Conducting instructional intervention research in the midst of a state takeover

This article describes Year 2 of a three-year study on improving reading comprehension instruction in six United States elementary schools that was conducted during a state takeover of a school district. The authors, using a qualitative approach, focus on the effects of implementation of a mandated...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Pedagogies (Mahwah, N.J.) Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 30 - 45
Main Authors:	Avila, JuliAnna, Zacher, Jessica C., Griffo, Vicki B., David Pearson, P.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 01-01-2011 Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:	comprehension Curricula Intervention Judgment Literacy Professional development Reading comprehension Teachers Teaching methods
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	This article describes Year 2 of a three-year study on improving reading comprehension instruction in six United States elementary schools that was conducted during a state takeover of a school district. The authors, using a qualitative approach, focus on the effects of implementation of a mandated language arts curriculum, including an obligatory pacing guide, that restricted teachers' abilities to incorporate our three instructional interventions. The authors argue that the curricular mandates undermined teachers' abilities to draw upon their own professional judgment, even though the mandated curriculum and the instructional interventions were not radically different. Despite these limitations in our capacity to enact the interventions, the lessons that emerged from the clash between externally mandated curricula and teachers' agency build upon and extend what we know about effective professional development in literacy.
ISSN:	1554-480X 1554-4818
DOI:	10.1080/1554480X.2011.532085