Chrysan Gallucci

Instructional Coaching: Building Theory About the Role and Organizational Support for Professional Learning

Instructional coach initiatives aimed at teachers’ professional development are expanding in reforming school districts across the United States. This study addresses the lack of research regarding the professional development of instructional coaches. Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, specifically a model called the Vygotsky Space, the authors use a case approach to examine the learning experiences of a single secondary literacy coach. Hypotheses suggest that (a) coaches are not unproblematic conduits of reform ideas but are also learners of new content and pedagogy; (b) as coaches’ conceptual development about instruction grows, their ability to coach also matures; and (c) professional development that supports coaches is best aligned around a workplace pedagogy that addresses the learning needs of multiple system actors.

Strategies That Promote Social Relations among Elementary Students with and without Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Schools

Using qualitative research methods, we studied the strategies that general education classroom teachers use to promote the development of positive relationships between children with and without moderate to severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms. We used observations and interviews with teachers, specialists, and administrators in two inclusive schools as bases for identifying five strategies used by classroom teachers: active facilitation of social interactions, empowering children, building a sense of community in the classroom, modeling acceptance, and developing school organizational supports. These practices are discussed in terms of their congruence with broader goals and best practices within K-12 education.

Districtwide Instructional Reform: Using Sociocultural Theory to Link Professional Learning to Organizational Support

No Child Left Behind Act accountability pressures and calls to close achievement gaps between groups of students have challenged school districts to achieve systemwide instructional improvement. These policies create learning challenges for classroom teachers and for school and district leaders. This article engages questions about organizational support for professional learning in the context of reform initiatives. A theoretical lens—called the Vygotsky Space—is used to analyze case study data from a reforming urban school district located in the Pacific Northwest. A job‐embedded professional development structure called the Elementary Studio/Residency Model is explored in depth as are the learning processes of one participating teacher. The teacher’s professional learning experiences are then connected with leadership actions and institutional supports for learning. The relationship between organizational change and district leaders’ attention to practitioner learning and innovation is discussed.

Four Portraits of Friendship at an Inclusive School

The movement toward creating inclusive schools has accelerated rapidly over the past several years. As they learn more about the effects of inclusion on students with disabilities, consumers, practitioners, and researchers are becoming more interested in the effects of inclusion on students without disabilities. One area of great interest is the social relationships between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. The purpose of this study is to present case studies of four students without disabilities who are friends of students with moderate and severe disabilities in their classroom. Data for the case studies were collected through observations, videotaped samples, and interviews. The case studies illustrate the uniqueness of each friendship and highlight some similarities across relationships. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting relationships in inclusive educational settings.

Negotiating Implementation of High-Stakes Performance Assessment Policies in Teacher Education: From Compliance to Inquiry

Teacher education programs in the United States face a variety of new accountability policies at both the federal and the state level. Many of these policies carry high-stakes implications for students and programs and involve some of the same challenges for implementation as they have in the P-12 arena. Serious dilemmas for teacher educators arise in these contexts, as compliance with prescriptive state mandates is often interpreted by faculty to signify a demoralizing loss of program autonomy and integrity, whereas noncompliance may result in loss of program accreditation. The authors describe how one teacher education program negotiated these dilemmas in a fashion responsive to local values and concerns while also meeting state requirements. Results are discussed in terms of tensions between (a) policy goals seeking alignment and coherence across institutions of higher education and (b) motivational conditions likely to engage faculty in the difficult work of programmatic renewal and change in teacher education.

Using Nondisabled Peers To Support the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities at the Junior High School Level.

Qualitative research methods were used to conduct a study of an inclusion program at a junior high school in which typically developing students assisted and supported students with moderate and severe disabilities as they attended general education classrooms. There were two purposes for conducting this case study: first, to provide a description of how one school, with limited resources available, successfully included students with disabilities in general education classrooms; and second, to describe outcomes perceived to be associated with the student aide program for the students with disabilities and the student aides. Data were gathered over 2 years and included ethnographic field notes and interviews. The perceived outcomes that emerged from an analysis of these data are discussed in terms of their implications for future practice and research.

Blending qualitative and behavior analytic research methods to evaluate outcomes in inclusive schools

Following Harings (1992) recommendation, we have utilized qualitative research techniques to assist us in designing a program of research on inclusive education which is responsive to the outcome values and priorities identified by teachers and parents. Using interviews, observations, and document analysis to follow 35 children in full inclusion classrooms over a period of two years, we have described outcomes for these children in three major domains. These outcome domains, and subthemes within them, have been evaluated and revised based on interviews and social validation ratings by parents and teachers. Dependent measures based on our qualitative research findings are currently being used in a series of behavior analytic studies designed to evaluate the effects of specific interventions on outcomes of inclusion for children with and without disabilities.