This article reports on a study of teachers at one reforming high school. Though it is not their task to debate No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the authors locate their investigation inside the current policy context to which NCLB is attached. Specifically, they present their analysis through the organizational behavior lens of threat rigidity to discuss the ways that current federal and state policy contexts influence schools and how those affected schools in turn adopt corresponding reforms that influence teachers' work. The analysis demonstrates that on both levels, such influence occurs in similar ways: by centralizing and restricting the flow of information, by constricting control, by emphasizing routinized and simplified instructional/assessment practices, and by applying strong pressure for school personnel to conform.
Despite their interconnectedness, teacher education, teacher development, and teacher retention are often treated as discrete domains of inquiry. This article and the research on which it reports resist such compartmentalization and instead focus on relationships between teachers' pasts, presents, and futures. In particular, this qualitative study of 15 specialized teacher education program graduates examines urban teachers' perspectives on and experiences in professional development. Specific attention is paid to the role of professional development—in conjunction with other forces, including preservice preparation and workplace conditions—in shaping teachers' attitudes about their work and their professional futures. Findings illuminate four kinds of complexity underlying teachers' early career needs that are discussed and used to generate suggestions for how universities might better support teacher education program graduates to build rewarding and effective long-term careers in education.
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