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Excellence in English in Middle and High School: How Teachers' Professional Lives Support Student Achievement:

Excellence in English in Middle and High School: How Teachers' Professional Lives... This study examined the characteristics of teachers' professional lives that accompany student achievement in writing, reading, and English. The study was conducted in the classrooms of 44 middle and high school teachers in four states, in 25 schools and districts that were attempting to improve students' literacy abilities. The sample includes a high representation of schools and districts serving poor and traditionally low-performing students and diverse student bodies. In 14 of the schools, students were "beating the odds," performing better than other students in demographically similar areas. In the other 11 schools, administrators and teachers wanted their students to do better, but the school scores were more typical of other schools with similar demographics. A 5-year study of both the professional and classroom communities sought to identify characteristics in teachers' professional lives that accompanied higher student achievement. Analyses of patterns across cases indicated six features that permeated the "beating the odds" schools which were not present in the "typical" schools. The effective schools and districts nurtured a climate that (1) orchestrated coordinated efforts to improve student achievement, (2) fostered teacher participation in a variety of professional communities, (3) created structured improvement activities in ways that offered teachers a strong sense of agency, (4) valued commitment to the profession of teaching, (5) engendered a caring attitude to colleagues and students, and (6)fostered a deep respect for lifelong learning. These characteristics were pervasive across levels, in the ways central administrators and classroom teachers lived their professional lives and in the features they considered evidence of professional excellence. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Educational Research Journal SAGE

Excellence in English in Middle and High School: How Teachers' Professional Lives Support Student Achievement:

Langer, Judith A.
American Educational Research Journal , Volume 37 (2): 43 – Jun 23, 2016
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References (73)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by American Educational Research Association
ISSN
0002-8312
eISSN
1935-1011
DOI
10.3102/00028312037002397
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study examined the characteristics of teachers' professional lives that accompany student achievement in writing, reading, and English. The study was conducted in the classrooms of 44 middle and high school teachers in four states, in 25 schools and districts that were attempting to improve students' literacy abilities. The sample includes a high representation of schools and districts serving poor and traditionally low-performing students and diverse student bodies. In 14 of the schools, students were "beating the odds," performing better than other students in demographically similar areas. In the other 11 schools, administrators and teachers wanted their students to do better, but the school scores were more typical of other schools with similar demographics. A 5-year study of both the professional and classroom communities sought to identify characteristics in teachers' professional lives that accompanied higher student achievement. Analyses of patterns across cases indicated six features that permeated the "beating the odds" schools which were not present in the "typical" schools. The effective schools and districts nurtured a climate that (1) orchestrated coordinated efforts to improve student achievement, (2) fostered teacher participation in a variety of professional communities, (3) created structured improvement activities in ways that offered teachers a strong sense of agency, (4) valued commitment to the profession of teaching, (5) engendered a caring attitude to colleagues and students, and (6)fostered a deep respect for lifelong learning. These characteristics were pervasive across levels, in the ways central administrators and classroom teachers lived their professional lives and in the features they considered evidence of professional excellence.

Journal

American Educational Research Journal – SAGE

Published: Jun 23, 2016

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