Under the curricular and pedagogical impositions of scripted lessons and mandated curriculum, patterns associated nationwide with high-stakes testing, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and the phenomenon known as the “narrowing of curriculum,” new teachers in New York City (NYC) find their personal and professional identity thwarted, creativity and autonomy undermined, and ability to forge relationships with students diminished—all critical factors in their expressed job satisfaction. These indirect consequences of accountability regimen as it operates in NYC may exacerbate new teacher attrition, especially from schools serving low-income students. The data reported here suggest a mixed picture of frustration and anger, alongside determination, resistance, and resilience in the face of these impositions. Responses vary by school and grade level, lending support to the notion that the organizational environment serves as a critical factor in teachers' early career decisions about staying or leaving a school or the profession.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This article presents 7 years of qualitative research into the emerging understandings of a population of 456 beginning 7 to 12 urban teachers who supplied 130 participants who were enrolled in a total of 26 MSEd English Language Arts courses over 7 years. These were interviewed while teaching in urban schools focused primarily on testing and accountability systems, and their class writings were used to present seven of their voices in this study. The study investigates participant engagement in two theoretical frameworks emphasized in the courses: first, the neoliberal ideology of testing and accountability; second, the transactional tradition of aesthetic education. The study finds that education students need not passively acquiesce to neoliberal reforms, but can reclaim a culturally critical stance in their teaching.