Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Sandra Eidson
Committee Member
Ann Joslin
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
accountability, anger, applied dissertation, catalyst, change management, co-operative peer led instruction, criterion referenced tests, educational leadership, empowerment, inclusion, instructional leadership, learning communities, middle schools, norm referenced tests, peer teaching, political mandates, principal leadership, professional development, qualitative data, reading achievement, reading scores, school improvement, staff development, standardized tests, state Department of Education, state mandates, student learning, teacher collaboration, teacher empowerment, teacher leadership, teacher perceptions, teachers, test scores, Turner County Middle School, unified vision, workplace learning communities
Abstract
This applied dissertation dealt with the efforts of the principal at Turner County Middle School to use state mandates as a catalyst for creating a learning community of teachers. The hypothesis was that the teachers’ anger at the politicians could be redirected by the principal into a unified vision of raising their students’ reading test scores on standardized tests. The principal sought to use inclusion, empowerment and co-operative peer led instruction for the mandated staff development course. The question was asked, “Can peer led staff development that has specific teacher and student outcomes outlined in advance increase student learning, resulting in higher reading scores on standardized tests without ‘teaching to the test’?”
The very political climate that led to the subject of this applied dissertation impacted the outcome. The norm referenced test results for the state during the course of this study were declared invalid, weakening that portion of the applied dissertation. The criterion referenced tests results were held up due to law suits between the state Department of Education and the testing company. While the criterion referenced test reading administration results did show a rise in student test scores for the period of this applied dissertation, it is pointed out that reading scores were up across the state as all middle schools across the state implemented some form of the mandates. Also criterion referenced scores at this time in Georgia cannot be used across grade levels to measure individual student growth in subject areas.
The qualitative data indicate that the applied dissertation was successful in using the teachers’ anger towards the political mandates as a catalyst for bringing them together as a learning community. This portion of the applied dissertation will be ongoing as the makeup of the staff continues to change from, year to year.