and
Dr. Slayton at the University of Southern California, because you are a teacher at the
current school site. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information
below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding
whether to participate. Please take as much time as you need to read the consent
form. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign this form. You will be
given a copy of this form.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to understand factors present at a school site that
influence and contribute to a teacher’s willingness to experiment with
instructional practices. Some of the elements that will be discussed during
teacher interviews are: leadership skills, teacher collaboration, professional
development, and teacher efficacy. You will be asked several questions under
each of these categories. Your answers will be examined in an effort to help
understand factors that have influenced teacher willingness to experiment
with instructional practices at a school site.
STUDY PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to volunteer up to
two hours of your time for an interview. The interview session will be anonymous
and at no time will your name be tied to any answers. Your answers will not be
directly discussed with other teachers or administrators at your school site or
school district. During the interview, I will use a tape recorder for the purpose of
ensuring that I accurately translate information. Interviews will be one on one and
will take place in a classroom.
In order to gain a deep understanding of your school site collaboration methods,
administrative leadership, professional development experiences and personal
beliefs about your instructional practices, some questions may be sensitive and
personal. Again, anonymity is a priority. I want to ensure this experience is pleasant
and free of any anxiety for you.
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POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
Your participation in this study will allow me to gather some insight into influences
that affect a teacher’s willingness to experiment with his/her instructional practices.
As an educator, I continually strive to gather teacher feedback that can assist me in
creating motivation and enthusiasm among teachers that will ultimately lead to
improved teacher practices. The objective of this study is to apply the motivational
elements that are investigated at your school to other sites for the purpose of
increasing teacher participation and experimentation with new instructional skills
through their own desire to improve practices.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
This study is based on a volunteer basis. Participants are not receiving
compensation or payment.
CONFIDENTIALITY
We will keep your records for this study confidential as far as permitted by law.
However, if we are required to do so by law, we will disclose confidential
information about you. The members of the research team, the University of
Southern California’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the
data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies to protect the rights and
welfare of research subjects.
Data gathered from interviews will be stored in my personal computer files. Files
are securely locked with a password and will at no time be shared with anyone else
other than my chairperson, Dr. Slayton. Dr. Slayton will assist me in coding
transcripts, however at no time will names be shared. Transcripts from interviews
will be coded for anonymity and will be stored in my personal files. Interview
session recordings will also be stored in my personal files and will not be shared at
any time with other members. All documents and recordings will be kept and stored
for approximately three years.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your participation is voluntary. Your refusal to participate will involve no penalty or
loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your
consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty. You are not
waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this
research study.
INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact
me:
Michelle Bonilla
Cell number: 562-922-2847
Email: mbonilla@usc.edu
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RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research
participant or the research in general and are unable to contact the research team,
or if you want to talk to someone independent of the research team, please contact
the University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street
#301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT
I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask
questions. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to
participate in this study. I have been given a copy of this form.
Name of Participant
Signature of Participant Date
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her
questions. I believe that he/she understands the information described in this
document and freely consents to participate.
Name of Person Obtaining Consent
Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date
89
APPENDIX B
Teacher Questionnaire
Background Questions
1. How many years have you been teaching? (Have they all been at this school site?
If not, how many years have you been at this site? )
2. How many years have you taught at your current grade level? Have all of those
years been at this same school site?
3. How or why did you decide to become a teacher?
4. What's your educational background?
Internal Questions
5. How would you describe yourself as a teacher? General question.
6. What is your philosophy as a teacher and do you feel that it’s a challenge to
follow? If so, why?
7. How do you feel about teaching at this school? Positives and negative aspects.
8. How do you feel that you’ve developed as a teacher and where are you in terms of
your expertise?
9. Would you say that you trust colleagues or current administrators? Please explain.
How did you gain trust or what impedes trust.
10. What do you define as trust?
11. What do you do to continually keep yourself informed with new educational
information? For example, instruction, curriculum, news topics.
12. What do you think about students who struggle academically or with behavior?
As a teacher what can you do for these students?
13. What impact do you feel you have at this school? In your class? With colleagues?
14. Do you feel like teachers have limitations as educators and role models? For
example, students who struggle with family life.
15. What is the most important thing that you have to offer as a teacher?
16. What do your students think about your instruction? Do they value you?
17. Can you describe your relationship with your colleagues? Explain specific
examples that have led to that relationship.
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18. Can you describe your relationship with administrators? Explain specific
examples that have led to that relationship.
19. What motivated you to become a teacher?
Professional Development Questions
20. What would you say is the purpose of professional development?
21. Based on your experiences at this school site, how would you describe your
attitude toward professional development? How do you feel about how your
school/district implements and facilitates professional development?
22. School districts define professional development trainings as intended to improve
teacher instruction; do you feel like your school provides professional
development that increases teacher knowledge?
23. How often have you participated in professional development? How often is it
offered to teachers? Who gets to attend these trainings?
24. What does administration do to make sure that all teachers are provided with
opportunity to develop as educators during school hours?
25. What does administration do right or wrong to develop and offer effective
professional development?
26. Who decides what type of professional development is needed at the school site?
27. Is the professional development offered focused on topics and items that can
actually be used to help teachers?
28. Is there follow through with professional development? If not, please explain why
you think this is so.
29. Does anyone at the site support and offer coaching/modeling for teacher support?
30. Does professional learning opportunities at your site involve teacher
collaboration?
31. Can you define true collaboration?
32. How do you feel about the current curriculum, resources, and materials offered
for teachers at this site?
Leadership
33. Are there opportunities for you to influence the decision-making that impacts the
school? How have you influenced elements at your site?
34. What has administration done to show teacher support?
35. How do you feel about expressing your opinions and views to administrators?
91
36. What do you think is the primary focus (goal) of the principal?
37. What do you believe is the principal’s school vision?
38. How would you rate your principal’s ability to actively motivate you? Staff?
Please explain how administration has done this?
39. What does the principal do to support teachers in the classroom?
40. How has the principal gained your trust and the trust of staff? Have they gained
trust?
41. What is the one element that you admire the most about your principal? Why or
why not if you do not admire them?
42. Do you feel your administrator allows teachers opportunity for autonomy? If so,
explain.
43. How does the principal ensure that they listen and communicate with teachers?
44. What does the principal do to build parent involvement?
45. How does the principal build teacher buy-in?
Collaboration
46. What can you tell me about your experiences in collaborating with colleagues at
this site? Planning, sharing skills/lessons, attitude, etc.
47. What do you feel that you contribute to help other teachers with their teaching
skills during collaborative time?
48. What do you feel you gain most from the collaboration with colleagues?
49. Are teachers cooperative and supportive?
50. Is there a “we” or “me” spirit at the school? Please explain.
51. Does administration offer guidelines to follow during teacher collaborative time?
52. What is the schedule/accountability method created to ensure that teachers
collaborate and share ideas?
53. Do you feel that you trust your teachers? What do you trust about your
colleagues?
54. Are there any impediment that might hold back the team from moving forward? If
so what are they?
55. Are there elements that you feel really contribute to the great partnership that you
have with your team?
92
56. Do you still feel motivated to grow and take risks in your classroom and as a
teacher?
57. What elements do you believe contribute the most to your internal motivation? If
not, what do you feel might motivated you more to grow as a teacher?
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
Effective professional development enhances, maintains, and provides teachers with high-quality practices that are evidence-based and efficient (Darling-Hammond, 2009). Schools leaders should aim at building teacher capacity and generating higher levels of thinking by promoting learning that encourages teacher collaboration and relevant instructional strategies. Collaboration allows teachers opportunities to converse knowledgeably about methods, theories, and process of teaching and learning, consequently improving teacher practice (Hausman & Goldring, 2001). It is leadership’s responsibility to nurture and support teacher learning by facilitating and implementing strategies that will sustain an environment for learning (Watkins, 2005). Principals need to routinely manage resources, provide direction, and implement the necessary tools required in an organization that promotes a community of learners (Mullen & Hutinger, 2008).
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Bonilla, Michelle America
(author)
Core Title
Improving professional learning for teachers
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Leadership)
Publication Date
10/31/2014
Defense Date
09/09/2014
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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(digital)
Tag
leadership models,learning models,Motivation,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional learning,teacher collaboration
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Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
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Advisor
Slayton, Julie M. (
committee chair
), Pascarella, John, III (
committee member
), Rueda, Robert (
committee member
)
Creator Email
macazares@aol.com,mbonilla@usc.edu
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Tags
leadership models
learning models
professional learning
teacher collaboration