This article examines an understudied aspect of teachers’ sensemaking of student learning data: the way in which teachers explain the causes of the outcomes observed in data. Drawing on sensemaking and attribution theory and data collected in six middle schools, we find that while teachers most often attributed outcomes to their own instruction, they also frequently focused on supposedly stable student characteristics. By citing these characteristics as explanations for the results analyzed, teachers may have inhibited reflection on their practice and reinforced low expectations for English language learners (ELLs) and students in special education. These findings yield implications for (a) the effectiveness of data use reforms and (b) equity in the education of ELLs and students in special education.
This article reimagines the social justice educational leadership field, highlighting the leadership of youth, parents, and community. We examine widely cited social justice educational leadership publications, in addition to critical research on youth voice, parent engagement, and community organizing. Our analysis reveals that the field often overlooks youth, parent, and community educational leadership. Through the theory of collective transformative agency, we propose a new framework for dismantling deficit ideologies and disempowering practices in leadership preparation programs. The article concludes with specific proposals for programs to re-envision the “how” and “who” of leadership preparation.
Purpose: This article explores the possibilities for reciprocal dialogue between educational decision makers and Students of Color. Such dialogue-defined as interactions in which participants build on each other's words-may provide the means to develop creative ways to address manifestations of systemic racism in education. The article uses the concept of Third Space to investigate how educational decision makers responded to a group of high school Students of Color advocating for change. Research Method: The data for the article come from two studies investigating the influence of the students in the group, who were engaged in youth participatory action research. The analysis focuses on interviews conducted with decision makers who attended the group's presentations. Findings: The analysis revealed that many educational decision makers responded to the group's presentations in ways that limited the potential for future reciprocal dialogue with students. These decision makers' responses most often focused on aspects of the students' performance at presentations. In contrast, the responses that promoted reciprocal dialogue, which were rare,
Policy insiders across party lines increasingly acknowledge educational “gaps,” yet they talk about this inequity in very different ways. Though some critique disparities through a structural lens, others use deficit discourse, blaming families of color and working-class families for educational outcomes. This study examines how state policy insiders explain educational inequity, shedding light on the complex relationship between language and the maintenance of systemic racism and classism in education. Drawing upon a unique data set of interviews with 50 policy insiders in one state in the United States, we found three main discourses used to explain inequity in education, each of which cited a different cause: 1) structural inequity, 2) perceived deficits of families and communities, and 3) teachers unions and teacher seniority. Policy insiders used often-veiled discursive strategies to advance their discourses. For instance, those that used deficit discourse: 1) asserted that those most negatively impacted by inequity cause inequity; 2) strengthened deficit discourse by blending it with one or both of the other two discourses; and 3) made inequity appear natural through the use of several substrategies, including obscuring the identity of those harmed by inequity. These strategies allowed some policy insiders to strengthen deficit discourse, divert attention from structural issues, and characterize themselves positively while advancing racist and classist ideas. These findings have compelling implications in terms of possibilities for policy changes supportive of educational equity.
Background Despite increased access to student learning data, scholars have demonstrated that teachers do not always know how to use these data in ways that lead to deep changes in instruction and often lack skills and knowledge to interpret results and develop solutions. In response, administrators have invested in instructional coaches, data coaches, and professional learning communities (PLCs) to support teachers in this process. Despite their popularity, there is limited research on the ways in which coaches and PLCs mediate teachers’ use of data and the various types of expertise brought to bear on this process. Purpose This exploratory study examined how working with a coach or PLC shaped teachers’ responses to data in six middle schools and the factors that influenced the activities and effects of coaches and PLCs. Our intent was to deeply examine processes and identify key constructs and relationships to guide future research and practice. Research Design Our research involved a year-long comparative case study of six low-performing middle schools in four districts that supported teacher data use via literacy coaches, data coaches, or PLCs. We draw on cultural historical activity theory and data from 92 interviews, 6 focus groups, 20 observations of meetings, and monthly surveys of case study teachers (15), coaches (4), and PLC lead teachers (2). Findings We found that coaches and PLCs played important roles in mediating teachers’ responses to data and were often associated with instances in which teachers used data to alter their instructional delivery (as opposed to surface-level changes in materials and topics). Further, the dynamic relationship between vertical expertise (an individual's knowledge and skills) and horizontal expertise (knowledge that is co-created through interactions and movement across contexts) may help explain the ways in which PLCs and coaches facilitated deeper level changes in pedagogy. Finally, dialogue was a central mediating practice, and school leadership and the district-level context shaped the possibility for change. Conclusions Our research adds conceptual clarity to what types of expertise may be needed to ensure that teachers respond productively to data. The study suggests that administrators should consider multiple facets of expertise when designing interventions, recruiting coaches, assembling PLCs, and developing professional development for coaches and teacher leaders. The centrality of dialogue also suggests the need for policies and structures allowing for uninterrupted time for educators to collectively reflect on data.
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